Devouring Music
- JAM
- May 4, 2016
- 2 min read
When I truly got into music as a teenager, I didn't just listen to it, I devoured it. I would listen to songs over and over and over and over and over and over again. Crazy? OCD? Manic? Probably. But here is the thing; I didn't just listen to listen. I like picking out lyrics and analyzing them. I pulled apart the different instruments and how they sounded. Then I would pull different parts where instruments played off each other. I would dissect why beats and bridges where used in different ways. That takes time and dedication.
O.K. I hear it now. I was nuts, or I still am, let me show you.
Here is a great example of the gems you find when you do more than just passively listen to music.
In the Children 18:3 song, Don't Stop Moving there is a part that impacts me every time I hear it. No matter how many times I hear it. It is so small, almost inaudible that you would miss it if you weren't listening. I would love to know how it was decided to put it in. Was it intentional to put it in at that volume or just a result of the mixing. was it integral to the song in the beginning? Was it an afterthought? I would have loved to be in the booth while they recorded it. I want to know so much more about less than 3 seconds of a song I thoroughly enjoy and love.
Let me show you. The chorus starts:
"You're never too far, if you don't stop moving
So don't stop moving now..."
And there it is. Lee Marie's backing vocals lingering on "now" and then at the very end dropping off. It is soft so you may have to listen to it at a higher volume or even over and over again. She does it in every chorus. She even does a similar one on the other line in the chorus. But, the first one is amazing. It makes me want to listen over and over again because I want more of that one moment. Then I realize that I love it because it is so soft and almost always gone before I can get enough. It is the scarcity that makes it unbelievably desirable.
In writing this post, I have listened to this song a dozen times. Each time I stop and listen. Each time I hear it, like its the first time. That one part, that 3 seconds of a backing vocal is why I devour it. It is what I love to find in music. it is why I will continue to devour it.
Crazy? OCD? Manic? Probably all three.
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