Blog 6: Ramble On

On what would've been Kurt Cobain's 42nd birthday (scary), I want to discuss what music means to you. How do you listen to music? Are you a casual listener who makes it nothing more than the soundtrack to your driving/work-out/house cleaning? Or are you, like myself, a die-hard, buy-every-album, research-the-artist's-childhood, visit-their-home, lover of this greatest of inventions called music? By the way, music is not a human invention. The birds did it long before and, in the case of most things in radio today, way better than we did.
So here I sit in regret, listening to the leaked tracks of U2's new album and obliterating four years of waiting and speculation on my part about what this thing would sound like. When I heard that the release date would be March 3rd, I marked that day in my head as a day of experiencing this thing full force--the music, the album art, the lyric booklet, the design and feel of the album as a whole. This is how music was experienced from the 50's-90's, and how it should always be experienced. Now we're in the era of mp3's, album leaks and impatient bastards with no regard to how the artist intended for their hard work to be heard. Now I am guilty of that as well. After waiting for four years for this album, I'm experiencing it in all the wrong ways--through a lame Myspace stream. March 3rd will now be an anti-climactic day. It's just no fun knowing exactly what you're getting. Sigh.
By the way, I am baffled by these people who are able to ignore music altogether. Have you ever met someone who is simply not a fan of music? I have. What godawful planet have they come from? I didn't even think it was humanly possible to listen to the Beatles and not feel something. Music, when done right, should make you feel like you can run a marathon straight out of bed. So why is it that music means nothing to some folks? I just don't know. It's just another element of human behavior that I can't comprehend.
Ok, I know I've rambled today. This blog lacked the structure and sheer mind-blowing brilliance of my previous writings. Ha. Truth is, my frustrations over this leak are getting the best of me. I just beg of you to listen to music the way artists intend for you to listen. Don't take music for granted. This is someone's art. Once it is released it becomes public domain, but for the artist it's like bringing your kid to the first day of kindergarten and peering through the glass to see how the teacher is treating them. Are they gentle and patient, or are they frivolous and treat every kid the same without regard to the fact that they're all different kids? Maybe that made sense to you, maybe it made none. Either way, rock on.

Quote for Today: "Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are."
-Kurt Cobain

Current Listening: U2 - No Line on the Horizon