musical nightmare

Now what?

Probably one of the most bitter questions a self-loving musical zealot can ask himself. It radiates an unstoppable feeling of despair. One day you wake up, you look out over the boundless musical landscape that spreads itself unashamed in all possible directions, and you ask yourself ... now what ?

Rez (the video game) - visualizing the musical landscape

It's not like there's nothing left to explore. Hell no. But what direction should you venture. Should you backpack into the mountains, explore the deep sea or get your trunks out and sit your lazy ass down on the beach? You can't keep track of all the labels you like, you want to experience new things but there's little out there to guide your search for new music. And of course, you don't want to get the wrong first impression , as this might instantly kill your exploration drifts. You want to go in all directions at once, but at the same time, you want to watch a movie too and the dishes still need to be done.

Still, the self-loving musical zealot can handle all that. Shoulders straight, head high and full force ahead. We flex our tentacles, we gobble everything that comes across our path and we hope the interesting bits will stick. What's worse is that depressing little moment in time that possibly produces further questions. Saying "now what" can lead you to asking ...

What about later?

So what about later? If you want to observe later, look around you and observe all older people bathing in a musical rot. And sure they are out there. Proud kids bragging about their parents buying the new Arcade Fire CD on their own accord. How depressing to picture yourself as a cool dad who just bought the latest album of the hottest Nouveau Trance DJ, by then the 15th reincarnation of a genre long since dead.

We try to be brave and kid ourself we won't turn out that way. Innovation will be our goal forever. We shall track down new music and we'll always feel the wonder of newly crafted rhythms and sounds. But the reality begs to differ, and is merciless in its honesty. Most of us will leave the musical fandom behind us long before the finish line is in sight.

As sad as this vision is, if this "what about later" phase lasts us long enough, we will fall even deeper. Randomly mumbling and sweating, we look ahead to a time when the most dreaded question chillingly screams above all audible noise levels ...

What about back then ?

Back then ? Back then everything was better. Music was still musical, musicians still played their own music with their bare hands, right from the heart. There were still geezers playing live instruments and the grass still had that sugary pink flavor, resembling the color of the ribbons on the ponytails of cute little five-year olds. Back then you've become an old boring sod who lost his grip on the world and can only look longingly to the past. To long lost times which will last forever. Back then has no future, but was lost in its glory days. Back then sucks.

Now what ?

Now there's only one thing to do. Fight that destiny. Fight the slippery slope that drives you into a valley of musical ignorance and is filled with the echoes of replays of old tunes. Fight that uncaring attitude. Because in the end, that's the most scary prospect.

When the time is there, you won't care about it at all.