When was the last time you sat down and listened to an entire CD? I’m talking start to finish, no other outside distractions. Not while driving your car, not while preparing dinner, not while play a game, just you and your CD, and maybe a glass of wine. How long has it been?
The Offspring’s fine album Smash starts out with the “time to relax” motif and I wonder how many of us still indulge in that. When I was a teenager, I would spend hours upon hours listening to music. I would wear albums out from overplay. I would come home from school (and if I wasn’t working) flop down on my bed, pull out a CD and let it play. I could listen to it over and over again, until I knew every word to every song. To this day, there are several albums that I know all the lyrics to, even though I may not have heard them in years.
Now, I’m lucky if an album is playing in the background and I can pause long enough to soak in one song. With the exception of when reviewing an album, I almost never get to sit and just listen to the music. Granted, listening to it in the car is almost as good, but there are still several distractions that take away from picking up the little nuances that make certain records so perfect.
Case in point, on a long road trip one night, I was listening to Pink Floyd’s The Wall (the live version) and thought about how nice it would be to just sit with the headphones on, a cold drink in hand, and let her rip. I could spare 90 minutes of my time at some point during the week, couldn’t I? If I could find the time to watch a movie, or television, then I could certainly find the time to listen to a disc that allows my body to relax.
So I’ve decided to make a pact, and I want to know if faithful readers will make it with me. We all love music, that’s why we’re here. Let’s make a pact to listen to one album, once a week, with nothing else in front of us. No work, no TV, no kids, (booze is optional). We’ll just sit and listen to the music. Allow it to overtake us and bask in its beauty. Doesn’t matter what disc you choose. Doesn’t matter if its twenty minutes or two hours, just put on the disc. It may become a new weekly ritual.
Me? I’m going to start with Dark Side of the Moon and a Captain and Cola. Be sure to send in your experiences and let me know if it was liberating, invigorating, or just plain stupid. And don’t be afraid to tell me if I’m way off base here. Maybe sitting down to play an entire album with no outside distractions is only for old fuddy-duddies.
Comments are open. Feel free to post some.
The Offspring’s fine album Smash starts out with the “time to relax” motif and I wonder how many of us still indulge in that. When I was a teenager, I would spend hours upon hours listening to music. I would wear albums out from overplay. I would come home from school (and if I wasn’t working) flop down on my bed, pull out a CD and let it play. I could listen to it over and over again, until I knew every word to every song. To this day, there are several albums that I know all the lyrics to, even though I may not have heard them in years.
Now, I’m lucky if an album is playing in the background and I can pause long enough to soak in one song. With the exception of when reviewing an album, I almost never get to sit and just listen to the music. Granted, listening to it in the car is almost as good, but there are still several distractions that take away from picking up the little nuances that make certain records so perfect.
Case in point, on a long road trip one night, I was listening to Pink Floyd’s The Wall (the live version) and thought about how nice it would be to just sit with the headphones on, a cold drink in hand, and let her rip. I could spare 90 minutes of my time at some point during the week, couldn’t I? If I could find the time to watch a movie, or television, then I could certainly find the time to listen to a disc that allows my body to relax.
So I’ve decided to make a pact, and I want to know if faithful readers will make it with me. We all love music, that’s why we’re here. Let’s make a pact to listen to one album, once a week, with nothing else in front of us. No work, no TV, no kids, (booze is optional). We’ll just sit and listen to the music. Allow it to overtake us and bask in its beauty. Doesn’t matter what disc you choose. Doesn’t matter if its twenty minutes or two hours, just put on the disc. It may become a new weekly ritual.
Me? I’m going to start with Dark Side of the Moon and a Captain and Cola. Be sure to send in your experiences and let me know if it was liberating, invigorating, or just plain stupid. And don’t be afraid to tell me if I’m way off base here. Maybe sitting down to play an entire album with no outside distractions is only for old fuddy-duddies.
Comments are open. Feel free to post some.
No comments:
Post a Comment