The mind, locked in repetitive, neurotic loops as trying to sleep, like a torturous dream from which there is no escape...
It’s not a complete secret that pop hits are meticulously crafted to be outright addictive - every small detail from the formulas of melody structure to chord arrangements and everything that ‘hooks’ the listener.
Knowing it intellectually is one thing. Falling prey to it is another.
The new Ariana Grande album... phenomenal. Undoubtedly, she is one of the greatest vocalists in the Top 40 charts today. And sure enough, the input of songwriting God, Max Martin, and the rest of Hollywood’s compositional wizards behind the album crafted something outright addictive, as hours later after listening in the car, snippets of her voice are stuck in my head like a broken record...
There have been songs with an element of emotion that translates so intimately to listeners, touching them on levels that defy words...
More than once, fans of singers/bands have declared that it was in listening to a particular song, that they found a glimmer of hope or inspiration which literally saved them from killing themselves.
Such is the power of music to uplift.
And then, there are works of art like French DJ/producer’s recent “Hyperion,” which may be more likely upon listening to, whose profound depths of depressing darkness push the rare listener over the edge to suicide...
And then there are songs that act like a time machine...
That upon listening to, have a magical capacity to transport you back in time to a particular quality of experience from decades ago when you first fell in love with them.
In the midst of soulless, repetitive, electronic & cookie-cutter pop garbage on the modern radio, it’s amazing how listening to stuff like Def Leppard reinfuses me with a jolt of joy reminiscent of a childhood long-forgotten - giving a glimpse into dimensions crafted far ago, yet still retain more heart than much of what is being forged today...
Sometimes I wonder what impact my music has on its handful of listeners.
Whether its merely a quick listen that gets just as quickly forgotten, or even it ever does reach anyone who actually appreciates the depth that’s gone into it.
Or if it ever will... or the fate of Venus in 12th house will keep it forever buried amidst the millions of new shit songs released continually, an artistic genius ‘wasted’ or never fully realized & appreciated...