I like making playlists more than I like listening to them. I like playlists more than albums. I think I like playlists because they are a representation of yourself for through the things you enjoy. It’s maybe the best way to learn something about someone else without them saying it. I know I missed the golden age of playlists, the mixtape era. I didn’t miss it by much, but by the time I wanted to burn CDs, the ipod was gaining popularity and everything was at the touch of your fingertips. The mixtape/playlist came back when spotify became prominent, with personalized playlists at the forefront of their business model. While these playlists can be helpful for finding new music, I don’t find myself using these automated playlists much if at all. It lacks that personal touch that I enjoy about the format. I want to know what songs are important to that person. Maybe I’m narcissistic when I say I like making them more than I like listening to them, but I think that's true about everyone. Music is special in how it can connect to your reality, and can reflect a feeling about a person or place or something else in your life.
One summer I saved up 3000 dollars working at a summer camp and blew most of it in about three weeks during a trip to Europe. While there I went to Israel, Italy, Denmark, and a few other places but I don’t want to brag anymore. I went with two friends with whom I had been planning the trip for the last several months, and had also known for the last 18 years. I learned a lot during that trip. I learned how to travel by myself, I learned how to communicate when english Isn’t an option. I also learned that I was a big fan of the late Amy Winehouse. I downloaded her album “Frank” on a whim, and fell in love on that first eight hour flight to my layover in Brussels. For the next three weeks that was most of what I listened to, with a few other artists thrown in for variety. I know that the feeling of freedom and wonder I felt while exploring these new places played a role in how much I loved that album. Whenever I revisit it, I think about those experiences and how much that time in my life means to me. In that sense, I feel like music can be the bookmark on a chapter of your life. Like Andy from The Office said, “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them”. Sometimes you don’t realize how important and unique an experience was until you look back on it, and at the same time life moves so fast that it’s also hard to look back. Music makes you look back because of that subconscious association to a specific time and place. It’s like music therapy for people with Alzheimer's, the music can create connections to the past that can’t be made through any other means.
I wonder a lot about what a song means to someone else, or if other people make these connections like I do. I think they do.