4,772 songs.
395 albums.
173 artists.
And still counting.
From indie to the classics,
Hip-hop to hardcore,
Ska to techno to bluegrass.
Albums that I wore out as a high school student
And an few I picked up just days ago at Half-Price Books.
The music that you listen to,
As well as those artists you choose to ignore,
Say volumes about who you are.
I received an IPOD as a Christmas present about five years ago.
It’s been through a lot,
Including a hard drive crash in which I lost everything;
Not my happiest moment.
The other day I was flipping through my IPOD
When a frustrated thought entered my mind:
“I have nothing to listen to.
”Really?
Over 4,000 songs and not one worth hearing again?
Almost 400 albums and nothing worth listening to?
If that was the case, what were those albums doing on my IPOD;
Why does music exist other than to be listened to, experienced, and digested?
If I was not giving my music this respect, why did I even bother owning an IPOD?
And that’s when an idea hit me that took me back to childhood:
I distinctly remember frequently spending time on the floor of my bedroom
Listening to an album on my CD player
While I scoured the lyrics and studied the artwork.
It was nothing to sit in my room and listen to an album in its entirety.
Life, back then, was measured in ten-song increments.
Years later, my life is measured in singles.
We no longer have time to stop our world long enough to listen to a whole album.
Our busy schedules permit us a song or two between stops;
So let’s hear the standout tunes.
We only have time for singles.
When did I start to accept a life this busy;
One that I allow to be measured by top 40 radio-hits and easily digestible choruses?
I refuse.
I will not live in a world where music is relegated to 3 and a half minutes or less;
Where artists don’t write their own lyrics,
Play their own instruments or
Sing their own songs.
I want no place in a scene where the “next best thing” is the only thing
And where sex appeal sells more albums than soul-stirring lyrics.
My rebellion is taking shape as an experiment;
One that will value the “whole” over its individual parts.
I plan to listen to each of the almost 400 albums on my IPOD, in their entirety,
Moving through them in alphabetical order.
This task will start with the [A --> B] Life by mewithoutyou
And perhaps, even years later,
End with the album Zooropa by U2.
My thoughts on the magic contained in each album
However earth-shaking or elementary they may be,
Will be recorded here.
Check back often.
As I experience each album I will post my reflections.
Maybe you will be reintroduced to an old, forgotten favorite
Or even meet a new album for the first time.
But, to be honest, this task is about much more than just music;
It’s about pace of life, about slowing down.
Enjoying art the way it was created to be experienced,
As a whole and not a fragment.
It’s about looking at the entire masterpiece and not just the corner;
About taking time to stop and listen instead of just hearing.
Along the way I’m sure to rediscover the music that has shaped me
And by proxy perhaps I’ll even rediscover
Myself.
395 albums.
173 artists.
And still counting.
From indie to the classics,
Hip-hop to hardcore,
Ska to techno to bluegrass.
Albums that I wore out as a high school student
And an few I picked up just days ago at Half-Price Books.
The music that you listen to,
As well as those artists you choose to ignore,
Say volumes about who you are.
I received an IPOD as a Christmas present about five years ago.
It’s been through a lot,
Including a hard drive crash in which I lost everything;
Not my happiest moment.
The other day I was flipping through my IPOD
When a frustrated thought entered my mind:
“I have nothing to listen to.
”Really?
Over 4,000 songs and not one worth hearing again?
Almost 400 albums and nothing worth listening to?
If that was the case, what were those albums doing on my IPOD;
Why does music exist other than to be listened to, experienced, and digested?
If I was not giving my music this respect, why did I even bother owning an IPOD?
And that’s when an idea hit me that took me back to childhood:
I distinctly remember frequently spending time on the floor of my bedroom
Listening to an album on my CD player
While I scoured the lyrics and studied the artwork.
It was nothing to sit in my room and listen to an album in its entirety.
Life, back then, was measured in ten-song increments.
Years later, my life is measured in singles.
We no longer have time to stop our world long enough to listen to a whole album.
Our busy schedules permit us a song or two between stops;
So let’s hear the standout tunes.
We only have time for singles.
When did I start to accept a life this busy;
One that I allow to be measured by top 40 radio-hits and easily digestible choruses?
I refuse.
I will not live in a world where music is relegated to 3 and a half minutes or less;
Where artists don’t write their own lyrics,
Play their own instruments or
Sing their own songs.
I want no place in a scene where the “next best thing” is the only thing
And where sex appeal sells more albums than soul-stirring lyrics.
My rebellion is taking shape as an experiment;
One that will value the “whole” over its individual parts.
I plan to listen to each of the almost 400 albums on my IPOD, in their entirety,
Moving through them in alphabetical order.
This task will start with the [A --> B] Life by mewithoutyou
And perhaps, even years later,
End with the album Zooropa by U2.
My thoughts on the magic contained in each album
However earth-shaking or elementary they may be,
Will be recorded here.
Check back often.
As I experience each album I will post my reflections.
Maybe you will be reintroduced to an old, forgotten favorite
Or even meet a new album for the first time.
But, to be honest, this task is about much more than just music;
It’s about pace of life, about slowing down.
Enjoying art the way it was created to be experienced,
As a whole and not a fragment.
It’s about looking at the entire masterpiece and not just the corner;
About taking time to stop and listen instead of just hearing.
Along the way I’m sure to rediscover the music that has shaped me
And by proxy perhaps I’ll even rediscover
Myself.
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