Do you carry your fave soft toy or fave jeans or fave perfumes when you travel? Well I have always carried my music for any unforeseen circumstances that may arise. My collection is a rather eclectic one, those who know me disregard my playlist and those who don’t, find new music they’d like to know more on.
Thank God for music portability in today’s age. As am not sure how I would have passed my most idyllic moments on a beach or walking in the greens! Music is not just a passing fancy with me, but has been a constant companion during my travels and bedtime. I have to date lost 3 i-pods in transit due to tiredness and sleepiness, but that does not deter me from buying the 4th i-pod or a scandisk as a back up to ensure I have music at all times when traveling.
I remember traveling on a holiday from Bangalore during early days on a scanty budget. Accompanied by a bag loaded with treasured cassettes, I found myself on a bus heading to Goa. I realized if I am not listening to music (I was never big on boy bands but always heavy on rock!! Floyd, Muddy waters, Doors!) the journey (bus drive) would become torturous and unending misery for me. And that’s dangerous as I can so easily spoil my fellow travelers joy! Left alone to myself with my music and my window seat I was happy to take in the sights and sounds of the beautiful coastal drive.
Many a conversations during travel have begun with music. Learning from a fellow traveler on jazz and its origins, to playing my music in shacks in Goa because the shack owner is running low on ‘rock music’, helps befriends strangers and start easy friendly conversations on holidays. Many a times I have voluntarily shared music on my travels. And sometime when lyrics are translated for my benefit (because I don’t understand the language) it does not deter me from appreciating the pain in the music. Blues can embrace and envelop you because of a common understood message.
Essentially music goes wherever I go. It maybe the naughty voice of Sunidhi Chauhan or the dancing vocals of Shakin Stevens or Shakira, or the calming voice of A R Rahman or the vibrant rhythms of Buddha Bar, Jamiroquai or Enigma –music always comes in handy on travel, and helps me relate to people, especially when I am miles away from home
5 comments:
To get into the Jamaican swing, I learned the other three Rs: rum, reggae and Red Stripe:)
They sure love their music as do travelers too! Their seasons may be upside down but the Antipodeans have their heads on straight when it comes to music. Summer in Australia and New Zealand is festival season, and nothing brings the locals out like live music, cold beer and that famous sunshine. Go down under and be sure to bag yourself a ticket to one (or all) of those rockin' festivals! Runa
Syd Barrett didn’t travel much in his life, but he inspired journeys to other worldly realms.
Syd Barrett co-founded the psychedelic band Pink Floyd. Before he went crazy from stardom and too much LSD, he penned beautiful Tolkien-esque songs about gnomes, scarecrows and bikes. Fame came too fast and Syd burnt out, a good warning about the dangers of psychedelic drugs.
Syd Barrett’s real world travels may have been limited to one short tour of America he undertook before the other Pink Floyd members kicked him out out of the band. But Syd was gifted with an imagination that brought him and many listeners into other worldly realms.
From Astronomy Domine on The Piper at the Gates of Dawn:
“Lime and limpid green a second scene a fight between the blue you once knew,
Floating down the sound resounds around the icy waters underground,
Jupiter and Saturn
Oberon, Miranda, Titania,
Neptune titan stars can frighten.”
Barrett’s collapse into catatonia and reclusion was another tragic downfall of a creative artist like Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. Barrett would never recover. Many long-term travelers must face the same type of demons upon returning home from years on the road. For some there is no longer any home.
Hey this hits home for me man!! Like you I pretty much never travel without my music wethr inside or out of bombay!! So yea I so totally know what you mean:)
@Jimmy- funny and I know how true:)
@RUna- aha! Bliss!:)
@Mel -such a sad ending for Syd
@sanjiv- :)
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