Monday, May 05, 2008
The Music Man
My mid-life crisis is manifesting itself in very peculiar ways. I have started running, swimming, and biking. I have been having a renewed appreciation for my wife's curves. And I have been listening to a ton of new music.
Music has always been an interest. I have a distinct memory of buying my first album, Face Dances, by the Who. I remember being nervous spending so much money on an item that I did not know anything about. Was I going to like it? Self-conscious that the clerk would think I was an idiot, yet at the same time, being so excited to own some of my own music.
I listened to it non-stop and I think I can still recite the lyrics to You Better You Bet.
I have not purchased music with those emotions in many years. With age comes confidence, prudence, and maybe even some wisdom. That clerk is no longer a cool teenager, they are possible students of mine.
But lately, I have been buying new music with the mindset of a spendthrift, with lack of knowledge of a boy, and with the excitement of owning something for the first time.
Just last week I bought the CD, Sounds of Silver, by LCD Sound System. Why this CD and not something more mainstream? Maybe because I wanted something unique but I believe that it is because I know absolutely nothing about techno that drew me to make this whimsical purchase. I felt all those familiar feelings buying the CD. That same clerk who I looked down on a month ago, now was causing me to feel hesitation.
My hands trembled when I open the CD. I hid the case from Sarah because I knew she would not approve of the $14 spent. I examined the artwork. I read about the artists. I knew I had to listen to it in private for fear of being discovered so I had to wait until I got to work to steal a listen.
How could I not love it.
The first time through was fun and exciting. As I started to listen to it again, and again, I found other reasons to like it. My favorite song today is called All My Friends which is ironically about looking back on ones life and seeing where you have come and seeing who made the journey with you. "You spent the first five years trying to get with the plan, and the next five years trying to be with your friends again."
Where has my journey taken me? Who made it with me?
Music has always been an interest. I have a distinct memory of buying my first album, Face Dances, by the Who. I remember being nervous spending so much money on an item that I did not know anything about. Was I going to like it? Self-conscious that the clerk would think I was an idiot, yet at the same time, being so excited to own some of my own music.
I listened to it non-stop and I think I can still recite the lyrics to You Better You Bet.
I have not purchased music with those emotions in many years. With age comes confidence, prudence, and maybe even some wisdom. That clerk is no longer a cool teenager, they are possible students of mine.
But lately, I have been buying new music with the mindset of a spendthrift, with lack of knowledge of a boy, and with the excitement of owning something for the first time.
Just last week I bought the CD, Sounds of Silver, by LCD Sound System. Why this CD and not something more mainstream? Maybe because I wanted something unique but I believe that it is because I know absolutely nothing about techno that drew me to make this whimsical purchase. I felt all those familiar feelings buying the CD. That same clerk who I looked down on a month ago, now was causing me to feel hesitation.
My hands trembled when I open the CD. I hid the case from Sarah because I knew she would not approve of the $14 spent. I examined the artwork. I read about the artists. I knew I had to listen to it in private for fear of being discovered so I had to wait until I got to work to steal a listen.
How could I not love it.
The first time through was fun and exciting. As I started to listen to it again, and again, I found other reasons to like it. My favorite song today is called All My Friends which is ironically about looking back on ones life and seeing where you have come and seeing who made the journey with you. "You spent the first five years trying to get with the plan, and the next five years trying to be with your friends again."
Where has my journey taken me? Who made it with me?
