Sitting down to intentionally enjoy your music isn’t something most of us do these days. We put music in the background while showering, driving to work, cleaning the house, or hosting a party. The music is there, it sets the mood, and we enjoy it, but we don’t listen to it the way people used to back in the 60s and 70s.
The other day, I saw Randy talk about taking the time to really enjoy our music on his cheapaudioman YouTube channel. He mentioned that streaming services give us incredible variety, but having so much choice creates a paradox. With virtually no limits on what to choose from, we listen to a bit of a song, click to the next one, and keep clicking until we either get tired, move on to something else, or actually find something we like. The problem? We’re not really taking the time to enjoy songs the way the artist intended, like we would if we listened to an entire album.
I get it. Not all of us have time for this. But every once in a while, it’s nice to just slow down, sit back in your favorite chair, and listen to your music collection. Revisit old tracks that remind you of great times gone by. Just as fun is discovering new music that’s been hiding in plain sight within the collection you’ve always had.
I did just this today. I actually started a couple of nights ago for about an hour, but today I dedicated a nice chunk of time to it again. I took my music collection (ripped from CDs a while ago and stored on my NAS) and put it on a microSD card. Once I had everything I wanted, which was my entire collection since it’s not that big, I loaded it onto my “new” Walkman, a Sony NW-A55/B. I paired it with my HiFiMan open-back headphones and went to town.
I loaded up all the songs, put them on shuffle, pressed play, sat back, and enjoyed. Some of these songs brought back awesome memories, while others I’d never heard before, or at least didn’t remember hearing. A good example is “3121” by Prince. It’s a fun, rhythmic song I don’t remember ever listening to before, so I’m glad I discovered it.
If you have the opportunity, try something like this yourself. One of these days, I’m going to dig into my vinyl collection, pick an album at random, and just put it on. Even if I end up not liking my choice, at least I can say I listened to it and made an informed decision. There’s a slim chance of that since most of the vinyl records I have are ones I chose myself, but there are a few that were handed down to me or bought by family members, so there’s always a possibility. But I love music so much, I’ll probably find something I like in everything I listen to.
Anyway, that’s a project for another day. Today was such a joy, and I experienced it uninterrupted because I didn’t have my phone buzzing or beeping at me. I was just listening to a dedicated music player with wired headphones, a cup of coffee in my hand, and my memories. Period.