When I say, “other people’s music,” I mean the professional bands that I used to always listen to regularly, in the car, while cleaning around the house, etc.
These Days I Tend To Prefer Podcasts
Now, when I’m driving, for example, I’ll load up a podcast or book on Audible, rather than listen to music. Sometimes I listen to my own music ideas, like quick guitar riffs that I recorded into iPhone voice memos, to find some motivation actually to make something of the idea. You know… Go home and record the idea in full, with bass, drums, some keys… etc. That motivation, however, seems to escape me on most occasions. Maybe that’ll change in the future…
Small Doses Are OK
Now, I DO like listening to other folks’ quick posts on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram reels, but I still don’t tend to listen to entire songs… Not normally. Knowing this, why would I expect anyone to ever listen to anything I create? That’s why I’m asking if this is normal, because it seems like most of the people I follow in various places online still enjoy commenting on other people’s music. I haven’t listened to music, on purpose, in I don’t know how many years… I certainly haven’t paid for any music in a very long time, other than friends’ music, or someone I came across on YouTube and followed them long enough to want to show my support.
You might also like: The Benefits of Listening to or Playing Music
Not a Lot of Guys Called Gary Anymore
Having said all of this so far, I do have one favorite fairly new song that I liked right away the first time I heard it. And that would be the song, “Gary,” by Stephen Wilson Jr. That’s just the first song that comes to mind at the time I’m writing this small post. I’m sure I’m leaving out some other pieces of great music I’ve heard recently, but that’s the first example that comes to mind.
None of this means I will NEVER listen to popular music again. Of course, that’s not going to happen. I’m only making an observation of my own personal behavior. And I don’t think this is a “getting older” kind of thing. I’ve always been sort of “removed” from the “larger idea” of music. I’ve never followed music news in the mainstream. I simply liked the bands I liked, and that was it.
Are You A Musician Or Aren’t You
I can remember many times in discussions with non-musician friends where I was supposed to be the one with the answer to a music trivia-type question, or have the most over-the-top opinion on something music-related because I was the musician in the group. When in actuality, I knew less about said music topic than my non-musician friends. One could say that’s just plain laziness, having no desire to KNOW MORE. Oh well, it is what it is………
Until Next Time,
Featured Image: Me in Bisbee, Arizona around 1996 while stationed at Fort Huachuca, AZ. Photo cleaned up a little by Gemini. Again, no changes made to the original photograph other than making it bigger, sharpening, and leveling out the saturation and contrast. See for yourself compared to the original. Here’s the very simple prompt: “Clean up this image making it sharper where needed, denoise, level out the saturation and contrast.”
