The End of the Night
and the case for a meaning making relationship with music...
Dun… dum... dun… dum… the sound coming from the bluetooth speaker as you push down on the power button to turn it on and place on the countertop on the far side of the room. Walking into the kitchen to clean up and do the dishes; it seems as good a time as any to throw on that Psych-Funk playlist that your brother-in-law won’t stop recommending to you. Finding the balance between searching for new gems and listening to the last 6 months of new music that you’ve been playlisting is becoming somewhat of a game; one you might never actually get a handle on. Somewhere between the first song and the second, you begin to space out and melt into the task at hand. You crack open a beer because why not… One dish into the next, into the clorox wipes, the broom and dustpan - the dustpan that you set somewhere but forget two minutes later when you need it. Of course, it’s sitting right on top of the trash can where you cleverly and strategically placed it. Finally, satisfied with your accomplishment; you look at the clock and notice an hour and 15 minutes have passed… where did the time go? - you think to yourself walking into the living room to turn on the game as you relax the rest of the night away. Hffff (the day is over).
Total silence in your listening room… followed by a sudden crackling sound coming from the Rogue Stereo 100 amplifier as you push down on the big front panel button to power it on and wait for it to warm up. Taking a seat and reclining back in your Annaldo chair, you stare at the glow of the tubes for a second, or two, or three… long enough to forget what you were doing - oh the TV remote, that’s right. Turning on the TV to see what games are playing on Sling, you settle on the Milwaukee Bucks game but watch it on mute; thinking that it seems as good a time as any to throw on that Psych-Funk playlist that your brother-in-law won’t stop recommending to you. Finding the balance between searching for new gems and listening to the last 6 months of new music that you’ve been playlisting is becoming somewhat of a game; one you might never actually get a handle on. Somewhere between the Yussef Dayes - Marching Band (feat. Masego) and the Pale Jay - My Dirty Desire you begin to space out and melt into your listening chair. You crack a BMore Hazy IPA because why not… One song into the next, into the game and back to the main event of the evening. The Hazy IPA you forgot that you had grabbed just a few minutes ago and three sips into… somehow regained your attention in a small stretch of blackness between tracks. Thank God for end tables because there is no way you would be getting up right now. Satisfied with the night and the Bucks win; you look at the clock and notice that 3 hours have passed. Where did the time go? - you think to yourself as you contemplate heading up to bed. Pffff (could it get any better than this).
We all have a deep relationship with music. The songs that your parents forcefully passed down to you in your childhood. You might have hated them at the time, but as your taste buds changed and you became a coffee connoisseur… and maybe started going for the dark chocolate over the milk chocolate; along went ears. The breakup song you had on repeat in highschool (we all had them - dont try to play cool). The party song that sucks now based on your 30 year old standards but if/when it gets played at the wedding; everyone is on the floor!! My experience has been that, like how other areas of your life evolve and deepen - your relationship with a woman (from girlfriend to wife); the same happens with music. Yes, in theory, you could stay single forever and play the field like Future or Leo, but what would you have no idea that you missed out on if you stop and settle there? My bet is that you miss out on everything… and I don’t mean that with any hyperbole. When you take a simple music listening experience from the background to the foreground, something special happens. The meaning making that, by definition, is added to the music; extends out to all things involved in the engagement. This meaningful mode of being does not end at the impersonal (like amplifiers, TV, and beer) but down into the most personal; including the self… and maybe this is just a pattern of life.
So, please let me know what you think. What else are we missing out on by engaging with it just at surface level? What should I pay more attention to in Fall and Winter of 2023 and on into 2024 (this is a genuine question)? Thank you for reading.
Denzel Marshall, the Audiophilosopher
Marshall House Hifi
P.O. Box 812
Columbia, MD 21044
Cell: (443) 938-4040