There are songs that just make you stop dead in your tracks when you are hearing them.
Covina, California, in the Fall of 1991, I was at the intersection of San Bernadino Ave, waiting to turn left onto Citrus Ave. going south. That's when I first heard Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana.
Driving onto Citrus, there was a Taco Bell there, I
don't think it's there now.
I pulled over and parked right in front
of that Taco Bell just to be able to listen to the rest of
that song.
Several years later, I was playing bass guitar in a couple of bands. The guitarist gave me a mix CD, because that's just what you did in the 1990s. I was grateful, it was very cool music. But towards the end Buzzin Fly by Tim Buckley came on. I had that song on repeat for at least three days straight.
The power of music.
Here's another track that floored me when I first heard it.
It kills me that Elbow isn't more popular, they should be up there with bands like U2. That they are not just speaks to the broken and depressed state of our world.
Go listen to more songs by Elbow. I assure you, they are very cool.
Before the Walkman was released in 1979, people had stereos. Sure, there were those crummy radios in cars (and some even had 8 track players), with analogue dials, clunky push buttons for "pre-set" stations, and one speaker on the top of the dashboard.
But, mostly, people had stereos. Big component systems with a receiver the size of fishtank, an amp, maybe a decent cassette player, a turn table on the top and 5 foot high speakers. I remember my sister had something like that, maybe not that nice, but a big stereo. What I'll always remember were her headphones. Big, strapping black headphones that could shut out the sound of a jet engine if you put them on. Which was the whole point. You would sit down (or lie down, which was better) and listen to your music with no distractions. You could read the liner notes of the album, or look at the large album cover art, and listen to music. And do nothing else but listen.
Then Sony introduced the Walkman. Which came with really crappy earphones. And the way the world listened to music changed. For the worse.
After the Walkman, people stopped just listening to music. Instead, they began listening to their music while doing stuff. While walking, obviously, but also while jogging, bike riding, on the subway, at work, in the car, while camping, in class, anywhere doing almost anything. It's appalling.
And it's worse today. Music is everywhere, and that's not a good thing. We even have music on our phones now. How many people just listen to music anymore? And that's a drag, because there is some music that demands, DEMANDS I SAY, you to just sit down, stop everything, and pay attention.
Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd is like that. You can't listen to Dark Side On The Moon on a Walkman. Well, technically, you could. But you shouldn't. You lose all the nuance, all the little intricate details of tone and balance and colour. Everything that makes that album a masterpiece is rendered null when you just plop on the phones and rush off to run some errands. Seriously, don't listen to the Floyd on a Walkman.
And neither should you listen to this track by the mighty Elbow on a Walkman. You shouldn't even listen to it on this blog. Really. You should get 5 foot high speakers, sit down and blast this out through them until the windows crack, until all the neighbours are up, until everyone within a three mile radius experiences the wonder and joy of Elbow.
I can think of few better songs for a Saturday. Wake up, throw those curtains wide, and just stop and listen.
