I was enjoying a quiet evening at home and before I realized it; I was half-heartedly searching for a CD to enjoy while waiting for my OS X Lion to download. A rummage in one of my infrequently visited, darker closets resulted in the retrieval of The Rolling Stones’ “Black and Blue” CD.
It is simply amazing the power of the medium which we call music commands. As I have not listened to this CD in a little while, the decades effortlessly melted away and I was provided a very vivid window to many of my yesterdays after the play button was pressed. Although I tended to keep to myself as a teen, I did have a couple of friends whose company I enjoyed and could not help but wonder how their lives have evolved since those early days. You think fondly of those simple, carefree days, you understand that the journey ahead is now much shorter than the road already travelled and you ponder what the future may also bring. All this and so much more from a forgotten CD.
Sometimes I wonder if at times, I cannot hear or experience music for the technology involved in its reproduction. I deeply enjoy my music as it provides a most fragile escape from the daily trials or tribulations known simply as life. Perhaps this may be considered an oversimplified “meat and potatoes” analogy but my cherished audio gear refines it all into a high delicacy. You close your eyes, the technology still remains, albeit in the shadowy fringe but the music remains paramount, as it should.
Have we forgotten about the message of music and now only consider the technology of audio reproduction in the pursuit of perfection that will never be? I have known individuals to acquire audio equipment for aesthetic purposes only and very seldom play any music in these systems.
With all this taken into account, to what degree does our favorite music genre define us as an individual or is it only a minute thread in our personal tapestry? My mom and dad recently paid us a visit. My dad wanted to search on-line for some of his favorite music and after an hour or so on-line I offered to show my dad some of the music that I enjoy. Without the slightest hesitation, he calmly inquires as to which coffin did they just crawl out of? Interestingly enough, this is a similar observation I receive from many of my peers at the office. Is my music a vanguard of my darker outlook in life? I often contemplate where the music ends and the individual begins – what a convoluted mess.
Perhaps it is time to darken the room, light a solitary candle and return home once again.
Be well…
