Girl Put Your Records On

During my trip to Florida, I fell back in love with music. I'm not really sure how it had come about that music and I had broken up, but we had. I had become selective and picky, listening almost exclusively to Death Cab for Cutie (during the day) and Sufjan Stevens (at night). I downloaded a couple of new albums, but found no reason to listen.

On the flight to Florida, however, that all changed. I had created a playlist of four or five albums I had had for a while but never listened to, but stuck in about 25-30 songs I know well. After buckling my seatbelt, using maneuvers that would make most yoga master jealous, I wrestled my iPod from the backpack that was shoved under the seat less than a foot in front of me. I stuck my headphones in my ears, cranked up the volume, and closed my eyes. The sounds that came out of my iPod were foreign. It was a band I had never listened to, and I was immediately intrigued. The song was a short one, and soon a song I knew came on. I listened to the familiar sounds while processing the first song. Then came another new band, and another, and more familiar songs. Fast, slow, loud, soft, happy, sad, angry, melodic, angry, lovesick, in love, heartbroken, healing, praising, wishing. It was beautiful. The perfect mix of new and familiar- a lot like my life at the moment.

I kept my earbuds in throughout both flights, and the car ride home. Dinner seemed oddly quiet, even with my cousin screaming gleefully, because I had no soundtrack. Each night as I went to sleep, my iPod was playing in my ears. I had a HUNGER for music. I visited an incredible little record store in Daytona Beach, and found MORE new music. The hunger didn't subside. It didn't matter the music, I just needed music in my ears. Every car ride, in between meals, laying out by the pool- all the time, the whole vacation.

I fell asleep and woke up to music. I cranked it up in the car. Algebra class was even more torturous than usual. It was like I had been thirsty in the desert, then I discovered a water source ten feet away from me. I had been wanting new music- then I discovered my iPod. :)