I am, at the moment, without music. My earphones just stopped working this morning so I slipped them into an envelope and sent them off in the hope that the earphone pixies will be able to fix them. This means that my journey home was littered with sounds that I've not heard in quite a while. Talk of fashion from the people who have opted for a 'tipple' after work. Moving on to a couple of Italians, holding a conversation with the aid of hugely lavish hand gestures, I'm assuming that this is essential when talking on a cramped platform. And let's not forget the BBC (I'm assuming, he got on at White City) employee who's phone call was so important that on the off chance the phone wasn't working his shouts would carry his point over to the guy on the other end. If I may, “I don't want to tell you how to do your job but your junior should not be expressing his opinion in the meeting”, if I had a spine I would have asked “then why the hell invite him?”
It's not all bad, it felt a lot like sticking your head out of the window and taking a deep breath. It was actually rather nice, every day, I hear nothing but what I pipe into my ears but today, it felt like I was more awake, taking in the sounds that would usually go unheard. That being said, I can't wait for the pixies to return the earphones.
This brings me nicely (ok, so not so nicely but we're loosely sticking to the theme of music) on to the subject of illegal downloads, it seems everyone has an opinion on this, either for or against. I, for one, still buy CDs, I don't know why as I don't really have a CD player, in-fact as soon as the CD arrives, I put it into the laptop and make mp3s from it.
I would have to put my hands up and say, yes, I do download albums but I do so with no intention of keeping them. If I don't like the album, I delete the files, if I like it, I buy the CD. I'm not saying this makes it ok, it doesn't, it's still illegal. It does, however, let me hear the music in my own time (rather than at a listening booth in HMV) and it's saved me from buying albums I'm unlikely to listen to more than once. I think it's a good method, at the end of the day, I still buy the CD and if everyone did this, if all artists released low quality mp3s of their music for free then it would help separate the wheat from the chaff, it may even force artists to make better quality music!
Visual art makes me think, I enjoy going to a gallery even tho I don't know much about art and certainly can't comment with any intelligence or authority but I like it and usually have a good day. Music, on the other hand, can move me, I can lose myself completely and isn't this just the sort of thing that makes life worth living? Every now and then, I find it's good to submit, to let go so why not have to good soundtrack to do this to?
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5 comments:
music definitely does change the way we see the world and see ourselves in it....
you only have to watch a movie with the soundtrack muted to understand why...
certain musical choices seem to me to be intrinsically part and parcel of certain experiences: radiohead for wandering around unknown cities late at night; keith jarrett for sunny car rides up mountain roads; the streets for taking any kind of public transport...
but while music can make life seem richer, it also places you at a remove from it, especially when your head is directly plugged in to your ipod...
conversation is pointless, interaction is limited and understanding is nigh on impossible...
for all we listen to, there is so much we cannot hear...
still, better an ipod and headphones than having to listen to half of somebody else's conversations...
I agree but it must be said, on the tube, a chosen soundtrack beats the soundtrack of life hands down. Also, I find REM is great for crowded underground stations for some reason....
I love listening to music in a train or a car and looking out the window- the sure way to feel like your life is a film!
Very true Marianne. I like to do that too.
I would feel lost without my music too Josh. Hope you get your headphones back soon.
Marianne, I often feel like I'm wasting time doing this and that I should be more productive, thankfully I ignore that thought.
Ariane, It's out of my hands now, the pixies have not told me how long it'll take but I'm hoping it won't take long. In the mean time, you'll find me bopping my head to the beat coming from the earphones of that guy who plays his music too loud.
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