Things I Didn't Buy 70

I thought the illustrations in this Music Through the Year book were adorable.

And here are some more pages from it.

Song Binge

How many times can you listen to a song you love? The answer is many, many times. Likely hundreds. It’s not hard to do because a good song is addicting. For a brief time, a song you love will take over your ears and that’s all you seem to want to listen to, and then slowly you become less attached to it until one day you no longer listen to it. Maybe months or years later, you rediscover the song you loved and you listen to it for a while, until once again your interest in it dwindles away into oblivion, replaced by newer shiner songs.

Most songs tend to be transitory in nature; they’re like trends, whose stays are brief and bright and then quickly forgotten. This is especially true for mainstream songs that tend to be unavoidable; they cover the radio airwaves, appear in the stores you shop in and show up on the television. I find that if I like a mainstream song that I often don’t have to buy it, because by the end of its popularity reign (that has surrounded me for months), I’ll be too tired of it to feel the need to listen to it any longer.

The songs I usually purchase are the songs that aren’t played everyday on all the radio stations—or perhaps not even played on the radio at all. I’m forced to get that reclusive song so I can listen to it, and then I’ll inevitably overplay it myself until I’m sick of it. And I will get sick of it. I can’t help but overdose on the song I love until I find my next song fix.

Sometimes Ignorance is Bliss

With only a few notes into a song, sometimes I automatically know if this is a song I want to listen to (and subsequently stop on whatever radio station it happens to be playing on). I unconsciously bob my head and tap my foot whenever I hear the song and it can make any day seem a bit better.

However every so often with a song I like (after listening to it numerous times), I finally hear the words being sung and disappointment fills me. I can’t help but think, “Really? Couldn’t you have put a little bit of effort into the lyrics? You had the entire English language at your disposal and you chose those words to sing about that?” [Sigh.] I may try to overlook the utterly lame lyrics in order to enjoy the song (even though it’ll never be the same), but sometimes it’s just a lost cause and I can’t help but be annoyed with the song from there on out. Uninspired and stupid lyrics are an oversight that’s not easily forgiven.

When this dismay sets in, I feel almost betrayed with the song that had had me at the beat and lost me at the lyrics. It makes me wish that I didn’t understand English so I could continue to enjoy the songs I once liked. But I do understand English, so ignorance is not an option. [Pause.] However, I can listen to foreign music where I will be ignorant of the lyrics. Then I can just enjoy the beat of the song and the singer’s tone of voice without being bogged down with lyrics that make me cringe. Sadly, sometimes ignorance really is bliss.