...that music is a lot like clothes? Well, at least that's the epiphany I had this morning. I heard that you should purge the clothes you haven't worn in over a year. Organizational "experts" say the likelihood of wearing that garment again is slim to none. It may be resurrected by someone that picked it up at the local thrift shop but it will likely never see daylight on your body again. And therein lies the catch... it's not "you will never wear it again, it's only "likely" that you won't. So you hold on to that top from the late 90s because maybe, just maybe it will be fashionable once more or you may fit in to that pair of jeans again. Let's face it, even though the 80s is making a shameful comeback those vintage heels and polkadot dress aren't quite the same as the reincarnations. You end up looking like a fashion victim rather than a fashionista. Several moves has helped me to become quite good at the closet purging. I wish the same could be said for the music vomiting.
I keep my old cd's, I burn them on to iTunes and sometimes I even sneak them on to Vinny. I tell myself that even though a song has not reached my ears in several years, I will listen to it again and like it. Yet, when those songs play on my computer I quickly change it. I just don't dig them anymore. I justify keeping them for nostalgia reasons because sometimes when "I Saw the Sign" or "Red, Red Wine" comes on to the radio, I listen and think fondly of church dances (ironic that the Ub40 song was played at a youth church dance where strong beliefs against alcohol abound). The nostalgia is practically non-existent for my early twenties music. Yet, I just can't delete the songs. The music doesn't require a lot of disc space and you never know when you might need to get your groove on to Nick, Brian, AJ, Howie and Kevin (it was a gift that I thoroughly enjoyed at 21, so sue me). The reality is that it is like nails on a chalkboard now. Likely the music purge will have little long term effects on me. The songs will be dismissed as easily as my awful overalls that met their fate in 2001. And still my hand shakes and I falter as I attempt to hit "clear forever." I-just-can't-do-it.
Christmas in Canada
7 years ago
12 comments:
the epiphany i had about music this morning is that if you collect music you're an art collecter. you wouldn't give away a painting to a thrift store if it still held nostalgia for you. it's like that part of harold and maude where maude says just because she isn't attached to things doesn't mean she's above collecting stuff. stuff is fun.
man, i'm totally a wuss if i'm getting my formative thoughts from harold and maude. i'm going to go outside and glower at the sky and smoke cloves.
aisy, i still have that ace of base cd. true i got it free when i worked at the record store, but i also kept the spice girls. how punk is that?
the one thing purging music has going for it though is that it is way easier to get back again.
clothes are my weakness. i still remember and mourn some of the clothes that i gave away years ago because i was sick of wearing them. if only i could have that vintage velvet striped jacket back...sigh...
I have a hard time disposing of tapes, records etc. Hey, my first records were the 'Mini Pops' and the sound track to Ghostbusters (can't say I still have them any longer) but my husband gives me no end of grief that I own and still have on our cd stand a Cameo cd! WORD UP!!
Like Aisy said, there's all those youth dance reminders - New Orders Bizzare Love Triangle!!!
Can hubby really say his tastes are better? Ha ha. Ah mini pops.
Elisabeth, let go. That velvet probably would no longer look so stylin'
Ryan, 'stop', if you 'wannabe' punk, liking the spice girls is not 'too much.' it merely is a way to 'spice up your life.'
my first record was also the mini pops, I was the center of attendion at thouse class gathering when I was 10. I still have it, I still have all my vinyl albums although I don´t have a record player anymore. I found a box of tapes a few weeks back and it had that wonderful tape, the first one I bought myself when I was twelve, with Paul Young... oh happy times. It tangled when I put it in the tape player I still can´t chuck it out. My CD´s on the other hand, I took about 50 of them to the flee market last weekend and sold them, I don´t miss them. You are right Aisy, you can outgrow music or loose interest. I didn´t sell any that I still had nostalgic feelings for though.
I still have tapes that I have never played since middle school. I keep thinking at some point I would listen to them. My vinyl copies of Michael Jackson Thriller album and Howard Jones albums, not to mention all the 45's are problematic since I don't own a turntable. But they lay flat and don't take up much room, so I keep them.
If you have room to keep the music, then keep it if you want to. You just need to purge it if you need the cash, need the space, or want to just stop lugging around a bunch of music you don't want anymore. There is no harm in it.
I still have 3 boxes of CDs that I purged and haven't actually gotten rid of, only out of sheer laziness. The thing is, although many of them bring back fond memories, I am at a place in my life where I want to get rid of stuff I don't use, want or need. Too much "stuff" just bogs you down.
Being a child of the 70's the first records I owned were Donny and Marie, Donna Summers, The Village People and Crystal Gayle. Odd mix. The first record I ever remember being really moved by was Double Fantasy by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, although I generally lifted the needle and skipped Yoko's songs. I actually bought that CD a few years ago.
I don't recall my first music tape purchase, but it was likely Duran Duran. And I just saw them in concert last year! Ha. I really can't help that they are totally awesome, so it's not my fault that I still love them.
The first CD I bought was Grapes of Wrath. I definitely don't own that one any more.
My musical tastes change frequently and I've had a bit of a buying spree lately. But my favourite music are the CDs I have my little sis make for me. Eclectic and free!
I saw Duran Duran in concert last summer too, I agree being a total ´80 child I thought they where awesome. I would have happily kept all the cd´s I sold but I needed the money. There will always be things that I will never get rid of no matter what, clothing, music, books and just all kinds of stuff, but it is a wonderful feeling to shift through everything you own and get rid of some clutter its good for your soul.
Ever had the experience where you haven't listened to a certain tape for years and years, yet when you do hear it, you automatically remember all the words and even remember the next song before it starts playing?
ah shucks, thanks danielle.
belmomma, i can still sing most of the words to ice, ice baby and jump around.
oh and sean, you keep those nostalgic songs but i'm taking about all those songs that aren't connected to much of anything.
mcollie, that is the coolest vinyl to have around. the thriller music video used to creep me out as a kid.
Ais, do you remember that we weren't allowed to watch the Thriller video when Mikey was around? He would cry because it scared him so bad. Hahahah.
ha ha ha. i totally forgot about that. remember how teddy had a michael jackson jacket because it looked like the jackets from "v"?
Post a Comment