When someone says, "Well, I guess I'll have to face the music", it doesn't mean that he is planning to go to hear a singer or attend a concert. It is something far sadder than you are called in by your leader to explain why you did this and that or why you did not do this or that.
At some time or another, every one of us has to "face the music", especially as children. We can all remember Father's angry words "I want to talk to you". And only because we did not listen to him. What a bad thing it was!
In the middle or at the end of every term, we students have to "face the music". The result of the exam will decide whether we will face the music or not. If.…that means parents' cold faces and contempt (轻蔑) of the teachers and classmates.
The American novelist James Fennimore Cooper said in 1851 that the expression "face the music" was first used by actors while waiting aside to go on stage. When it was their turn to go on the stage, they often said, "It's time to face the music." An actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved onto the stage in front of the audience because they might be friendly, or perhaps they are hostile, especially if he forgot what he would say. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. He would lose his job.
"To face the music" is well known to every American, young or old. It is at least 100 years old. It really means that you have to do something, no matter how terrible the whole thing might be, because you know you have no choice.
