Thinking about Ipods
I’ve been a little concerned about something lately.
Like most middle-class Americans who aren’t hearing impaired I listen to my Ipod almost constantly. I’ve picked out a thousand or so songs that I like, and I listen to them on a loop. It’s difficult for a new song to break into my increasingly circular musical world. I’m pretty much listening to the same stuff constantly.
Now I think we’re all in general agreement that there are two levels on which we experience a piece of music. There’s the sonic arrangement itself (the songs notes and rhythms and other musical jargon that I don’t know) and then there are the memories that particular song evokes.
When I listen to “Yer So Bad” I like the noises the guitar makes and Tom Petty’s raspy voice but even more than that I like to be reminded of a girl named Amanda who almost let me sleep with her in high school. It’s a three minute shot of nostalgia. I think Chuck Klosterman wrote about this.
So that brings me to my concern. If music I like is at least half a vehicle for re-experiencing pleasant memories, and I spend my whole day listening to such music, instead of turning on the radio and taking chances on new tunes, am I shutting myself off from new experiences? Am I making enough new memories? Is it healthy to spend your early 20’s swimming around in old memories instead of making new ones? Probably not.
I’d close this by advocating a return to FM radio if it weren’t so lousy with garbage.
