Wednesday, June 17, 2009

3S1P: Building Blocks

1) "New Day" The Kin
2) "The Moon is Down" Further Seems Forever
3) "To the Sea" Razorlight

Being forgettable is something that few of us really want. We may not want to be remembered by everyone or be remembered for something embarrassing, but we want to be remembered by at least those closest to us. The fear of not having any tangible impact is an understandable one (thanks Jimmy Stewart for giving us the first primer on that one in "It's a Wonderful Life"). But interestingly enough, there is are piles of information, entertainment, and even relationships that we forget. They simply pass from our memory. Think about it, really think about it. How many of your teachers do you remember? Last names of your elementary classmates? All of the songs that you have listened to over the years? You just lose them. Sometimes a place or memory will jog them back into existence but often there are things that we just forget about. Those instances in our lives that pass into the great fog of all the events we have experienced. That's part of the reason I love the shuffle function on the iPod. You're listening to a bunch of stuff that's familiar when wham, out of nowhere, comes a song that you had completely lost.

Razorlight is one of those groups for me. I bought their album in the last year, maybe the second to last year that I was in the Navy. I was in an experimental phase with music where I would pretty much purchase anything that I had even heard was good. Maybe compulsive is a better word. But, nevertheless, I went after everything musically. And, in the beginning, Razorlight stuck. It was catchy, it was fun, it was British. And, for a good couple of months I really enjoyed it. It was very escapist for me. I would walk from my car to the gate to the ship early in the morning, headphones in, and for a good 30 seconds to 2 minutes I would feel like I was in a different place, that I wasn't in the Navy. That was such an important feeling for me. It gave me energy, gave me a creative outlet in a job that I wasn't that excited about. And now, three or four years later, I don't listen to Razorlight at all any more. I had forgotten what "To the Sea" sounded like. And listening to it now, I don't even like it that much. But I still appreciate what it provided for me all those years ago.

And, perhaps, more so than with music, with people we should do that as well. Remember those relationships that have defined us, shaped us. We should go through old pictures and letters to find those faces again, be thankful for them, thank God for them. Because, whether or not we actively remember those moments, those events, those relationships, or those songs, they are still such an important part of who we are.

4 comments:

brian said...

dude, you need to syndicate your blog via RSS so i can follow it...ya'll know what i'm sayin'?

Whytey said...

how do I do that?

Adam Heine said...

All Blogspot blogs have RSS feeds by default. The one for this blog is here (also available at the bottom of the front page).

Whytey said...

I believe that's Adam - 1, Brian - 0