Welcome to Monday Morning Mixtape, a PoYB Contributor-curated playlist of songs, made just for you at the start of each week.
"Sensory Overload"
Songs for the five senses: see, hear, smell, taste, and feel
chosen by Joe
"Sensation" by the Who
from Tommy, 1969
Losing my hearing would be the worst loss out of any of the five sense, followed closely by sight. I'm only putting them in that order because of music. If it wasn't for that, they'd be switched. Blind just feels way more of a pain in the ass than deaf. Being blind AND deaf? Just kill me. But not before you make a few good pinball jokes. I always meant to ask whether playing pinball by sense of smell would be possible. It feels like it would be impossible, and I'm 99.9999% certain that no one has ever actually done it before (not that there are too many blind and deaf people making the attempt anyway). But what I'm proposing is... what if? What if we tried it? It can't hurt. It's just pinball. —Joe
"Eat It" by "Weird Al" Yankovic
from "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D, 1984
Music you can taste? What the fuck is that? When I think of bullshitty music, my mind immediately goes to my dear Ken Nordine. But no one needs that on a playlist. I guess if you were really, really hungry (or hungry for tunes), you could taste music in some sense. Whatever playlist is on at the restaurant has a marked effect on the dinner. P.S. it's absolutely insane the Michael hagiography is making billions of dollars. —Sunny
"Hearing Damage" by Thom Yorke
from The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), 2009
[Part 1 of 2] I keep thinking about this interaction that I witnessed earlier this week on a walk. A little girl (maybe five or six) was walking home from school with an older brother (about ten to twelve) and their dad. She was excitedly telling them about how ladybugs aren't really bugs, but they are beetles. She was telling them that "all bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs." And her dad told her she must have that backward, and her brother added, "Yeah, spiders are bugs, but they are arachnids." But I knew that the girl was right and they were wrong. "Bugs" is not just the colloquial term for small creepy crawlers; bugs are a specific subgroup of insects. They have a straw-like mouthpart for sucking, and they have a different life cycle: they hatch from eggs as mini-versions of the adults (nymphs), rather than something like a larva. Not all insects are bugs. And there was no way I could enter this conversation naturally and support her claim, but I felt so bad about it all week. Here was a little girl excited to share something she had learned and she was dismissed. —Gloria
"Touch Me" by Rui da Silva ft. Cassandra
"Touch Me" by Rui da Silva ft. Cassandra
a single, 2001
This feels like the kind of song that would come up in the middle of a night of dancing, not in the middle of a mixtape that might be heavy on the indie music. It's also very long. But we all want someone else to touch us, don't we? Whether it's in an emotional way or not. Touch me, have me, take me. I've had periods of time when I've avoided touch with people, and periods when touch is all I have, no words. In general, I'm not a touch guy, but it's nice sometimes. —Zach
"See a Little Light" by Bob Mould
from Workbook, 1989
Lots of talk about "music as time machine" recently on the blog, which I encourage, because it's true. And it means that I can kill a whole fucking blurb talking about how I discovered Workbook before ever listening to any other Bob Mould project (notably Hüsker Dü) or really even knowing who he was (at least one PoYB Contributor is a Bob Mould superfan, but she doesn't really write too often, which means I have to pick up the Bob Mould slack). So all I have is the where and when. I would guess this was Workbook's 25th anniversary in 2014 or 2015. Early on in owning a home. Back when SEPTA used to detour down Clearfield and detour another bus down Belgrade, so I could wait on the corner of Clearfield and Belgrade and take whichever bus came first to get to the El. It was raining, I was under the awning of the T-shirt shop, and I was listening. Remember when???? —Joe
"Hear Me Clearly" by Pusha T ft. Nigo
from It's Almost Dry, 2022
