My speakers, pulpits of prophets, of holy vibrations.
During the day, after the caffeine seeps into my bloodstream, I often have a constant soundtrack of hip-hop, bee-bop, indie rock, and electronica to give my workflow a steady rhythm. Music, as much as the caffeine, affects what and how much I am able to get done in a single day. It lays the path for hours and hours of analysis, reflection, writing, revising, listening, observing … all those things that, after eight ours a day, make up the knowledge economy.
I hear the music, but I do not listen to it.
Which is why, for one hour every night, I lay down on my bed with none of the props that follow me during daylight like shadows – the laptop, the books, the iPhone. Just me, my boxers, sometimes a cold beer or glass of wine, and Eastern Europe’s warm summer breezes drifting lethargically through my bedroom windows. What do I do for this hour? I listen. I don’t think. I don’t plan. No regret, no gratitude, just thousands and thousands of little sound waves making their way from my speakers to my eardrums.
I close my eyes, blocking the unnecessary visual sensations, and strain to hear every single drum beat, the vibrations of each guitar string, the quivering emotive vocals, the perfect imperfect pause, the unexpected note, the anonymous background vocal. I take it all in, like how some take in a glass of chardonnay or the perfect joint or the good word of the holy books.
I have not yet seen Kurt Vonnegut’s tombstone, though I imagine that one day I might. Just one year before he died, however, he wrote this:
If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC
This podcast isn’t for everyone. Far from. But for those who listen to it, lying in bed alone, eyes closed, I salute you.
[podcast]http://blip.tv/file/get/Oso-MusicForSummerBreezes479.mp3[/podcast]
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(You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes by clicking here.)
Love it…
Perfect for a warm New York evening…
I wish we could get playlists…but I will just mellow out for now.
I tried subscribing, but iTunes claims the URL is not a valid source. Any thoughts?
great podcast, thanks. but an hour? i put on music and five minutes later i’m dancing…
15mins in and helping my Sunday morning 🙂
un escrito lleno de sensaciones, me encanta la forma como termina “lying in bed alone, eyes closed, I salute you.”
en cuanto a la cafeína, soy algo adicta a ella, lo bueno es que ayuda a quitar la migraña, lo malo es el daño que hace su exceso, Me deja pensando ese “YO NO PIENSO” producto de estar altamente agotado, el vino, los sonidos… este escrito ha logrado su objetivo, por lo menos en mí y como lo veo, lograste transmitir el cansancio…
saludos
a writing full with sensations, I love the form like it finishes lying in bed alone, eyes closed, I salute you.”
as for the caffeine, I am something addict to her, the good thing is that it helps to remove the migraine, the bad thing is the damage that makes their excess, you leave Me thinking about that “I don’t THINK” product of being highly out, the wine, the sounds… this writing has achieved its objective, at least in me and as I see it, you were able to transmit the fatigue…
The first song sounds like it could be the music for an underwater level of Sonic the Hedgehog, circa 1993.
Good to hear some Helio again. I haven’t spun that in a while.