Soundtrack your life

Every now and then I find myself thinking (I hesitate to call it planning) out blog posts whilst wandering around. This is no exception and, as you’ll find if you read on, I do seem to wax lyrical a tad. No excuse or pardon is requested, just a forewarning. This gets a bit… esoteric?

For a moment let me split the world into two types of people. Those who listen to music whilst walking around, and those that don’t.

Agreed? Good.

In the past, I’ve heard people say that the “iPodding” of the world is a bad thing with people more inclined to shut themselves away, close their ears and minds to the rest of humanity and try to create their own little utopia. I’ve touched on this before. However I hold this mornings saunter through early morning Glasgow as evidence to say that it just isn’t so (sometimes).

Picture the scene; people scurry to work, pirouetting their cappucinos out of harm’s way. Shop fronts flicker into life, shutters rattle and the daily flow of customers begins. Some dawdled, anxious to remain alone, some stride with purpose. On a corner two people meet, exchange pleasantries and wander off together, lost in conversation. Snippets are overheard as the light filters across the buildings, the pace gathering as the day begins. A swirl of strangers, the meeting of night and day, cash machines beep, papers unread under arms, crumbs falling from stolen breakfasts. Even the pigeons are lethargic, dawdling on the roads, skipping from underneath tyres. In the midst a man walks, observing. People and buildings, lights and reflections fall into his gaze. He looks up to admire the buildings, down to avoid the puddles.

Now, set that to music, something gentle and quiet – Veneer by Jose Gonzalez perhaps (which features the track used in the recent “bouncy ball” advert on the TV). Play it at a volume which allows the random sounds of the morning to sneak through, and enjoy your own take on the morning. A melancholy uplifting as you wander, a new sheen placed on old items, a fresh slant on the random. A change of stride, a change of pace and the day starts anew, different to the last, newer than old and moving under your control.