The joy of listening

I still remember it as if it were yesterday. My friends and I would go after school, in the middle of the week, to buy an album at a record store. Excited at the idea of hearing music we had never heard before, we almost made a ritual of it. Owning music, or a musical product, was something we didn’t think much about at the time. However, we would discuss each song in detail—the sound of the guitars, the singer's voice, the synthesizers, our favorite song, etc.

The young “me” in the 9th grade was becoming more and more passionate about music during that time. I had this idea that to really absorb every piece of an LP, I had to listen to the album for at least a week. Every day. It was only after seven days of intensive listening that I knew if I really liked the album I had just bought. That also determined whether I would buy the next album by that artist the following year. Do you remember the joy of listening? Maybe that joy is still there, or maybe you’ve lost it without realizing. Do you remember going to a record store? Walking to "your" section, where you would flip through each case like dominoes, looking for something new. I still clearly remember having these thoughts:

”No. No. No. No. No. Yes. I’ll listen to this one later. What was I looking for again?”

Forty-five minutes later, I would return to the listening booth with 12 albums in my hands.
The clerk would point to the sign, “5 albums maximum.” But they always ended up letting me go through my whole stack anyway... The pleasure of listening, for me, was there. I had to choose which ones I would take home with me and which ones I would let the clerk put back. Sitting on my bench, in my bubble, listening to something new. Forget noise-canceling headphones back then. The only noise-canceling I had was turning the volume up to 10. And then I’d be off again…

Until suddenly, something bold, something new, would catch my ear. Something I had never heard before. It could be as simple as a violin segment. Or the voice of a singer I really liked. Do you remember? Do you still have that joy of listening? That feeling that you’ve just discovered something. Maybe not… Or maybe you have it without questioning it. I think everyone should take the time to listen. Because if you can truly focus on listening, then you’re really “disconnecting,” as we say so well. Being able to disconnect is something that isn’t easy for everyone. The expression says it all—if we feel the need to “disconnect,” it’s probably because we’re “connected” to something. And that something is part of the past. Do you follow me? So we could say that music helps us return to the present. The present time. At least for me, it really does. Before, there was a certain imposed form, which I just described, where we didn’t really have a choice but to take the time. But now that this particular form is no longer there, when do you take the time to listen music?

It’s very interesting to see that everyone has a different relationship with music, yet we all listen to it for the same reason. It makes us feel better. And that feeling of well-being, I think, comes from being in present time. Returning to the present through music. Only when it’s our own music, though— the neighbor’s music is often more annoying than anything else. Which, I believe, shows just how personal and spiritual a form of art music is. I actually believe that music is one of the art forms that can directly affect our mood. This artistic vibration penetrates all our fears to directly touch the “self” and bring us back to the present. And I know a few people who almost make a religion out of it. They have what you might call a listening temple, where every wire has been carefully chosen for its sound quality. Every speaker, every amplifier—I’ve even heard someone say they thought their living room rug sounded better than the one in the bedroom. True or not, it doesn’t matter. But where is all this going? What’s my point? My one and only point is this: I believe we underestimate the value of music in our society. And I’m not here to denounce or point fingers to find someone to blame. There are many people on this Earth who deserve more importance and rights. But think about this: artists have dreams, and they will continue to dream them as long as we are able to listen to their art.