Friday, October 17, 2008
Digital Packrat
I've got too many songs on my iPod right now. A month ago, I was over 10,000. That's when I decided that I was being a little obsessive compulsive and cleaned things out a bit. Now I'm at about 9500. Yeah, I'm not good at cleaning (something The Wife can easily attest to).
Here's the problem. I like a lot of music. I like to say that my tastes are eclectic, but that's not true. I really only like rock and/or roll. I have little use for rap or hip hop. I do, however, have an obsession with pop music, especially from the 60's-90's. That's where the problem lies. At one point, I had every song that was in Billboard's top 100 songs for every year from 1970-2007. If you do the math (and I have), that's 3800 songs. And if you listen to all 3800 (and I have), most of them suck. My most recent song-purging was to get rid of the songs that are absolutely unlistenable. Most of those songs are ones that I'd never heard before.
And this is where my OCD kicks in. I need to get rid of the songs that I recollect but don't like. For example, "If Ever You're In My Arms Again" by Peabo Bryson. Who on EARTH needs this song on their iPod? I heard that Peabo's friends saw it on his iPod and kicked his ass. Yet, for some reason, I can't bring myself to delete it. Somewhere in my sick, twisted mind, I have myself convinced that the Ghostbusters are going to stroll into my house and say, "Hey, it's 1984 again! Let's listen to that totally boss 1984 playlist of yours. Wait, what? You don't have 'If Ever You're In My Arms Again'? Alright, boys, pack up the proton accelerators! We're going home!"
That's what kills me. I know that there's nobody alive that wants to hear this song (or about 1000 others), yet I can't delete them for fear that somebody might, someday, want to hear them. Know what I am? I'm a digital packrat.
Here's the problem. I like a lot of music. I like to say that my tastes are eclectic, but that's not true. I really only like rock and/or roll. I have little use for rap or hip hop. I do, however, have an obsession with pop music, especially from the 60's-90's. That's where the problem lies. At one point, I had every song that was in Billboard's top 100 songs for every year from 1970-2007. If you do the math (and I have), that's 3800 songs. And if you listen to all 3800 (and I have), most of them suck. My most recent song-purging was to get rid of the songs that are absolutely unlistenable. Most of those songs are ones that I'd never heard before.
And this is where my OCD kicks in. I need to get rid of the songs that I recollect but don't like. For example, "If Ever You're In My Arms Again" by Peabo Bryson. Who on EARTH needs this song on their iPod? I heard that Peabo's friends saw it on his iPod and kicked his ass. Yet, for some reason, I can't bring myself to delete it. Somewhere in my sick, twisted mind, I have myself convinced that the Ghostbusters are going to stroll into my house and say, "Hey, it's 1984 again! Let's listen to that totally boss 1984 playlist of yours. Wait, what? You don't have 'If Ever You're In My Arms Again'? Alright, boys, pack up the proton accelerators! We're going home!"
That's what kills me. I know that there's nobody alive that wants to hear this song (or about 1000 others), yet I can't delete them for fear that somebody might, someday, want to hear them. Know what I am? I'm a digital packrat.
