"It is not about the destination my friend, but about the journey"
People love destinations. Bottom-lines, deadlines, timelines and goals. Businesses run on these factors. People, including me, run on the rat race with these end-games in mind. Everyone wants to get to the carrot and bite it off in one massive chunk, not thinking for a minute to savor the madly orange Vitamin A juices pouring out. And then, we chase after the next carrot which is even bigger and even tougher to get. Sometimes, it reminds me of that ever-so-stressed-out Italian plumber with whom you set out to save the princess. By the end of Level 4, when you beat the dragon and are happy that you are done, you realize that the princess is afar, alone and another level away, albeit tougher. Class 10, Class 12. Degree. Work. Advanced Degree. Whatever-other-carrot-exists.
One thing that you do learn is that journeys are never-ending. Every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every year and the biggest daddy of them all, life, is a journey. It is easy to forget about the journey and worry about the destination too soon. And people tend to commit that sacrilege with something that I cherish in my life, music. People tend to listen to the best of albums and then crow loudly in a bar, that has to play best ofs because you, my dear friend, know not much else. Commercial music exists for the best-of-album fan and the best-of-album fan exists for commercial music.
While I do not particularly favor the gentlemen and ladies of this particular bent-of-mind, I cannot blame them as music may not be a big part of their lives, because of a lack of time, priority, passion or commitment. What I can do however is guide people through the journey of a few songs that I listen to, and tell you the emotions that I experience with each of them, and why it is so enriching to feel those emotions as a person, and as a connoisseur (I most certainly hope) of rock music.
Song 1: Lazarus - Porcupine Tree
Lazarus generally brings out the best in me. It's almost a fairy tale song for me, and some of my friends. It brings out bursts of joy, latent layers of hope and a voice that gushes like a river, as she brightens everyone's path. It is a song that can make anyone feel better, about themselves, about the people around them and of life. It is like oxygen, like water, it is happiness, it just is lazarus.
Song 2: Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
Kashmir is special because it is different. Kashmir is a celebration of being different. It is the Mohawk in the boardroom, and I relate to it because I like to believe that I am different from most other people. It is a ballad of uniqueness right from it's eclectic riff to the overlaying keyboard sequence. Kashmir is also a contradiction in itself. It is a song that claims to be a place that it wasn't written about. I feel that way sometimes, being someone from somewhere at sometime where I might never have been.
Song 3: Eclipse - Pink Floyd
Eclipse captures the irrelevance of what sometimes I consider important and brings me to see better the bigger picture. Eclipse makes me feel small. It makes me feel inconsequential, irrelevant and ignorant in the grander scheme, the bigger picture and the answer to life and the universe. It is a jolt back to reality, to ground zero and to get my feet back on the ground. And every once in a while, it is good to be stripped bare and laid down with no one but you to contemplate and understand each of these feelings that you feel.
So my dear best-of friend, my dear plumber and my dear rat, take some time off. Experience these emotions and learn. Feel them and express them in action, thought or word. Take some time off, listen.
Note to self: This is actually a fairly accurate note-to-self.
People love destinations. Bottom-lines, deadlines, timelines and goals. Businesses run on these factors. People, including me, run on the rat race with these end-games in mind. Everyone wants to get to the carrot and bite it off in one massive chunk, not thinking for a minute to savor the madly orange Vitamin A juices pouring out. And then, we chase after the next carrot which is even bigger and even tougher to get. Sometimes, it reminds me of that ever-so-stressed-out Italian plumber with whom you set out to save the princess. By the end of Level 4, when you beat the dragon and are happy that you are done, you realize that the princess is afar, alone and another level away, albeit tougher. Class 10, Class 12. Degree. Work. Advanced Degree. Whatever-other-carrot-exists.
One thing that you do learn is that journeys are never-ending. Every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every year and the biggest daddy of them all, life, is a journey. It is easy to forget about the journey and worry about the destination too soon. And people tend to commit that sacrilege with something that I cherish in my life, music. People tend to listen to the best of albums and then crow loudly in a bar, that has to play best ofs because you, my dear friend, know not much else. Commercial music exists for the best-of-album fan and the best-of-album fan exists for commercial music.
While I do not particularly favor the gentlemen and ladies of this particular bent-of-mind, I cannot blame them as music may not be a big part of their lives, because of a lack of time, priority, passion or commitment. What I can do however is guide people through the journey of a few songs that I listen to, and tell you the emotions that I experience with each of them, and why it is so enriching to feel those emotions as a person, and as a connoisseur (I most certainly hope) of rock music.
Song 1: Lazarus - Porcupine Tree
Lazarus generally brings out the best in me. It's almost a fairy tale song for me, and some of my friends. It brings out bursts of joy, latent layers of hope and a voice that gushes like a river, as she brightens everyone's path. It is a song that can make anyone feel better, about themselves, about the people around them and of life. It is like oxygen, like water, it is happiness, it just is lazarus.
Song 2: Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
Kashmir is special because it is different. Kashmir is a celebration of being different. It is the Mohawk in the boardroom, and I relate to it because I like to believe that I am different from most other people. It is a ballad of uniqueness right from it's eclectic riff to the overlaying keyboard sequence. Kashmir is also a contradiction in itself. It is a song that claims to be a place that it wasn't written about. I feel that way sometimes, being someone from somewhere at sometime where I might never have been.
Song 3: Eclipse - Pink Floyd
Eclipse captures the irrelevance of what sometimes I consider important and brings me to see better the bigger picture. Eclipse makes me feel small. It makes me feel inconsequential, irrelevant and ignorant in the grander scheme, the bigger picture and the answer to life and the universe. It is a jolt back to reality, to ground zero and to get my feet back on the ground. And every once in a while, it is good to be stripped bare and laid down with no one but you to contemplate and understand each of these feelings that you feel.
So my dear best-of friend, my dear plumber and my dear rat, take some time off. Experience these emotions and learn. Feel them and express them in action, thought or word. Take some time off, listen.
Note to self: This is actually a fairly accurate note-to-self.
