Wednesday, April 2, 2008

The positives of a broken mp3 player

It's been broken for a while and I need a new one. But, I don't listen to it at the gym anymore, so I have no compelling event at the moment. So, I've been dragging CDs to the car for my drives, rather than listen to my lame mixes on the mp3 player.

When you haven't listened to a whole CD from start to finish, it loses some of the context. Not every song has meaning when played before or after another song, but I think the artist arranged them in the order that they thought best; whether to tell a story or illicit a mood or series of moods or thoughts.

Obviously Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, The Who (which I don't care for), and the Beatles (among others) have albums that tell stories from start to finish. A song might stiill stand alone on your mp3 player, but played at random, it doesn't have the same impact that it does when played in the original order. Hell, it even bugs me that there's a minute gap between songs on the player, where there's none of the CD.

So, I've relived some albums in full; concept albums and regular old albums, as well. With the regular albums, I've noticed the nostalgic feelings from when I first listened to that record. Where I was the first time. Who's party. Who gave me the CD.

When you make a mix CD or load up your mp3 player (mine was only 2gbytes), you're forced to pick and choose songs. So, you won't put the songs that aren't favorites on there. You rarely put a whole album on there, unless it's new or filled with masterpieces.

As I've written before, I don't have a lot of new music. I wallow in my old crap. Which I like, still.

"Some people find new music, and some need new music thrust upon them." -- A totally butchered Shakespearian quotation

In listening to some of my old CDs, I've rediscovered some songs that I love. I'll leave you with two.

The first, I have no video to show you. I'll put in the lyrics of Lyle Lovett.

I don't like country much, and I don't know if this really qualifies, anyway. I've always liked Lyle Lovett, and I found the first CD in the country section at the Wherehouse, way back when. His lyrics are funny, smooth, and unforced. He doesn't care about the rhyme, he cares about the rhythm and the meaning. He always makes it work.

Here's my current favorite.

The Record Lady, from I Love Everybody.

Robert Earl is this friend of mine
You know he's always looking after my best interest
He told me Lyle P. you need to get some action
Get your head back in line
You need to get out on your own boy
This hanging around here's got to stop
Get out on your own boy
And take a little trip to the record shop

I said the record shop
But Robert I don't need no records
He just smiled and he said
What you need is a

Record lady
Record lady
She's got the cutest little cartridge
That you've ever seen
She's a phonographic dream

I didn't waste no time about it
I put on my coat and shoes
I packed up my old rocking chair
And I left them hell on Church Street blues
And I went down to the record shop
What else could I do?

She was five-foot-one-and-three-quarters
Lord she claimed she five-foot-two
And she looked at me with her big green eyes
And she said can I help you find something?
I said what you got on special?

Record lady
Record lady
She's got the cutest little cartridge
That you've ever seen
She's a phonographic dream

Acting very sophisticated
I began to browse around
I walked up to the record lady
And I said I sure do like what I have found
It would be so beautiful
Please come away with me
We could run down to Istanbul
Or maybe even gay Paris

And she looked at me with her big green eyes
And she said can I help you find something?
I said what you got on special?

Record lady
Record lady
She's got the cutest little cartridge
That you've ever seen
She's a phonographic dream
A phonographic dream

One day you know I will see
My phonographic fantasy
In sweet fulfillment to the last detail
Down in Acapulco
Or even somewhere else
Just her and me together
The whole day long
Her and me together
Playing them records all night long

She's the record lady
Record lady
Record lady at the record shop
Set it spinning mama
Don't ever stop my
Record lady
Record lady


Here's number two. Anna Begins from the Counting Crows.
She's talking in her sleep
It's keeping me awake and Anna begins to toss and turn
And every word is nonsense but I understand and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing
I've been there. The part of love that outside of the area of logic and reasoning, I guess.

Adam Duritz seems to have that same lyrical ability that Lyle Lovett and Roger Waters have. You just write what you need. Conventional rules don't apply and they make it work.

After you click the play button, you might want to minimize the window or scroll down farther to read the lyrics. Who makes a video this bad and puts it to good music? Jeez. My apologies...




Anna Begins, from August And Everything After

My friend assures me, "It's all or nothing."
I am not worried I am not overly concerned
My friend implores me, "For one time only,
make an exception." I am not worried
Wrap her up in a package of lies
Send her off to a coconut island
I am not worried I am not overly concerned with the status of my emotions
"Oh," she says, "you're changing."
But we're always changing

It does not bother me to say this isn't love
Because if you don't want to talk about it then it isn't love
And I guess I'm going to have to live with that
But I'm sure there's something in a shade of grey,
Something in between,
And I can always change my name
If that's what you mean

My friend assures me, "It's all or nothing."
But I am not really worried I am not overly concerned
You try to tell yourself the things you try to tell yourself
To make yourself forget I am not worried
"If it's love," she said, "then we're going to have to think about the consequences."

She can't stop shaking I can't stop touching her and...
This time when kindness falls like rain
It washes her away and Anna begins to change her mind
"These seconds when I'm shaking leave me shuddering for days," she says
And I'm not ready for this sort of thing

But I'm not going to break and I'm not going to worry about it anymore
I'm not going to bend, and I'm not going to break and I'm not going to worry about it anymore
It seems like I should say, "As long as this is love..."
But it's not all that easy so maybe I should
Snap her up in a butterfly net
Pin her down on a photograph album
I am not worried I've done this sort of thing before
But then I start to think about the consequences
Because I don't get no sleep in a quiet room and...

The time when kindness falls like rain
It washes me away and Anna begins to change my mind
And every time she sneezes I believe it's love and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing

She's talking in her sleep
It's keeping me awake and Anna begins to toss and turn
And every word is nonsense but I understand and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing

Her kindness bangs a gong
It's moving me along and Anna begins to fade away
It's chasing me away
She disappears and Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing

4 comments:

  1. Good thoughts on listening to CDs in their entirety. Makes a difference. Sometimes. Especially with the good music.

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  2. Yes, I agree, I like to listen to whole CDs as often as I can. I have an MP3, but it's mostly for the gym. At home I use an aging boombox CD player.

    I like all my old music!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I usually put whole albums on my mp3 player. Sometimes I'll jump around but most of the time it's listening to albums. Like you said there are just songs that have to go together.

    Counting Corws is one of my favorite bands and that is one of there best songs. Check out there new album if you get the chance. It's worth it (links not provided so as not to seem spamish).

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree about listening to albums in their entirety - especially the older ones that were produced with that experience in mind. I remember being amazed at a Stevie Wonder album because he played with the lag time between tracks more than other artists of the time. (you know, the "shhhhh" of the record between tracks)

    ReplyDelete

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