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I want to know what it felt like.



Anyone who knows me beyond face value knows that music is a big piece of my life. Through our personal evolution in life we go through different stages where our interests wane and shift - there are few things that are constant. As I've crept further from my college years I've become less reliant on technology and devices I used to hold so dear and now use them to expand my love for music. Example - I'm streaming a Bon Iver concert on my laptop and casting it to my TV. I haven't turned on my cable in over a week.

 It's hard to describe the feeling you get when the precisely placed notes of a melody you love announce themselves to your eardrums, but you know the feeling. It's a feeling I wish I could bottle up and apply to other parts of life. I can throw on a CD (remember those?) or a record and instantly be taken to the place or the setting I was in when I first heard those notes. Several weekends ago I was in New Orleans for a bachelor party (future blog post) with friends I've known as long ago as 1st grade. Several of us were in the kitchen sippin' on some brews when O.A.R.'s 'Crazy Game of Poker' came on. Say what you will about that band (cough cough, sell outs), but they, in part, help defined my high school years.

 The moment the audience in the song started cheering we knew exactly what song it was after hundreds of listens over the years. Those of us in the room looked at each other and had this euphoric remembrance that took us back to Friday night poker at Andy's house. That's the feeling. Just like a film scorer lays out the audio and soundtrack for a movie, we subconsciously assign music, bands, songs, etc. to particular moments of our lives. That feeling of being transported back to a time and a place is special and what makes music so important to me.

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 I want to know what it felt like when people first heard Dark Side of the Moon. I want to know what it sounded like when 'Speak to Me/Breathe' began and the album progressed into the synth-heavy 'On the Run.' I can tell you what it felt like for me, but I grew up and continue to grow in a time where different sounds are normal thanks to the Internet and a connected world. Things were different in 1973. I want to know what it felt like to be sitting in a Pontiac Grand Am underneath a blanket of stars when all of a sudden the ticking clocks in 'Time' started playing on the radio.

 I guess I'll go watch Dazed and Confused.
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