One good thing about distance learning, and maybe I’ve already referenced this in an earlier post, is how much time I have during the day to play music in the background. If I ever tried to do that at school, I’d first have to be very careful I didn’t play any inappropriate songs (even though some of the most offensive music listen to would pass for Disney princess anthems when compared to a lot of the stuff 5th graders listen to and claim to enjoy). Once I had steered around all the bad words that would get the wrong parent on my back, the issue would fall to how distracting it would be for the class. There’s no way I wouldn’t have a little snark monster or two finding ways to criticize what I had chosen to play. Doing so could almost pass as a creative writing prompt for some: “Describe at least 5 ways Mr. Mulroy’s playlist today is a fail.”
Here at home, there’s no one to complain. I can have the music up to a reasonable level in the other room and it won’t be heard even during a video conference. I’ve asked people if they could hear it, and it’s rare they can even tell it’s on.
I’ve been in the habit for a long time of crafting playlists for the days I’ve been at school without any kids around. It’s almost a hobby, trying to put together the perfect combination of songs, usually arranged around some kind of theme. These days, if I have the time, I’ll put together a playlist somewhere between seven and ten hours long the night before, then give it an appropriately-identifiable name. A few examples from the past week or so: “Soundtrack to The Apocalyse,” “College Time Capsule,” Starter Pack,” or “Chill Out, It’s Only a Pandemic,” along with things like “Bruce Hornsby Live,” “Yes: The Trevor Rabin Years,” “Studio Tesla,” or the imaginatively titled “May 11,” which was actually pretty good so I should go back give it a name. Most of these don’t get played through more than once or twice and consequently have brief shelf lives, but half the fun is putting it together in the first place, so I don’t see it as wasted time.
If I don’t have enough time to get obsessive about my playistism, I’ll just pick a particular artist and shuffle through a collection of their albums. That’s especially fun if it’s someone who hasn’t been in my rotation for awhile. I have to say, it was a surprise to discover how much better mid-80s Night Ranger held up to the test of time compared to something like late-80s Bon Jovi. (I’m sorry, but until you play six or so Bon Jovi albums one after another, you don’t fully realize how much every song sounds alike and how much there sound was dictated by the times.)
I’m still looking at three school days this week, and as of now I don’t have any ideas about what to listen to next. I saw a story on the news about a local artist who was creating sketches for people by request and sending them out for a small price; to give him a start, the customer had to provide him with a word or a phrase to build around. I thought that was a cool idea. I might have to look for some random words or sources to inspire my lists for the rest of the week.
Or I might fall back on something like “Rush Studio Albums from Between 1977 and 1992.”
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