Categories > Celebrities > Def Leppard > Caught in a Dream
We were working on our next album. The tour turned out better than expected, and we were all relieved that we were back home and relaxing.
Well, sort of. It was December. We were in the studio, trying to write lyrics, when Steve walked in, drunk off his ass. I looked over at him.
"Not again," I said, "Steve, when are you going to stop?"
"I don't want to," he replied to me and went to pick up his guitar. I just watched him.
I knew that he was dying, and I did everything in my power to help him. I went with him to his meetings, where I told him how we all felt about his drinking.
I went to his house, and dumped all the alcohol down the toilet. I banned alcohol from my place even. I had given up drinking in late 1987, and Phil even gave it up not to long after I did. We thought that maybe if Phil gave it up, then Steve would too. We were wrong.
I looked over at the guys and they were nodding their heads. We had a talk the night before about Steve and decided to give him some vacation time.
I got up, took Steve by the arm, and went into another room with him. "What's up?" he asked me.
"Steve. We had a talk last night, about you. We feel that you need a little vacation, so that you can clean yourself up," I told him.
"But I'm fine," he replied, not even looking at me.
"No your not," I said, "Can't you see what is happening to you?"
He didn't answer. He just looked at the floor. I put my finger under his chin and raised his head to me.
"Steve, please. Take six months off. Clean yourself up. Then, come on back. We'll continue working on the album, while your getting better. Get some rest, go fishing, do whatever you want, but PLEASE get better," I begged him.
"Ok," he said, and gave me a hug before leaving. Somehow, I had this funny feeling that this was the last time we would be seeing him.
January 1991
It was late at night, when the phone call came in. The guys were over at the house. Karla was visiting her Mum, getting the final details for our upcoming wedding ready.
I remember the night I proposed to her. Candlelights on the beach, soft music playing. How she cried when I had asked her and placed the ring on her finger. I smiled at the memories of it. That's when the phone rang.
"Hello," I said into the receiver -- I listened for a minute, then I went as white as a ghost -- "Tell me this is some kind of joke."
The guys had stopped what they were doing, and all of them were looking at me, very quietly. "Ok. Thank you," I said, and hung up the receiver. I put my head on my arms. I could feel the tears falling.
"Joe, what is it?" Phil asked, concerned. I raised my head.
"That was the police," I said slowly, "Steve died this morning."
"What?" Phil asked, stunned.
"Holy Shit," Rick chimed in.
The room had fallen silent. No one wanted to say anything. I got up and went out on the balcony.
I stood at the edge, overlooking the beach. I didn't want to believe what I had heard, but I knew that it was bound to happen. I started crying silently.
Later that night is the night that the dream returned. I was tossing and turning in bed.
There I was, back in that same castle. "This is fuckin' ridiculous," I said to myself. I walked around for a while, not finding anything. I managed to make my way downstairs. I, somehow, was in some control over myself, while in the dream.
"What the bloody hell is this?" I asked myself. I had made my way to a dungeon. Looking around, I saw chains hooked to the walls, all sorts of bondage.
I moved some webs from one of the chains. I heard a noise behind me and spun around. Nothing was there. 'Just my imagination,.......I hope,' I thought to myself.
I continued looking around the room. There were even a few skeletons, in chains, there. I shivered. Then the shrieking started.
"Oh shit!" I exclaimed, and started to make my way out of there and fast. That's when I felt the coldness set in. I decided to try and wake myself up from this.
I woke up with a start. I looked around. "That is it," I said, and climbed out of bed.
Since Steve and I found out where this castle was, I had decided to take a little trip there and find out what was going on.
*****
Around 9 o'clock, I called the airlines, and made reservations for a flight out to Scotland, where the castle was. Sav had agreed to go with me, which I was thankful for.
I didn't want to go alone. After calling the airlines, I called Sav and told him to get his stuff together. We were leaving that afternoon.
We quickly stopped off for lunch before heading to the airport. We boarded the plane and got settled in our seats. I pulled out something from my jacket pocket.
"What's that?" Sav asked.
