Noel's cousin had come over yesterday.
Which, on the face of it, has got nothing to do with anything.
She's in the 11th, all of what... 16 years? And Noel was introducing her to the music of Bryan Adams.
Jeez, man!
Do you, gentle reader, feel ancient and moth eaten upon hearing something like that?
Almost a decade gone. Back to the time when you finally moved beyond the Bollywood gyrations. And into the world of Angrezi music.
Back to the days when you heard "Winds of Change" for the first time... when the lyrics of "Inside Out" had you breaking into that goofy grin... when you learnt more about history through "We didn't Start the Fire" than you ever did in school. Ah, the good old days.
What Denny boy said about the common collection of MP3's on everybody's comps is quite true, no?
Think about it. You know with cold clear certainty that a guy will have some Clapton, some Eagles, some Police, some Red Hot Chili Peppers. And of course, if he doesn't, you stop knowing the guy. Naturally.
You also know that girls will have "Nothing's Gonna CHange My Love For You" and "I Just Called To Say I Love You", but let's not talk about that. The blog's for general viewing, let's not affect sensibilities too much.
But your buddies will have the songs that you like. I'm not going into cause and effect here, but buddies tend to have pretty common tastes in music.
And they grow into and out of fads pretty much in sync too.
Now come on, be honest, admit it.
Self denial won't help here.
I know that you did, as did I, think that the Backstreet Boys were cool at one time. No, no... don't you go around with that self righteous look on your face, Boyzone was appreciated once, no?
Don't you worry son, been there, done that. All of us.
But we have wisened up. Shut up as one when "Tears in Heaven" fills the room. Nodded along appreciatively when "It's probably Me" wafted through the speakers. Winced when Spears chose to do the sublimely ironical "I Love Rock and Roll"
Layla
Hotel California
Life's a Long Song
Sultans of Swing
Roadhouse Blues
When I'm 64
She's Always a Woman To Me
With or Without You
Not exhaustive, not indicative. But it brings a smile to the face, no brother?
Moozhik is to the good, people. Plis to be enjoying.
Currently Listening To: Coming Back To Life
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Saturday, October 14, 2006
The Knopfler post
The Knopfler post (n): Something one should just have stayed the hell away from, if one were both a writer and a fan. An euphemism for a devilishly difficult thing to do, more so because of your exacting expectations of the outcome, in spite of how badly you want to do it. Something like the perfect date, or the precise seating position on a bean bag.
Source: Xander’s Dictionary of Life, 2006 Edition
Maybe I did take the assignment too seriously. Or maybe the man himself. For those not in the know, this post is dedicated to Mark Knopfler. And the blueprints for what is to follow have changed a million a week, so pardon me for taking the easy way out and fishing one out from the dark right now.
I first heard the Dire Straits probably on radio, during the 11th and probably one of their popular hits too. This was my initial exposure to music, so they ended up being just one of the bands that had come on. Market share had been cornered largely by stuff like Prodigy or The Offspring, and you may smirk all you want, but you were an idiot in the 11th too.
The dude really came to the fore only after the 12th, when Anish and Ashish came around to being set in the Best Friends Forever mould. We were broke, we were sneaking bottles of Fosters from fridges and searching Mahim through the night for replacements, and we were trying to ignore the lack of girls in our lives by concentrating on the very best that food, drink and music life had to offer. Within a budget of 100 bucks.
The music first came through in precious snatches, whether they be the radio, MTV or the same set of mp3s on everyone’s computers. But it gelled well with the life us 3 led. Money for Nothing, Heavy Fuel, Sultans of Swing, Walk of Life…they all had very guy friendly lyrics. And the guitaring could be revealed only when you had your butt in your chair, when you learnt not to talk when good music’s on and when you genuinely had nothing to think about other than who sat closest to the remote and could thus reach it with minimal effort. And yeah, you positively cannot be dancing to the music.
If you went to your music library and played Twisting by the pool right now, or at least had the impulse to do so, your level of adulation matches what us 3 share right now.
Because it’s impossible for me to talk of Knopfler without talking about these 2 guys. For 8 amazing years, we’ve gone through thick and thin with Sirji strumming away in the background. So much so that I’ve begun to use his music as a leading indicator of whether a guy could be a besht buddy and all that. Girls are another matter…we’d probably kill each other for a female Knopfler fan, but they’re all taken.
