I recently stumbled on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1857 book Driftwood, whose final chapter, “Table-Talk,” lays out stray thoughts and aphorisms for our intellectual repast. This sentence leapt out.
There are favorable hours for reading a book, as for writing it, and to these the author has a claim.
This applies to music and listening, too. Each song has its own context. We owe it to ourselves, if not its author, to meet the song on its own terms. That means everything from understanding its purpose (stylistically, lyrically) to listening under appropriate conditions.
Some music—symphonic compositions and electronic dance grooves—needs to be played loud. Some music requires quiet or even silent listening spaces (acoustic music or anything with very quiet passages). Some, such as ambient music, works better when it’s not the sole focus of attention, while some demands that it be the sole focus of attention—anything by the band Elbow, for instance.
The next time you listen to a song, and I mean truly listen to it, hold these thoughts in mind and see if they deepen your experience.
21 January 2015