[Context: read the previous part or start at the beginning. TW: bad amateur fiction!]
“So,” said Cissy as she checked her watch, “my point in bringing up favorite pop songs was — well, can you guess?”
Gerald struck a contemplative pose. “You started by noting that pop music is…I think your word was ‘ephemeral’,” he recalled. “But then you solicited examples showing that, at least once in a while, a song comes along that endures for many years.”
“Mmm, yeah, OK,” Cissy said semi-affirmingly. “But let’s specifically consider the makers of those songs — in this case, Bobby Kimball — was that his name? — and the members of Toto.” She looked Gerald in the eye. “Not to be overly dramatic about this,” she said, “but…can Bobby feel good about his life? About his legacy?”
Gerald laughed; he had not seen that question coming. “I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I mean, I guess so. He gave the world some great songs…Although most of them are forgotten by this point…”
Cissy pounced. “Yes, most of his work has been forgotten by most people. But not by you! ‘Africa’ came out in the ’80s, right?”
“Right. The album Toto IV was released in 1982, but ‘Africa’ hit number one as a single in 1983, after the lead single ‘Rosanna’ went to number two.”
Cissy rolled her eyes. “OK. A long time ago. But the song brought you joy then, and it still brings you joy — or transcendence, or whatever that state was where you held forth about Bobby leading the choir to the promised land.”
Gerald continued to listen attentively.
“So, if I’m Bobby Kimball,” Cissy said, “part of me may be depressed that most of my songs are not on the radio anymore. But, thanks to the perceptiveness that allowed me to intuit the surprising necessity of blessing those distant rains, I also know that ‘Africa’ made a difference in the lives of thousands of people, and that many of my other songs — my lesser hits and album cuts — still had some impact on some people. And if I wanted to sum up all of those impacts, I couldn’t, because that sum — the sum of the ‘somes,’ if you will — is not quantifiable. But it certainly is profound!”
“I suppose so,” Gerald said a bit grudgingly. He wondered if Cissy ever lost an argument.
“And that’s not even taking into account the rest of his life,” she continued briskly. “Maybe Bobby has donated money to some great causes. Maybe he removes litter from public parks on Sundays. Maybe he’s a great dad.”
“Maybe,” Gerald said. Even he had no idea what Bobby had been up to since the ’80s.
“I think,” Cissy said, “that, when people try to sum up the impact of a life, they usually make at least two or three different errors of summation.” After a slight pause, she added, “Three errors that really are all the same type of error, which is considering only the peaks of distributions, and neglecting the long tails.”
“The long tails,” Gerald repeated, trying to follow along.
“Yeah. You know how bad people are at statistics. Anyway, in Toto terms –” Cissy seemed to be winding up for a big finish — “how Bobby Kimball is usually judged, and how he may be tempted to judge himself, is based on the impact of his biggest songs on his biggest fans in his peak years of popularity. But if you factor in all of the other songs, and all of the other fans, and all of the other years, his actual footprint is much, much larger. And he can feel good about that!”
“Gosh, Cissy, that’s…”
“And, Gerald, I am so sorry to do this to you, but I am now quite late for my next meeting. I’d be happy to continue this later, though.”
She gave Gerald a quick chaste hug and then she was off.
[Update: the story continues with part 36.]
My Track Record 
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