Once More, From The Heart

In the golden age of the Broadway musical, there was a songwriting team comprised of a heterosexual composer and a homosexual lyricist. It being the 1920's, the lyricist hid his sexuality from everyone, including his closest friend and business partner. Together they refined their craft and, over the years, slowly climbed the long ladder to success, the composer never knowing that his lyricist's beautiful, heartfelt words were all for him. On the eve of their most successful opening, the composer announced his engagement to a young starlet, while the lyricist spent the long, cold New York winters roaming the streets in the rain the snow, eventually succumbing to pneumonia. While their great show was selling out and making them household names, the lyricist suffered delirium and slipped in and out of consciousness, using his brief moments of lucidity to urge his nurse - a fan of his - to let him go. Before his final curtain fell, the lyricist opened his eyes, in a final and brief moment of clarity and composure. The nurse, at his side, asked him with tears in her eyes why; he has earned the respect of his peers and adoration of fans, he need never have worried about money again, so why let himself die? What would he die for, she asked.
Without looking at her, the lyricist answered: "What have I lived for?"
He was dead by morning.
Only real love could yield such pain.