If one were to flip through my Itunes they would find no pattern in the way I choose my music. My library ranges from twangy country, to soft lyrical melodies, to obscene rap beats full of ignorant lyrics. I guess you could say I am bipolar when it comes to my music. Each song holds a different meaning to me.
As I sit here shuffling through my songs, Usher's hip-hop classic Yeah sets me in a homecoming dress, uncomfortable heels, and a stiff over sprayed hair do. Bloc Party's Signs sends me to the funeral of a best friend, stinging my body with goosebumps. Rascal Flatt's Banjo gives me an invisible instrument pounding out the solo in the car with my twin sister after a "long day" of high school. Strawberry Swing, a Coldplay original remade by the lyrical genius, Frank Ocean, helps me to vividly invision the hazy (pun intended) first time I dared to be a rebel. J Cole's Workout brings me to my eighteenth birthday when I had the pleasure to meet him after he wandered into the athletic store I worked at. With every single click of my mouse, a jar of memories is re-opened, creating an array of emotions flooding through my brain.
If it was not for my diverse music library, some key memories of my life might disappear never to be evoked again. It is a linear relationship, really. As I grow and experience, my library grows and remembers.
Kristen,
ReplyDeleteAs I said in class, I think this could be a longer essay in which you contrast the easygoing songs and the sad ones. Each of the mentions seems to have more potential. Expand on your associations and your memories. Remember the cranberries, the coffee stains, and the Cheeches!
DW
Where are the rest of your classmates? No comments?
ReplyDeleteWe've been slacking this week - sorry!
ReplyDeleteKristen, I can totally relate to this--I had my iPod on shuffle while working in the theater office in high schoola and the director of the show I was stage managing worked around me for four or five songs that went from AC/DC to the one Christian rock song I own to country to the Indigo Girls and finally he just turned to me and kind of shouted, "What ARE you?" Three cheers for varied tastes in music!
However, I agree with Dave--I definitely want to see a lot more from this piece! You have so much space to expand here: Why did they play Bloc Party at your friend's funeral? How did your first "rebellious" experience go, and what made Frank Ocean part of the soundtrack? I feel like music is the most powerful way to take us back in time and really let us relive our memories, and I'd love to see you let it do that in your work.
I also really like the idea of a jar of memories at the end, though "creating an array of emotions flooding through my brain" doesn't really follow that metaphor. Maybe you could play with that a little and really let it flow into the excellent idea at the end, that your music library grows as your experiences do. I love that. Give me more! =)
Kristen, I really liked this. It's concise, but like Dave said: It could be a much longer essay if you chose to make it so.
ReplyDeleteI thought your ending was nice — a good conclusion in a short essay is hard to come by, I think. The examples you give of what each song means to you and what memory it evokes is good. You could easily expand those into a paragraph apiece, no?
A couple things: I'm not a fan of the "bipolar" comparison. I know literally speaking it works just fine, but I feel that way of describing someone (or something) is overused to almost the point of cliche. Also, I think the last sentence of the first paragraph is a bit obvious. I bet you could think of something much punchier that would set the essay's tone earlier in the piece.
All that said, I liked it a lot. I think we all relate songs to memories, and I think it's interesting to read what memories you've tied to different life experiences.