Proof

I've been carrying out a minor experiment related to my listening to music over the last three weeks. This has involved playing CDs from one of the several sets of shelves I own of them sequentially, without regard to whether I feel like listening to the CD in question at the time. Since there's no real order involved in the arrangement of the CDs, except to say that there's some tendency for CDs purchased at a certain period to end up next to each other, there's a kind of randomness to this process rare in my usual selection of pieces to please my ears. Another rule of the experiment is to pay close attention to what is being played rather than let it become background music. I should add, at this point, that I'm still allowing myself to listen to other stuff, which tends to be music new to me accessed through streaming services & YouTube & the like, in case you think my rules are overly self-denying.

After getting back from work today, and The Missus being out with one of her chums, I thought I'd continue the on-going sequential run of CDs, only to realise that this meant playing Who's Next, the classic album from 1971 by you know who. But therein lay a bit of a problem. Now this might seem odd to you, but I just didn't want to play the CD. I had this very strong sense of knowing it too well (having played it to death at university & beyond, often accompanied by some embarrassing air guitar.) I really thought that hearing it all again, at 4.50 on a Thursday afternoon in the third decade of the twenty-first century would be a disappointing let-down.

But nothing could be further from the truth. I made myself put it on the CD player and by the time the second track, Bargain, was filling the room I was close to some serious air guitar all over again. But happily resisted the impulse whilst even more happily responding to every detail of the playing. So much detail to enjoy. John Entwistle's bass alone worth relishing every inventive second of.

So there it is. The proof of something. Just not quite sure what exactly that something is.