Music plays a significant role in getting me through my days. I am fascinated by it, but it is something that is opaque to me. I am terrible at musical things. I can’t keep a beat. I can’t hear all the parts I’m supposed to and I tend to like things that others tell me sound terrible. I have talents (admittedly small) in myriad other areas, but when it comes to music there’s only one way to put it. I suck. I can’t sing, I can’t play any instrument, nor can I dance to any of it.
I’m still hooked. I won’t say all kinds of music because that’s not true. There are some types of music that simply do not appeal to me. That’s OK because it gives the things I do like a frame of reference. The second blog post I ever made had a link to two different musical bits. I’ve been listening to what makes me happy for a long time.
I have a pair of wireless headphones that I use every day in the office. I have an almost constant stream of music rolling. While the music has changed and grown over the years it is something that has been constant for me. Don’t get me wrong – I’m no Henry Rollins, traveling the globe to hunt down music festivals in Timbuktu – but I listen. I prefer recorded stuff these days. I don’t want to go to music festivals or stadium shows anymore.
I’ve been told that I should listen to music for the sake of listening to music. I can and have, but on a day to day basis I *use* it. Music becomes the thing that keeps me focused while I’m struggling with something OR conversely it becomes the escape when I hit some problem that makes me need to let my mind wander.
Internet streaming services have made this infinitely more interesting and viable. It’s fantastic for finding new stuff or reviving old stuff I haven’t heard in an age.
When I started writing this I’m certain I had a link in mind for sharing the musical bit that inspired this… and now I’ve cycled through a bunch of other stuff and appear to have lost it.
What sort of things do you listen to?