"Steve's necklace," I replied, "He forgot it when he left that night." I felt the tears coming on again, and looked over at Sav. His eyes were watering up too.
"When's the funeral for him?" he asked me.
"I'm not sure. His Mother will let us know," I replied, and closed my eyes. Before long, we were on our way to Scotland.
We arrived later that day, and checked into our hotel. We decided to share one room, considering the circumstances. Neither one of us wanted to be alone.
I spoke to the lady at the front desk. "I have a reservation for two."
"Name please," she responded, in a thick Scottish accent.
"It's under Elliott."
"Just a moment," she said, and went to the backroom.
"What's taking so long?" Sav asked.
"Who knows," I replied. That's when she finally came back to the desk.
"Sorry for the delay. Here are your keys. Room 716," she told us.
"Thank you," I said. We went up to our room.
"Hey, this looks great," Sav said, when he walked inside. He put his bags next to the door. I just stopped in the doorway, with my mouth wide opened.
"This is not what I had reserved," I said.
"It isn't?"
"No."
I slowly stepped inside, looking around. There was a small kitchen, a huge bath, living room, bedroom, and a balcony.
"Excuse me?" someone behind me asked. I jumped, and turned around.
"Yes?" I replied.
"Are you Mr. Elliott?"
"Yes. What can I do for you?" Iasked him.
"Just here to deliver a message," he said, handing me a note, "Enjoy your stay."
"Thank you. We will," I replied before he left. I opened the envelope, and read it. I reached into my wallet, to give him a tip, but he was gone.
"I should have known," I said.
"What?" Sav said, his voice shaking. I looked over at him. He was lying on the bed, and the bed was moving.
"Built in massager," he said with a smile.
"Mal reserved this for us," I told him.
"Why would he do that?"
"According to this, he didn't want us freaked out when we came back home," I told him, laughing.
"It's late. Let's get some dinner, and settle down for the night. We'll check out the castle tomorrow," I said.
"Good idea. I'm starved," Sav said, heading for the kitchen.
We had a good dinner and settled down for the evening. We decided to make plans for tomorrow.
Well, sort of. It was December. We were in the studio, trying to write lyrics, when Steve walked in, drunk off his ass. I looked over at him.
"Not again," I said, "Steve, when are you going to stop?"
"I don't want to," he replied to me and went to pick up his guitar. I just watched him.
I knew that he was dying, and I did everything in my power to help him. I went with him to his meetings, where I told him how we all felt about his drinking.
I went to his house, and dumped all the alcohol down the toilet. I banned alcohol from my place even. I had given up drinking in late 1987, and Phil even gave it up not to long after I did. We thought that maybe if Phil gave it up, then Steve would too. We were wrong.
I looked over at the guys and they were nodding their heads. We had a talk the night before about Steve and decided to give him some vacation time.
I got up, took Steve by the arm, and went into another room with him. "What's up?" he asked me.
"Steve. We had a talk last night, about you. We feel that you need a little vacation, so that you can clean yourself up," I told him.
"But I'm fine," he replied, not even looking at me.
"No your not," I said, "Can't you see what is happening to you?"
He didn't answer. He just looked at the floor. I put my finger under his chin and raised his head to me.
"Steve, please. Take six months off. Clean yourself up. Then, come on back. We'll continue working on the album, while your getting better. Get some rest, go fishing, do whatever you want, but PLEASE get better," I begged him.
"Ok," he said, and gave me a hug before leaving. Somehow, I had this funny feeling that this was the last time we would be seeing him.
January 1991
It was late at night, when the phone call came in. The guys were over at the house. Karla was visiting her Mum, getting the final details for our upcoming wedding ready.
I remember the night I proposed to her. Candlelights on the beach, soft music playing. How she cried when I had asked her and placed the ring on her finger. I smiled at the memories of it. That's when the phone rang.
"Hello," I said into the receiver -- I listened for a minute, then I went as white as a ghost -- "Tell me this is some kind of joke."
