I am just glad that I have a few friends that love music like I love it.
My girlfriend is one of them. However, she likes a slightly different breed of music than me, which is totally cool because she shares the same opinion as me of 'pop' music. She also isn't a fanatical as me when it comes to my listening method and connection to music(see below).
Now, not all pop music is evil, bad, pointless Brittany Spears shit. I listen to the 'top 40' stuff once in a great while to hear if there is anything that catches my fancy. Rarely there is something in the sound of a song that I have to have.
My trouble is I listen to music in an odd fashion. Most people, I am guessing from experience, are lyrics people (GF is one of them), they listen to the words and get a reaction from the words. I am this way with some artists; Tom Petty, Tom Waits, Steppenwolf, Porcupine Tree etc etc. But, mostly I am a instrumental guy. That doesn't mean I like songs with just instruments, I consider the voice to be a instrument. I am moved more by the sheer composition of the music and the way that everything binds to create a 'sound' than by the lyrics. I guess this is why I can be equally moved by SRV (however Tin Pan Alley and Little Wing are two of the most powerful songs SRV does IMO) and by Kronos Quintet.
I know a lot of folks can't do this in their car system, but I have a very precise listening routine. First I shut off all of my electronic devices that I don't need -- bathroom fan (noisy mother ****er), lights, TV, Cell Phone, PDA, Computer, I've even unplugged my Refrigerator before (compressor makes too much noise). Second I pick 3 to 4 albums, CD and/or Vinyl, trying to find cohesion between the music to give myself an emotional flow though the music; don't want to end on too much of a downer. IMO, music can be almost as dangerous as it is refreshing, so you have to be careful sometimes. One of my favorite movie lines of all time is by John Cusack in 'High Fidelity', he said "Which came first the music or the misery?". Basically, he is saying that could music be responsible for the misery of people? Obviously no, but it might help in the propagation of it. Anyway, third I sit down play the music, close my eyes, and try to dissolve into the sound. The goal is not to hear the music, I hear music everyday, it is to be the music. To disappear into a mental state where there is nothing but beautiful wonderful sound. When this is done properly there are no walls, floors, ceiling, CD Players, Pre-Amplifier, Loudspeakers, Amplifiers, Chairs, people, only music. Screw drugs, alcohol, ***, adrenaline, driving fast, etc etc this feeling I get tops them all. It's like main lining feeling, emotion, happiness, sadness, regret, loss, love, hate, confusion, understanding, etc etc directly to the soul.
I would have to say that most people that listen to pop music or the Top 40s will never experience this, and will never understand it. They are happy with the 'noise' which they call music. Angry or aggressive songs about how much life sucks, I'll pass. Now I am not saying that good music doesn't show sadness or pain, but it does so in a fashion in which you feel it. Not in a way that only causes pain to your senses. Plus I find a lot of pop music when it is talking about 'sadness and pain' it is the 'oh feel sorry for me' sadness and pain. I don't have time for that crap. In the worlds of Tony Soprano "What ever happened to the Gary Coleman types". Too many people are wussies today, which I think is reflected in popular music.
Oh, and so I don't have to listen to the drivel they play on the radio when I am in the car (I hate letting my CDs leave my apartment, because sometimes they never return //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif) I listen to talk radio. 700 WLW FTW! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif
