Giving Music A Chance

A few days ago I was working at my laptop and I heard the first couple of bars of a particular song. I hadn’t heard it in a while and it instantly grabbed my attention and made me stop what I was doing. It was Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. I love that track. I just had to stop and listen. There are some songs that do that. I wouldn’t be able to list all that affect me that way, in truth the list is probably mood related and what catches my attention today may not have the same effect tomorrow. But I think Wish You Were Here could very well do it every time.

It got me wondering if I really gave music a chance to move me anymore. I like to work with music playing in the background (usually set to random), I go to concerts regularly, and I’ll turn on the radio often. So I usually get a blast of new and familiar songs all through the week. If it’s something new, and I really like it I’ll buy the CD, import it into iTunes, and “listen”, most likely from my computer while I’m working. What I rarely do is put it into my CD player and sit down with the sole purpose of listening.

I’m out of the habit of actually choosing an album and putting it on and playing it all the way from beginning to end. Then putting it on again, and again, if I really enjoyed it. When did I last do that? Right now I’m listening to random play music using iTunes! I just had a song by The Magic Numbers, followed by Thelonius Monk, and now it’s the turn of Harold Budd and Brian Eno. I like random play, it can re-acquaint you with music you’ve not heard for a while, but I don’t think it’s truly listening.

(Dionne Warwick has just started asking why do you have to be a Heartbreaker.)

The great beauty of random play is you get surprised by what comes next. But I really don’t think it is the same as putting on the artist you most want to hear, sitting back and letting it do its work. The right music can turn a foul mood into pure joy, it can induce calm, and it can bring feelings and memories you may have forgotten, flooding back. The Beatles’ Abbey Road, Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks and almost anything by Nick Drake can send me into an almost meditative state. Yet it’s months, maybe years, since I blocked off an hour to do nothing but listen to an album.

(Leonard Cohen is claiming he was Never Any Good.)

So I plan to do it today. I haven’t picked the time, the artist or the album yet, but I’m going to do it. Now that I’ve written it down I feel I must succeed, I am honour bound. I have to say I’m really looking forward to it. The prospect of having a period of uninterrupted time, listening to the artist that I most want to hear, has started having a positive effect already. I can’t wait. But I have to. I have a couple of things that I feel I must do first so I’ll do it late this afternoon or tonight.

I’ll report back letting you know what I picked and how it worked out.

In the meantime here is the random selection of music that iTunes played for me as I wrote this post.

1. Let Somebody In - The Magic Numbers (Those The Brokes)
2. Misterioso - Thelonious Monk (‘Round Midnight and Other Jazz Classics)
3. Not Yet Remembered - Harold Budd & Brian Eno (Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirrors)
4. Heartbreaker- Dionne Warwick (The Essential Collection Disc 2)
5. The Cool, Cool River - Paul Simon (The Paul Simon Anthology Disc 2)
6. Great Northerns Stomp - Otis Spann (My Home In The Delta BC #32)
7. Party Girl - Elvis Costello & The Attractions (Armed Forces)
8. For All We Know - Dave Brubeck Quartet (The Great Concerts)
9. Cry! Cry! Cry! - Johnny Cash (Walking The Line: The Legendary Sun Recordings – CD1)
10. Porgi Amor - Kiri Te Kanawa (Mozart Arias)
11. Jambalaya - Clifton Chenier (Frenchin’ The Blues BC #42)
12. Honey Don’t - The Beatles (Beatles For Sale)
13. Never Any Good- Leonard Cohen (More Best Of)

Related posts:

1. Music in the Office – It Works For Me
2. Foot Tapping Fun at The Coach House, Dublin Castle
3. Positive Influence or Gifts that Keep Giving