Re: geography and The urban experience


Elson Trinidad (elson@westworld.com)
Fri, 03 Dec 1999 11:08:01 -0800



stephanie wrote:
>
> so glad someone else tagged onto this new thread...
>
> to summarize this message for the delete-happy: some
> music is tied to a place, some to a groundless state
> of mind. why is that? examples?
 

I like to travel and as much as I can I like to listen to the radio in the place
I am at...sometimes I'll just dig a tune just because it's something I've never
heard before, and when I get back home, I'll find ways to get that music and
make a little "compilation tape" of music heard during my visit.

But I agree, I've always though a great deal of music is tied to a place, maybe
not one place in particular, but a lot of music reminds me of a place, maybe the
place where I first heard the song, or a certain kind of setting.

For example, take Country music. The popular cliche is "Oh, I like every kind of
music...except for Country music." I'm not a country music listener, I don't
even have a country CD in my collection, but I do know that the real reason why
most people have an aversion to country music is that most people live in
cities, and country music does *not* fit in an urban setting. There are country
stations in big cities, but I imagine that most of the listeners listen for
nostalgia reasons (i.e. they grew up in the country, etc).

But, I do remember when driving along the I-5 (an interstate highway here in the
US) through Central California, where there's nothing but farms and fields, just
for kicks I turned on the local country station and..."Yeeeeehaw!" Country music
suddenly sounded wonderful. I was totally diggin it. I'm serious. Try it
sometime (don't worry, no one will catch you). You will at least think that
country music makes a little more sense.

But add tall buildings, more people and traffic and it sounds like crap.
Conversely, listening to hip-hop in a cornfield doesn't feel right at all.

Elson
 

                                                                                                 - 30 -

 :. elson trinidad, los angeles, california, usa
 :. elson@westworld.com
 :. www.westworld.com/~elson

 "funny how frustration breeds desire" - meja



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