The Unfinished List

Music is a huge part of my life, which is true for most people. Music can mean nostalgia. It can resurface that time when you drove with your friends down the highway, naked and enjoying the feel of the humid outside air blasting in from the open windows. It can be all the times you would dance with your father while standing on his shoes. It brings people together socially and communally. It’s that Queen song pumping out the stereo and everyone knows the words. 

These are the the beginning thoughts for my final project. I would like to interview people (probably college students, although I would try for a greater pool) and ask them why they listen to music, how they listen to music, where they listen, and even why they listen to the music they do. Is it a choice? What are the benefits of being familiar or associated with certain genres or artists and what do we hope this says about the image we want to present? Is there a musical caste system? Where do you fit in?

I will start by trying to answer these questions myself.

I don’t take music at face value. 

I listen to music because it makes me excited. I try to think about how music has been received historically; whether it’s protest songs in reaction to political happenings, a means to unite a group of people, a voice for those who don’t know how to speak, a pivotal mark in pop culture, or an expression of artistic creativity. I respect the power music has. It is not stagnant. Most of all I can appreciate that even though a song may never change, I do change and so does the way I grasp any given song or album over time. Music makes me more self aware.

Because I am always looking for self improvement and more discovery, I will actively seek out music that is not limited to Top 40. I am not interested in formulas, a hook, or a place in pop culture. This excludes me from using mainstream music as a way to relate to most of my peers, but that does not mean I feel left out. I just choose to listen to consume music for different reasons.

I like the music I listen to because I chose what I hear. It is so rewarding to hunt for music and to find something that sustains me spiritually, emotionally, artistically, and physically. It’s not a win every time but I’ve always believed that you feel the most satisfied when you achieve something by doing it yourself. While I don’t actually make the music myself, I am still rewarded when I learn about why a musician writes the way they do or use certain instrumentation. Learning about their goals and intentions can inspire my own, and then the music becomes something more to me than a catchy chorus. This exchange is organic. It becomes more than a sum of its parts and more than any formula or sale prediction can measure.

Handsome Furs-(It’s not me, it’s you):Handsome Furs-(it’s not me, it’s you)

This is a video by video by sarah rara and luke fischbeck of lucky dragons, music by glaciers.