Monday, July 6, 2009

Which "album" changed your life?

On NPR today, they were interviewing an author who had compiled a number of writers' responses to the question, "Which rock or pop album 'changed your life?'" It was interesting to hear the authors' responses, but also interesting to think which one I'd choose. I decided that for me it would be Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow. One of the songs on that 1967 album was White Rabbit, a song that among other things was supposed to replicate some of the feeling of doing drugs. The sort of over-the-top emotional swings in the music, not to mention the lyrics, gave a sense of the loss of the control that drugs were supposed to cause. It seemed to me, as a pre-teen, that everyone around me was involved in the drug culture in some way, and I was petrified. I didn't know why, so much, until I heard that Jefferson Airplane music. That sort of building to a crescendo, lack of reality, loss of control, was exactly what I didn't want. I wanted life to make sense. And so, the sense of it all that I got from the music was enough, and perhaps Jefferson Airplane could be credited for keeping me away from drugs during that very drug-happy time. Thanks, Grace Slick! What music changed your life? Oh, and by the way, I stayed away from downhill skiing for precisely the same reason -- I knew I couldn't control it, and I was afraid.

1 comment:

  1. Hah! You aren't alone-- I have always been a real wimp about putting myself into situations where I lost control. Including NO to drugs and NO to skiing. I think one reason I like carnival rides is that you can be in an out of control setting.... for 90 seconds!
    What rock or pop album changed my life? That is really tough for me to answer since I always inundated myself with music, and it seems there was always an album with particular significance for me at any point in time. I usually have an association between specific songs or albums and specific people or events in my life. For example, one day I came in to find the album "Get It" by Dave Edmunds on my desk. Starting that day, I played it and played it because that was the moment I knew that someone I was in love with was in love with me, too.

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