New Year, New Me? Nah. I'm cool, as Adam Carolla says, y'all need to step up, I'm doing all right. For the new year, try listening to a new song from some band you would think is not for you. We all have genres we like, that are comfortable, fit our personalities. You boot wearers, long live George Strait, yee-haw. Every musician is dying to get on the radio, to get their message out. There is music with meaning and lyrics dealing with loss and hardship and birth and everything in between.
Your mind can be expanded by allowing others' thoughts to permeate you. This is the beauty of the internet age, everyone has access to all the information, most will only unlock that which agrees with them. Of course, if you're never challenged, you will never be proven wrong. I say experience discomfort. To quote Socrates, one of the first Greek philosophers: Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for.
Tonight, I was listening to James Blunt, one of his songs "Tears and Rain" mentioned Dorian Gray, and it rang in my head, I've heard the name before. Dorian Gray comes from a novel written by Oscar Wilde in 1891 and apparently there is Dorian Gray Syndrome, which is having extreme pride in one's personal appearance, accompanied by difficulties in coping with psychological maturation and aging physically. Wilde got a lot of flack back then, reviewers called for his prosecution for violating laws guarding public morality.
I find this type of discovery fascinating. Now I have to go get the book by Oscar Wilde and read it. I'll write about that later, I reckon. There is always more room for learning, and really, it helps make one more interesting. Same holds true for books, magazines, movies, TV shows. Any media device is bound to have new thoughts you had not conjured up or spent time on.
Start with the baby steps. Listen to one artist you wouldn't consider. I can go from country to jazz, to pop, to everything in between, all music can be good. Most of us poop on rap, but I'm coming around, I listen to the big acts Ludacris, Nikki Minaj, and it can be entertaining. Recently, I found Jason Derulo "Wiggle". Song starts with Snoop Dogg telling the main singer to talk to a girl, he turns to camera and states "I got one question, How'd you fit all that, in them jeans?" Snoop Dogg looks at him like what? Then he finishes his smooth line "you know what to do with that big fat butt! Wiggle wiggle wiggle. Hilarity ensues. Perfect song for 2014 as even Entertainment Weekly labeled 2014 the year the butt came back, with many of the leading ladies putting out various butt songs.
So explore the internet, explore television, go out and explore a library, I've got a library card in my wallet right now. I promise, you won't fill your brain to the breaking point, and you just might learn something new. My hero up above Adam Carolla tells a story about his dad borrowing albums from the library back in the 70s and with the South California heat the albums would be all warped and stuff. I laughed at the story, but the libraries do have CDs and they can be borrowed. I like checking out Jazz CDs, they are hard to find in music stores, and is a way to find music that might not be on YouTube or anywhere else online. An old classic like Chuck Mangione blasting away on flugelhorn, or Cab Calloway leading and singing with a big jazz band. I love high energy guys, those that put their sweat and soul into the music.
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