I have almost all his songs now, and believe me, I’ve been listening to them day in and day out almost everyday. It’s the default playlist in my room here, and the music never fails to thrill. If you thought (as we did) that Dire Straits hit the pinnacle of guitar, wait till I hand you his solo stuff. And his recent set of duets with Emmylou Harris.
I’ve gone and turned missionary on campus for the guy’s music, and met with spectacular success….so much so that there are only 2 kinds of people left in my world. Those who like Knopfler, and those who haven’t heard him yet.
Got carried away here, didn’t I? I don’t have the heart to go back and delete anything, so it stands.
But put up the happiest moments together over the last so many years, whether they be the Mahim night, the lunches in Anish’s place, the parties at Vasu mama’s, the Knopfler concert, the parties I’ve had with my closest friends in NITIE, the night I landed in Bangalore, the night I left Bangalore, the afternoon on the shack in Goa, the totally free days in the room with nothing to do but listen to Herr Knopfler. And that’s what I’ve been doing through them all.
Us 3 always had this 4th guy. And I take his stuff to every new setting with an almost evangelical zeal…..I lugged the damn laptop through rain and bike rides and sun and trains and buses only so that I could setup the playlist in that shack. Usually there’s this switch in my head which flashes on whenever I go overboard with something, but in this case…it’s been yanked off the wall.
Yeah.
Source: Xander’s Dictionary of Life, 2006 Edition
Maybe I did take the assignment too seriously. Or maybe the man himself. For those not in the know, this post is dedicated to Mark Knopfler. And the blueprints for what is to follow have changed a million a week, so pardon me for taking the easy way out and fishing one out from the dark right now.
I first heard the Dire Straits probably on radio, during the 11th and probably one of their popular hits too. This was my initial exposure to music, so they ended up being just one of the bands that had come on. Market share had been cornered largely by stuff like Prodigy or The Offspring, and you may smirk all you want, but you were an idiot in the 11th too.
The dude really came to the fore only after the 12th, when Anish and Ashish came around to being set in the Best Friends Forever mould. We were broke, we were sneaking bottles of Fosters from fridges and searching Mahim through the night for replacements, and we were trying to ignore the lack of girls in our lives by concentrating on the very best that food, drink and music life had to offer. Within a budget of 100 bucks.
The music first came through in precious snatches, whether they be the radio, MTV or the same set of mp3s on everyone’s computers. But it gelled well with the life us 3 led. Money for Nothing, Heavy Fuel, Sultans of Swing, Walk of Life…they all had very guy friendly lyrics. And the guitaring could be revealed only when you had your butt in your chair, when you learnt not to talk when good music’s on and when you genuinely had nothing to think about other than who sat closest to the remote and could thus reach it with minimal effort. And yeah, you positively cannot be dancing to the music.
If you went to your music library and played Twisting by the pool right now, or at least had the impulse to do so, your level of adulation matches what us 3 share right now.
Because it’s impossible for me to talk of Knopfler without talking about these 2 guys. For 8 amazing years, we’ve gone through thick and thin with Sirji strumming away in the background. So much so that I’ve begun to use his music as a leading indicator of whether a guy could be a besht buddy and all that. Girls are another matter…we’d probably kill each other for a female Knopfler fan, but they’re all taken.
I have almost all his songs now, and believe me, I’ve been listening to them day in and day out almost everyday. It’s the default playlist in my room here, and the music never fails to thrill. If you thought (as we did) that Dire Straits hit the pinnacle of guitar, wait till I hand you his solo stuff. And his recent set of duets with Emmylou Harris.
I’ve gone and turned missionary on campus for the guy’s music, and met with spectacular success….so much so that there are only 2 kinds of people left in my world. Those who like Knopfler, and those who haven’t heard him yet.
Got carried away here, didn’t I? I don’t have the heart to go back and delete anything, so it stands.
But put up the happiest moments together over the last so many years, whether they be the Mahim night, the lunches in Anish’s place, the parties at Vasu mama’s, the Knopfler concert, the parties I’ve had with my closest friends in NITIE, the night I landed in Bangalore, the night I left Bangalore, the afternoon on the shack in Goa, the totally free days in the room with nothing to do but listen to Herr Knopfler. And that’s what I’ve been doing through them all.
Us 3 always had this 4th guy. And I take his stuff to every new setting with an almost evangelical zeal…..I lugged the damn laptop through rain and bike rides and sun and trains and buses only so that I could setup the playlist in that shack. Usually there’s this switch in my head which flashes on whenever I go overboard with something, but in this case…it’s been yanked off the wall.
Yeah.
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