What I listened to when I cleaned the kitchen...

I was just cleaning the kitchen and I brought along music that I "wanted" to listen to.  How sad.  The only time I really listen to music now is when I clean the kitchen and, even then, I often just flip on NPR, and I'm basically hoping to hear news/talk. Today was an NPR fund raiser, so, knowing I'd be slaving away for 40 minutes, I made a point of choosing some CDs.

Speaking of NPR, a guest once said that, in terms of music, after 30ish, we get stuck in our ways.  Most people stop feeling the desire to listen to new sounds.  For me, it's true, and that is a great thing about having children who like music.  Both son and daughter get me music for Christmas or give me things to listen to.  (My youngest, on the other hand, seems to prefer that I NOT like his music too much).

Here's the problem; I find it much much harder to listen to new music.  When I was younger, it was normal to try out anything - even on a lousy cassette player.  Now, I have decent sound, but sometimes music feels ... too noisy - somehow it's "cluttered" to me and there are moments when I must switch it off.  It, literally, can feel like a chore to have music on to listen to.

So, that stereotypical parent yelling at her (his) kid to turn down the music... it has a biological basis.  I never yell about the noise or judge my kids' music, but, who knows?  Maybe I've been saved from that fate just because I've seen the negative images of closed-minded parents and I've thought about what is happening in my brain.

To get to like new music, I guess usually I need to be exposed to it enough so that my brain feels the patterns.  I have expanded my repertoire in the last couple of years, but in part it's through conscious effort. I've also found that hearing my son sing a song means there is a stronger chance that I'll really like to listen to it in the artists' recording....   Just the other day, a CD that P. recommended finally "clicked" for me, and I've listened to it a lot since then (Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea).  Hearing my brother-in-law sing his songs, with just the acoustic guitar, worked the same way.  

And yet... yet... OFTEN I've chosen music for others because I heard it once on NPR. What's up with that?  I'll hear something and I'll LIKE it right away, and it's incredibly gratifying when I make a good choice for someone (I'm mainly talking about my kids - because the exercise is fun because it works with an emotional connection between giver and receiver).  I guess there is a different way of listening to something once and wanting it as a soundtrack to your life.  Come to think of it, these music epiphanies (too strong a word, but I wanted to express a kind of instant revelation) may be happening mainly when I'm driving.

You know, my hubby doesn't like listening to music or radio when he's trying to fall asleep which, now that I think about it, has probably had an impact on me.  What I do differently now, at 50, than I did at 15 is not stop.  Stop.  Listen.  It's the type of listening you do when you want your mind to let go of the day. 

So, what did I listen to when I cleaned the kitchen?  I gave up on expanding my horizons and put on a compilation disk my son and I put together maybe 5 years ago with some of his favorites and some of mine.  It has a song which he spent months recording himself (he layered his voice over and over, singing every part).  I sometimes repeat just that track three, four, or who knows how many times in a row.

The kitchen's clean(ish) and I'm feeling a bit nostalgic.