Music for Company ♫

Need something to keep you going in these lonely days?… stay tuned.

I’ve got my dear ol’ dad to thank for it. I’ve been a music ‘fan’ since my earliest memories. I must have been about 3 or 4, but I can still fondly remember begging mum to endlessly rewind the reel-to-reel tape we had of the Beatles ‘White Album’ to play the songs that I called ‘Buffalo Bill’ and ‘Ronky Racoon.’ Then he introduced us to Elton, The Beach Boys, Hot August Night, to name a few. We certainly had the coolest and loudest stereo in the street, and the other kids would come over so we could play Acca Dacca and Sherbet at ear-blistering levels, whilst doing air guitar. Good times.

Getting my drivers’ licence meant I could play music in the car on my own as loud as I liked… and I did. My go-to cassette in the Subaru in the 80s had ZZ Top, Big Country, early Midnight Oil, Aussie Crawl, The Knack and of course Flock of Seagulls as big tunes. This ‘alone time’ was some of my fave memories of going from a school kid to an adult.

I’m alone again this week, working from home. Weird. Fun. Novel. Am I gonna get sick of it? Who knows? Am I sick of my own company yet? Nope. Lovin’ It. My lovely wife made banana bread to go with my (many) morning coffees. My computer and work set-up (see last weeks’ column) is aces. Oh, and the music… it’s goin’ on out here on the outskirts of Millthorpe, I’m telling you. Can you hear it?

These days, ten bucks a month will get you access to a billion songs, maybe more, and there’s no ads if you pay for it. I’ve still got the hundreds of vinyls and CDs in pride of place, and the music on my computer won’t ever be replaced. But… online these days is just too peachy to ignore. All you have to do is type in one idea, like ‘The awesome 80s’ and you’re set for an entire day, maybe longer. From Van Halen, to the Vapours, to Tears For Fears, to Spy V Spy… it’ll get played for you, no problems. I typed in ‘Rock’ just to see what would happen and found a playlist that goes for over 6 hours called ‘Pure Rock & Roll’, I was and still am, in music heaven. The only two annoying things have been (i) having to stop doing my real work for a minute to find out the name of a new song as I am continually educated, and (ii) leaving the keyboard to play air guitar when songs like ‘Panama’ or ‘Kickstart My Heart’ come on.

On the TV and radio, they’ve been talking about making playlists of ‘songs you play when you’re lonely or alone,’ but that’s just garbage. I’m never alone when the music is blasting, I’m at peace. Late last Tuesday arvo, just before the awesome rain came, I jumped on the ride-on, stuck the buds in my ears and had my phone in my pocket, ready for an internet playlist. I hooked into a list of songs by one of my current faves, a relatively new Aussie band called Ocean Alley – and screamed out the lyrics at the top of my lungs whilst mowing for almost 2 hours. Bliss. Alone. Not lonely.

A couple of songs I might add to my extended playlists next week will include ‘Mad World’ by Tears for Fears, the song by John Lennon where he says ‘Strange Days Indeed, Most Peculiar Mama…’, Onion Skin by Boom Crash Opera (‘these here are crazy times’), and The Doors ‘People Are Strange.’ I know a mate who’d add ‘Here I go Again on my own’ by Whitesnake. The list is endless.

Music ♫ – you’re never lonely, even when you’re alone. Turn it up. Loud.