How Could I Forget You, Song?

Back in 2001, Apple® released a new MP3 player that would change the way people listened to music. It's called an iPod. Oh, you've heard of it? I'm sure you have one, and if you don't, you know someone that does. I remember hearing about this thing and thinking what an amazing invention it was and how incredibly bad I needed one. A device that could hold all my music in one place? I can carry it my pocket? You mean I don't need to carry my 500 compact disc briefcase around with me anymore? Sounds like a wet dream to me. I bought one for myself as soon as I had enough money to do so. I was in my second semester of my Junior year of college so, let me see, that would make it 2004. I didn't need books for my classes that badly anyway. Six years later, I'm on my third iPod and if my current one broke today, the first thing I would do tomorrow is buy another one. I'm sickly addicted to it. When most people leave their house, they do the standard, wallet, keys, phone check. My checklist is the same but add iPod. So, you get it. I love my iPod.

Every now and then, I suffer some side effects of owning an iPod. For example, I have difficulty choosing what it is that I want to listen to. It's almost as if there are too many choices. How am I supposed to pick one song that I want to listen to when there are 5,000 on here? 4,000 of which I probably love. The pressure is simply paralyzing. Not only is there that, but then finally, I pick a song and I'm about two minutes into it and BAM! I want to listen to this song instead. I HATE when people turn mid-song! I do it all the time. My oldest, iPodless brother refers to this phenomena as "iPoditis." Apparently, it's a common sickness. And finally, my least favorite side effect of owning an iPod, I forget about songs; Songs I love. I never thought there could be such a thing as owning too much music, but I think there is. I'm not sure about anyone else's music listening habits, but mine, mine I know. Most of the time I have about 8 "go to" albums that I incessantly listen to. They never get old, I love them and they love me. The rest of the time, I am probably obsessed with one or two new albums I recently discovered and I'll listen to those until my ears bleed and they become part of my "go to" list. But what this cycle does is force so many great, individual songs to get lost in the gigabytes. There have been many a time where my iPod has been on shuffle and a random song will come on that I love so much but have neglected too long. In the instant where that happens, I am the happiest girl alive for approximately 1.2 seconds. It's like seeing an old best friend that you used to see everyday. This is usually followed by self loathing for forgetting about the song in the first place. There is a big difference between scrolling through my iPod and flipping through my cd case. With the latter, I can actually see and touch the discs and there is something to be said for that. Come to think of it, I miss my 500 compact disc briefcase.

Below are a few "old best friends" that I saw recently because the shuffle on my iPod allowed it. Man, I missed them.

Phish - "Wading In The Velvet Sea (live)"
David Gray - "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye"
The Buzzcocks - "Why Can't I Touch It?"
The Flaming Lips - "Race For The Prize"
Tori Amos - "A Sorta Fairytale"
Coldplay - "The Scientist"
Counting Crows - "Rain King (acoustic)"

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