Sunday, October 18, 2009

Ode to the iPod


It would only be just to give my recently acquired purple iPod nano its due credit for having gotten me through some confusing and difficult times of late. The past few weeks have been filled with the usual ups and downs, as well as an onslaught of pressure from unexpected places, but I've been just fine, because when I'm so frustrated that I can't find words to describe it, my little nano shuffles itself into gear, and presents me with Paramore's "Pressure" to do it for me. When I've got a minute to myself, the nano reminds me to try and relax by serving up Josh Pyke's "Lines on Palms" and Coldplay's "In My Place". Or, once, when it was in a particularly perceptive mood, the nano offered me "Full Moon" by Black Ghosts, indicating that I should go and escape into my favourite fantasy world at Forks and unwind.


Okay, so this is probably reading into my iPod's shuffle function a little too much. But I most certainly have come to appreciate the benefits of having this little piece of technological advancement in my handbag at all times. Music is a relaxing influence, can be vindicating, is an outlet. It can stir up memories of an entire period in your life (X&Y and Queen's "A Day at the Races" for me = high school), or from a particular night (Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feeling, anyone?), and can entirely change your mindset. Soundtracks, if put together well enough, have the capacity to transport us back to the setting of our favourite movie or book. Romeo and Juliet's incredible soundtrack has the ability to tell the entire story of Shakespeare's play through the clever track arrangement of Radiohead, Garbage and Desree. These days, music can make you laugh and cheer you up on a day when you feel down. Take Lily Allen, for one, whose surprisngly insightful appraisal of George Bush ("You want to be like your father/His approval you're after), set against cheerfully boppy music, never fails to crack me up. And Katy Perry, one of my favourites, whose hit Hot 'N' Cold yielded the following sparkling gems of wit: "You change your mind like a girl changes clothes/Yeah, you PMS like a bitch, I would know". How can you not laugh at that sarcasm? It's fantastic. Flight of the Choncords, not to be matched, provide crazy, quirky and hilarious lyricism, which immediately recalls their hilarious show no matter how often you hear them.

At the other end of the spectrum existing within the confines of my little purple nano are the heart wrenchingly works of Placebo, whose drug based songs are definite downers ("I'm forever black-eyed, a product of a broken home"). Good to listen to while you're in the same mood, but not for long, lest you remain there. And for goodness' sake, don't move on to Eminem, who seems to lurk in the "Unknown" track titles, even when I think I've evicted him from the iPod, who is blatantly open about his disdain for most of his fans, himself, his family...you know how he is. However, as I've mentioned, I found Paramore's albums immsely useful in relieving frustration of late...Then there's the endless string of Ministry of Sound albums I've acquired over the years, which are surprisingly useful for study, the gym, drowning out noise, etc., but lack most emotional depth, as would be expected.


So I'm thankful for my purple nano for housing all these realms of expression for me. It's definitely helped me get through these stressful weeks just past. :)


claire. x.

3 comments:

  1. Wow all of this from an Ipod =p That was really a great post and I completely understand your fascination with music and how it can make you feel and not feel. I adore soundtracks because I feel that they enhance viewing for a movie, tv show etc. There is a lot of music I hope to check out sometime. Fill my iPhone up with more music.

    I hope everything is going well on the home front (uni etc). xx

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  2. Heehee thanks! I'm going to try and make all my posts a bit more like it, with a theme and stuff. I love soundtracks, and I think I'll get New Moon soon. I'll try and get you copies of some of my music, I have 22 gig to share! If our taste in music is as similar as our tastes in literature we'll be laughing. :D On the home stretch for uni now, can't wait! Online module, essay and an exam to go! :D

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  3. Purple is my favourite colour! ^__^

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