I used to think it was really dorky to walk down the street with your iPod on. I thought those people were right tryhards. ‘Look at me with my nifty gadget. Check out how I’ve discreetly tucked the headphones under my shirt, yet still let that telltale white cord snake out over my collar. Man I’m cool.’
Perhaps it is still dorky, and perhaps it is still a real tryhard thing to do, or maybe it never was, but I’ve found myself doing it more and more lately. Sometimes it’s nice to drown out traffic and people and just go about your business with the company of a good tune. When I’ve got jobs on down the street, all the boring stuff like a trip to the bank or strolling the supermarket aisles can be made a lot more pleasant if I’m listening to Okkervil River or Hello Saferide or The Felice Brothers.
Whenever I see somebody else doing a similar thing, I often want to ask them what they’re listening to. Are they just beginning to discover the bewitching magic of Elbow?
Are they reliving a tune from their childhood?
She Drives Me Crazy – Fine Young Cannibals
Are they listening to a bluegrass cover?
Video Killed The Radio Star (The Buggles Cover) – Handsome Hank & His Lonesome Boys
Are they cruisin’ to a nightclub staple?
Are they overdosing on the 80’s?
What I Like About You – The Romantics
Are they wishing they were born decades earlier?
Are they channelling their inner rock chick?
Piece Of My Heart – Janis Joplin
Are they remembering their first album purchase?
Are they listening to somebody else’s iPod?
Are they mentally playing air guitar?
Are they wondering the same thing about you?
18 comments
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February 25, 2009 at 10:26 pm
elspethlomax
No question. It has to be done. Rarely do I do it as I usually have company on shopping trips, but when I don’t, look out baby, it’s Hey Rosetta all the way.
February 25, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Andy
indeed, how long before some gadget that shows you what others are playing nearby?; or a new-fangled flexi colour display sewn into clothing that tells anyone what you’ve got going on. It’d certainly take effort from the “guess what tune is making those almost familiar tinny noises” game. It was all much simpler with super-loud boomboxes and car-stereos set to stun, with windows down.
Fine Young Cannibals, very good,yes, tho’ I never quite got over ‘em being a ‘chat-show band’ here.
February 25, 2009 at 11:25 pm
itallstarted
Elspeth – I almost added them to my little hypothetical actually! Good call.
Andy – Don’t mind that clothing idea, though apparently there are people who are very sensitive about who sees what they have on their ipod, so it probably wouldn’t be for everybody. And those set-to-stun car stereos – that’s still going strong down in these here parts. Especially with p-platers. Apparently there’s nothing cooler than cruising the main street of town and lurking in dark carparks pumpin’ out Nickelback or The Fray or Rhianna.
February 26, 2009 at 4:54 am
Southern(in)Sanity
I used to think the same thing – but not anymore.
I put mine on even if I’m walking two blocks down the street at work. I do have black earphones (and cords), though.
February 26, 2009 at 5:32 pm
itallstarted
Definitely a good idea to ditch the ipod headphones straight away I reckon – not because they’re white, but because they’re shite!
February 26, 2009 at 8:00 pm
cdv1971
I wonder the same thing as well. But then there are the people who have the volume up so loud that I can tell what they’re listening to. Even with my iPod on as well!
February 26, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Pedro
Poor pedro… No IPOD
I listen to the piped music over the loud speaker. For three months of the year , this tends to be Christmas Carols. For the other 9 months it is either Celine Dion, Whitney Houston or other gems from 1978 Love ballads.
Just tossing up whats worse, all the above or Handsome Hank who has my vote for perhaps the worse cover I’ve ever heard.
Must be grumpy because I don’t have an ipod…
February 26, 2009 at 9:14 pm
itallstarted
CDV – Oh yeah, those people are just a tad on the annoying side aren’t they?
Pedro – You’re just old school, nothing wrong with that. Piped music on the other hand…not so good!
Worst cover you’ve ever heard? That’s quite a big call! I’ve got some other gems that would fit that category – look out in the next week or so for a post to prove my point!
February 27, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Rampant Chutney Consumerism
i walked up to work today listening to The Boatman Calls by Nick Cave….bloody awesome
February 28, 2009 at 2:39 am
Linda
I love that Bugles bluegrass cover! That is hilarious.
February 28, 2009 at 7:59 am
Starrlight
Wow No Doubt was your first album purchase? Gawd I am old
March 1, 2009 at 1:16 am
mjrc
this post is pure agnes perfection!
the one thing i can’t do anymore without meh ‘pod is grocery shop. it’s such a dismal chore. i need all the help i can get to manage it. : )
March 1, 2009 at 5:37 am
Emma
Personal soundtracks give everything a little more experiential density. Particularly when the song strikes the ironic chord (Ugly Love -Eels playing while browsing American Apparel is a recent moment) or is scarily appropriate (Streets of Philadelphia while wandering the city of brotherly love). Great post!
March 1, 2009 at 10:00 am
itallstarted
RCC – Makes the walk all that more enjoyable doesn’t it? Thanks for sharing!
Linda – Good to hear from someone who does like it! I think it’s pretty funny too.
Starrlight – It was actually! I was in my early teens I think and I was such an innocent – I really loved the song ‘Don’t Speak’ and I didn’t actually know that such things as singles existed, so I bought the whole album!
Mjrc – What a lovely thing to say, thank you! Ditto on the grocery shop.
Emma – It is pretty funny when little coincidences like that happen isn’t it? Spooky in fact! And you’re right about the personal soundtrack stuff too. Whenever I listen to Hello Saferide I’m taken back to a drive I did down the coast last year, spending a couple of nights by the sea. I was listening to her songs the other day and it was like I was right back there again! God I love music.
March 1, 2009 at 11:47 am
Pedro
Old school eh …. ?
Mmmm ????
Ipod’s seem to be destroying the way music is listened to… This random play nonsense. Ahhh a traversty
An album is a piece of art… compiled from Track 1 to the end. Great albums do this wonderfully. I know you can do this on an Ipod but random and skip are all too convenient.
March 1, 2009 at 12:25 pm
itallstarted
Oh Pedro. You’re right about albums, and I think you do really have to hear the whole thing in order to really appreciate it.
Having said that though, I love the random/shuffle feature. I love not knowing what’s coming on next, and also the serendipity that occurs when songs flip on that beautifully capture the mood of a moment. I also love the little playlists that are randomly made when an ipod is left to shuffle itself. Several of the playlists that I’ve posted here are pure shuffle sessions.
I feel a new post coming on…
March 2, 2009 at 8:02 am
Smansmith
There is just no getting away from Bon Jovi over here….
Oh, and I only use my iPod in the car with a wireless transmitter – and those dorky white earbuds must be discarded almost immediately upon purchase of an iPod….
S.
p.s. Is it bad that I still aggressively tap my toes to the Fine Young Cannibals??
March 2, 2009 at 3:54 pm
itallstarted
Ha! I’m a closet Jovi fan. Big hair…leather pants….what’s not to love?! And no, it’s not bad. Not bad at all.