In a funk, and it ain't no Friday
So I tried to leave you. I tried to walk away, abandon you to your musical musings and live entirely in the real world, devoid of my international internet acquaintances. Evidently that has not transpired, and here I am back in your sordid world (ah, you know I love you really).
Yet my disappearance from MOG was simply the final act in what had been a long spiral. Somewhere along the road I think I fell out of love with music. Until not long ago, you would have counted me amongst the most fervent consumers, and dare I say connoisseurs, of sound. But now I feel I can never honestly dub myself a music freak.
Sure I still enjoy music. In fact, that is still an understatement. I find it thrilling, satisfying, sating perhaps the most potent of human creations. A way to soothe pain and stoke excitement. But my drive for music has diminished. My sonic libido is waning. No longer to I read the print off magazines, pour over those obscure Scandinavian blogs hoping I might glance a new Lykke Li. It's more than a year since I went to a show, and in that time I can count the albums I've bought on the fingers of one hand. I used to need to reach for my toes to record how many I'd picked up in a week. I suppose I am just stuck in a rut. The old songs still thrill me, but my enthusiasm for discovering more is gone.
So is this normal? Is it just a phase? Has my record collection temporarily subsided due to real life drama, waiting for me to come back down to earth and rejoin the search for the new and the exciting? Or am I just a dilettante who should be ashamed to hang with the real freaks?
Comments (11)
sometimes its hard to put in the work to be classified as a freak
i've been in a similar rut for a while myself
Man Jox, this reads almost exactly how I felt this past year in regards to music. Not many albums were bought, no concerts were seen and the music I listened to was from my "old" collection. I think I just kind of got burned out, and after a few months the interest was there again. Loving music is not something that can be turned off, sometimes you just have to get some space. Wait, are we talking about music or ex-girlfriends?
Normal, man. You won't lose the love or need for music, but it may find a new place in your 24/7 and now that we're absolutely bombarded on a regular basis with not just trend changes but actual quality differences who can blame you for listening to the stuff you KNOW is good? the good news is that even though it makes up a lower percentage of what we're now in contact with on a daily (hourly?) basis, there is still good music being made and it WILL make it's way to your ears. But make sure you keep the other stuff.
Relax, it's a phase; this too shall pass.
MOG is a good recharger for these phases..and so is being away from MOG. Nothing wrong with looking back in order to go forward...
nice to see you return. do miss that old excitement you had but as a few have said here its normal. I have been listening to music going on near 40+ years now and its amazing how it cycles lows and highs over and over. and exciting does not have to be new. I still get chills from the old that is new to me.
I agree that you shouldn't do a clean sweep and get rid of anything - just cleanse your sonic palate with some silence and wait for the next wave of goodness to strike!
I wouldn't stress it Jox, you're back (couldn't stay away hey?) and that's a good thing! Music or no, MOG aquainted me with a unique community...though I got here a bit late, it often felt like a star about to go nova. guess it finally did - but what spectacular fireworks! At the doorstep of the event horizon, there was so much excellent music to reach out and touch that I am, in many ways, still absorbing and exploring. Seems like I crammed exponential diversity into what already seemed like a full lifetime of musical interaction.
Was behind yer ears now, youngun, it's time for a new playlist.
As you said, being a music freak with all that blog searching and stuff really is time consuming, sometimes it's just impossible to keep it up. Once a music freak always a music freak though, so I'm sure you'll refind the love for it, or at least still enjoy and know good music more than the average Joe. :)
It's a phase, darkling. It also has to do with this past year that brought many new things in your life. I am feeling similarly on some levels, and I would advise you to take it easy and let it come to you. You are a true music fan, so it will sneak up on you pretty soon.
Joxley, everything has a season and a reason. I know I have cut down on my CD purchases, but continue to explore new artists and genres. After something of a dry spell, I have tickets to two gigs next month, Glen Hansard and the Swell Season (Paramount, great venue, lousy seats) and Fat Freddy's Drop, a very cool New Zealand dub/reggae group. Check out the latter--think they are on FacePage and ITunes. Maybe part of the problem is that we are all exposed to too much music--I know I listen pretty much all day to the local college radio, but it becomes background to whatever else I am doing...