The guys had stopped what they were doing, and all of them were looking at me, very quietly. "Ok. Thank you," I said, and hung up the receiver. I put my head on my arms. I could feel the tears falling.
"Joe, what is it?" Phil asked, concerned. I raised my head.
"That was the police," I said slowly, "Steve died this morning."
"What?" Phil asked, stunned.
"Holy Shit," Rick chimed in.
The room had fallen silent. No one wanted to say anything. I got up and went out on the balcony.
I stood at the edge, overlooking the beach. I didn't want to believe what I had heard, but I knew that it was bound to happen. I started crying silently.
Later that night is the night that the dream returned. I was tossing and turning in bed.
There I was, back in that same castle. "This is fuckin' ridiculous," I said to myself. I walked around for a while, not finding anything. I managed to make my way downstairs. I, somehow, was in some control over myself, while in the dream.
"What the bloody hell is this?" I asked myself. I had made my way to a dungeon. Looking around, I saw chains hooked to the walls, all sorts of bondage.
I moved some webs from one of the chains. I heard a noise behind me and spun around. Nothing was there. 'Just my imagination,.......I hope,' I thought to myself.
I continued looking around the room. There were even a few skeletons, in chains, there. I shivered. Then the shrieking started.
"Oh shit!" I exclaimed, and started to make my way out of there and fast. That's when I felt the coldness set in. I decided to try and wake myself up from this.
I woke up with a start. I looked around. "That is it," I said, and climbed out of bed.
Since Steve and I found out where this castle was, I had decided to take a little trip there and find out what was going on.
*****
Around 9 o'clock, I called the airlines, and made reservations for a flight out to Scotland, where the castle was. Sav had agreed to go with me, which I was thankful for.
I didn't want to go alone. After calling the airlines, I called Sav and told him to get his stuff together. We were leaving that afternoon.
We quickly stopped off for lunch before heading to the airport. We boarded the plane and got settled in our seats. I pulled out something from my jacket pocket.
"What's that?" Sav asked.
"Steve's necklace," I replied, "He forgot it when he left that night." I felt the tears coming on again, and looked over at Sav. His eyes were watering up too.
"When's the funeral for him?" he asked me.
"I'm not sure. His Mother will let us know," I replied, and closed my eyes. Before long, we were on our way to Scotland.
We arrived later that day, and checked into our hotel. We decided to share one room, considering the circumstances. Neither one of us wanted to be alone.
I spoke to the lady at the front desk. "I have a reservation for two."
"Name please," she responded, in a thick Scottish accent.
"It's under Elliott."
"Just a moment," she said, and went to the backroom.
"What's taking so long?" Sav asked.
"Who knows," I replied. That's when she finally came back to the desk.
"Sorry for the delay. Here are your keys. Room 716," she told us.
"Thank you," I said. We went up to our room.
"Hey, this looks great," Sav said, when he walked inside. He put his bags next to the door. I just stopped in the doorway, with my mouth wide opened.
"This is not what I had reserved," I said.
"It isn't?"
"No."
I slowly stepped inside, looking around. There was a small kitchen, a huge bath, living room, bedroom, and a balcony.
"Excuse me?" someone behind me asked. I jumped, and turned around.
"Yes?" I replied.
"Are you Mr. Elliott?"
"Yes. What can I do for you?" Iasked him.
"Just here to deliver a message," he said, handing me a note, "Enjoy your stay."
"Thank you. We will," I replied before he left. I opened the envelope, and read it. I reached into my wallet, to give him a tip, but he was gone.
"I should have known," I said.
"What?" Sav said, his voice shaking. I looked over at him. He was lying on the bed, and the bed was moving.
"Built in massager," he said with a smile.
"Mal reserved this for us," I told him.
"Why would he do that?"
"According to this, he didn't want us freaked out when we came back home," I told him, laughing.
"It's late. Let's get some dinner, and settle down for the night. We'll check out the castle tomorrow," I said.
"Good idea. I'm starved," Sav said, heading for the kitchen.
We had a good dinner and settled down for the evening. We decided to make plans for tomorrow.
Sign up to rate and review this story