Thursday, December 8, 2011

Dear Sir or Madam, Will You Read My Blog?

Because it sure as hell is going to take me years to write, so I'd appreciate it if you could take a look. If you got that reference, you're in the right place. If you didn't... all will be revealed. In time.
I've never been one of those guys who can just let music play in the background. I remember this birthday party I once had, years ago, when I was less than ten years old. I put on this casette to play and got supremely pissed when everyone wouldn't just shut up and listen. My dad had to convince me that people might prefer to talk or eat or, well, do something rather than just sit around listening to a casette from start to finish.
Since then I've gotten used to people ignoring the music that I can't help but listen to. Not just hear, but listen. And that's why listening to music is a bit of a private exercise for me. I prefer to just let the various strains, the various lines of music wash over me. I prefer to keep my mouth shut and my ears open. Sometimes I'll listen to a song and then play it back, this time just focusing on the bass line, the next time letting the drums dominate the song. I let the words create images in my mind and try and create images that become a part of the melody, just another instrument. If I do this right, I get that shiver down my spine, that feeling of... aptness that I only feel when sound and image complement each other to the point where the one immediately brings back memories of the other.
I know other people have felt this. Think of the last time you watched a movie and felt the soundtrack swell inside your head untill it becomes an integral part of the scene. That's when you're plugged in. That's when youre connected. And that's what I want other people to feel.
I still love to share music with my friends, to tell them what to listen for, to try and control their experience so that they could feel what I have felt. Unsurprisingly, not everyone appreciates that kind of control. i'm not sure I would either. All the same, I do want to share my experience; I do want people to know what I'm listening to.
And that's why I made this blog. Long ago, I was listening to Jessica, an amazing instrumental piece by the Allman Brothers' Band. Though there were no words, I could see what the music was telling me. Sometimes it was like a bird soaring over a bridge; sometimes a car driving along that bridge as the sun bursts into existence. I'd never felty anything like it. I knew I had to share it.
So I made this blog. I wanted to describe my experience as I listen to a song. I wanted people to know what it's like. Unfortunately, because of my studies, my hectic work schedule, my responsibilities, I haven't been able to post anything. Whenever I felt that sense of internal harmony with a song, I was away from my keyboard.
But one day, I'll be able to write about what I feel as I listen to The Who, Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts, George Harrison, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Johnny Cash; all of them!
One day.
Till then, this is a litttle teaser. When I finally do start filling this blog with y thoughts, they'll mostly deal with songs by The Beatles. You probably would have already guessed that. But as I mentioned earlier, there will be others too. I won't be writing from an academic standpoint. Nor will I be writing from a critical standpoint. I don't have enough knowledge about such things to attempt them. Instead, I'll write about the music I love from an emotional standpoint. I'll describe the feelings every true music lover feels when he hears a familiar tune.
Just wait. It'll happen.
Until then, farewell.
Oh, and yes, I do want to be a paperback writer.

3 comments:

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    1. My God. A comment. After two years. Two years!
      You have no idea how much I love you right now, Keith.

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