Music is so ubiquitous that it takes conscious effort to be in silence. Screen savers, cell phones ringtones, while on hold waiting to be connected to be a real human, public places, car stereos, the home theatre system and much else in between is replete with music. It makes perfect sense to take a day off from music even if for contemplation on its exuberant profusion.
I have come to that point in life when discovering new music and genres is increasingly tiring even boring. No longer is a "new unlike anything else" sound worth seeking out. Chance discoveries are welcome but very rarely has it enthused me enough to check out other works of the artist or even the full album if one song caught attention. There is an abundance of music tinged with nostalgia that is easier to turn to for comfort - just like soul food is easier to reach out to than the finest gourmet delicacies.
Great music once needed to be sought out with great effort but now everything is a click away and some loose change to download. Such easy access somehow makes even the very best less desirable. Many of us have enormous collections of music that we always mean to listen too but end up only stockpiling more and more. Music has been tainted by the same consumer culture that fills our lives with a surfeit of things that we have little use for.
I never fail to remind J that there is a time and place for everything. It is possibly the line she will remember me by when I am dead and gone given how frequently she hears it. Instead of having her breakfast she will break into a song and dance number from High School Musical well past eight on Monday morning. She will insist that I watch and applaud the performance instead of screaming at her to finish her milk and cereal. Her sense of occasion is seriously lacking but then so is mine. Consider for example, a person walks into the grocery store with the express purpose of buying detergent because they are fresh out of it and laundry is only half way done. However instead of heading straight for detergent, they wander over to the natural foods aisle and go berserk upon finding goat milk on sale for a dollar a gallon. They at once proceed to stock pile so they can turn it to huge quantities home-made feta cheese. That person would be me. It would not concern me in the least that I ha...
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