Although it cuts into Pusha's bottom line, I don't think I'm ever going to do cocaine. I guess you never know, like maybe I'll be pushing 100 and not really have any motivation not to try it at that point. But for the majority of my life, I assume I will continue to have a good motivation to not do cocaine. That motivation being that I have an addictive personality and that cocaine is absolutely kill me if I try it even once. I feel the same way about marijuana, if I'm being honest, but take a softer stance on it. I don't think it's going to kill me if I smoke once, or even semi-often. But the problem is that if I try it once, it won't be semi-often, it will be often. And then I'll be addicted to weed, and then I'll have to go through all that shit again. My plan is to spend exactly the same amount of time completely sober as I did as a drinker. From my first drink to my last drink, that's eighteen years and ten days. So after eighteen years and ten days of complete sobriety, I will smoking weed for the first time. This is March 25, 2041. See you there. —Joe
"Sound of Silver" by LCD Soundsystem
from Sound of Silver, 2007
[Part 2 of 2] She was right, she knew more about this topic than the people she was with, and these men in her family, who were older than her, told her that she was wrong. She protested, and they just doubled down on being wrong. Even though she was right, they never once questioned their own knowledge, and that pissed me off because I think about how often men who were wrong have told me I didn't know what I was talking about and reinforced the idea that my voice didn’t matter to them. And how men often get listened to even when they are wrong because they are louder and they are men. And honestly, it is that deep. Her dad and brother were reinforcing the idea that she can't possibly know more than them, that her voice isn't as important, and that it's easier for her just to be quiet. And I keep wishing I could have said something like, "Hey, just google it, she's right." —Gloria
"Smells like Teen Spirit" by Tori Amos
from Crucify EP, 1992
Look, this is a cover of a well-known song, and a cover of one of the best songs, and it's not even close to being as good as the original song. Basically everyone I know has suggested a "best cover songs" Mixtape to me at some point, and yeah, it'll eventually happen (maybe MMM100), but I'm just dragging my feet a little bit, because covers are never as good as the original. Yes, yes, sure, you can name a dozen examples to prove me wrong. Great. Good for you. You think that Tori Amos was able to find something profound in "Smells like Teen Spirit" that Kurt Cobain could not. Gotchya. Please enjoy. I insist. I'm not here to ruin your good time. —Joe
"Feel the Lightning" by Dan Deacon
from Gliss Riffer, 2015
Synesthesia is a thing right? Sounds like quite the lived-in experience if everything's all getting crossed up in central HQ like that. When I was a young lad, I asked a teacher "Yes we all refer to this square as 'blue' but how do I know that my personal experience of blue is the same as your personal experience of blue?" They did not provide at all a satisfactory answer. —Sunny
"Taste" by Ty Segall
from First Taste, 2019
Segall was mentioned enough times in the Wand reviews that it felt appropriate to add a song of his here. But see, this is what I'm talking about. I think "Taste" is a great song, but I complete forgot that it existed until I searched for songs with "taste" in the title. I like this music so much, but it never leaves a lasting impression. Garage-psych like this is the ultimate sugar high, but ultimately, the energy you get from it is so short-lasting. It's all good though. Strip these thoughts away, just enjoy the moment. Maybe that's it, maybe I just have a problem living in the moment or stripping away context. I will try better. —Joe
"Enjoy the Silence" by Depeche Mode
from Violator, 1990
I feel sensory overload a lot. I used to have "Silent Sunday" when I lived alone, where I'd be like totally quiet on a Sunday all day and not interact with anyone. I wouldn't watch TV, or text/call people, or see people. I didn't do anything very productive. I'd meditate, listen to records, do something creative, take a walk, or rest. It was great, and I could recover from having to be around people during the week. And it was honestly such a great reset. It's very hard to do when you live with other people unless they also want to participate in silence. And I've found that very few people understand this need. Sometimes I think about my college counselor who went on a silent retreat with her spouse for their honeymoon, and how cool and special an experience that would be—just being silent with someone in nature for a week. It's a really beautiful way to start your life together. So intentional. —Gloria
"Feel complete" by PinkPantheress
from Heaven knows, 2023
