Polymusical Party

You know those friends you have who you hope never meet? The fun, foul-mouthed friends from university who would embarrass you horribly if you bumped into them while you were with your elegant socialite friend? The gorgeous but dim ex you couldn't introduce to your scientist friend? You know what I'm talking about. 

But don't we all go through our lives, meeting people from all walks, learning what we can from them all, tourists visiting other people's lives for a little while before returning to our own? We're sightseers, nourishing our curiosity with each contact, and though our destinations might be inclined to war with each other, they're still all interesting places to vacation.

That's how songs are.

In the same way that you'd call up a certain someone you haven't seen for a while, you might put on some music you haven't listened to for a while, and either would make you feel just the way that person or that song always made you feel. Everyone has a music collection, and I would bet that most people's collections have a variety of styles for different moods and different activities.

But do you often find multiple styles on one CD?

When a song forms in my head, it makes itself known in a certain way, and I feel I'm just translating it into existence. I don't have control over whether it wants to be a rock song, a country song, a pop song or a folk song. Of course I don't want them all to be the same, but sometimes it feels like these songs go out of their way to distinguish themselves from one another, like desperately non-conformist friends vying to stand out. So I've given in to the demands each song makes, and put them all down exactly as they've asked. Oh, yes, they argue with each other about the silliest things, and I've caught them rolling their eyes at something one of the others said, but generally, they get along pretty well for such an eclectic group. And I've decided on a name for them all, following up on my Life as Tourism theme. The full collection (still a work in progress) will be called "Sightseeing At Rush Hour."

So welcome, Sonny's Sightseers!

Listen to "Sightseeing At Rush Hour" so far here