Am I too old for PinkPantheress? Not the music, I don't think there should be age restrictions on that. I'm not even talking "sexually." I'm generally talking about the idea that I see PinkPantheress sing this song and I think "jeez, she looks young." Which isn't something you normally think unless you yourself are old. And so the more I think these thoughts, the more I realize that, yeah, I'm old. I was telling Dwyer the other night that this is something that happened to me at my two most recent sojourns at strip clubs. I took a many-year gap in my strip club adventures, mostly to fit in the sobriety, but twice in the past year I tried 'em out again. These were not great experiences. Good, because naked women are cool, but not good in mostly every other way. It was the first time that I had those thoughts of "wow, these women are young." I also didn't really get much attention from the strippers, which I'm attributing to my age as well (I've never been that attractive, but that never stopped strippers approaching me in the past, ya feel me?). The first outing, my female friend and I got lap dances from the same stripper (awful lap dances, but that's not really the point), and afterward, she (the stripper) was chilling with us at the bar. And the three of us got to talking, and my friend and I discovered that the stripper we had just received lap dances from was nineteen years old. That's too young! No! I'm too old for this! —Joe
NEXT WEEK: "That's That Me Espresso" — Best songs for the coffee shop (chosen by Zach)
8 comments:
I was pretty proud of how eclectic this ended up being! Especially with the guess of "might be heavy on the indie music" in Zach's blurb. He's not wrong most of the time. Feels good to keep everybody on their toes though!!!
Really appreciated Gloria's anecdote about the bug family (especially since it was told in a blogging space that, despite my best efforts, is heavily skewed male). It felt like a good opportunity to self-assess. Do I ever do this to my kids? I don't think so, but I like the idea of having the bug story in the back of my mind to help catch myself if I do. If (when) I'm told a fact that is wrong, the reaction is first appreciation ("oh cool!"), and second inquisitive ("should we look that up just to make sure?"). Or like if they hand me a thing they wrote and every word is spelled wrong, I'm getting in the habit of saying "good job" and then "is this a situation where you want me to correct the spelling, or no?" And it's usually "no," and that's cool too.
But this is all kind of the opposite of what Gloria's story is about, I guess. It's pretty easy to appreciate when a kid tells me something that I didn't know. Sucks that it wasn't for that dad. We live in a world where it hurts to be wrong, like we're trained online to need to be right about everything. I see that in some people in my life. I feel like it's good to be wrong sometimes. I try to practice being wrong as much as I can. It builds character.
Re: Sunny's P.S. — people only care about sexual abuse when it's convenient for them. It's not convenient to be told, and shown evidence, that the dude who made some of your favorite songs also raped kids. Just like it's inconvenient to buy a red hat and make that your identity and then be shown that the dude who you're supporting with that hat also raped kids.
Thank you for reflecting on leaning and modeling to your girls! I don’t think he even considered for a second that he could be wrong lol. I don’t think the need to be right is solely a product of being trained in an online society. At least that’s not what I’m talking about.
This is a little rambling but when I was reflecting on my experiences with people who dismissed me, even when I’m right, I’m specifically talking about men (especially white, straight, Christian, Americans, especially those who continue to live/work solely in their comfort zones) who assume they are correct and will only take those who are like them seriously. Ignoring these factors and talking about people wanting to be right in a general sense, ignores an important aspect of this story. I think it would have felt different to me if it was her mom and sister saying the same words.
And I think it’s so important to acknowledge that context as we see so many people pushing for less equality. The fact that there are mainstream American politicians advocating for things like household voting, or restricting women being able to leave the state for healthcare is terrifying
The ingrained idea that men will dismiss my lived experience is so deep that even here, on a blog , and with men who haven’t made me feel this way, I still feel the need to justify what I’m saying by including a phase like, “it is that deep,” Because I am expecting your first reaction to be that I’m overthinking this tiny snapshot of their day and that these things won’t have a lasting effect on her
a sad bugs-life adjacent story
the rare time the conversation turns to "what sense would you be most sad to lose," inevitably it's always "sight" because we live in a visual, word-dominated world, but also inevitably there's 10-15% of the group who will say "sound" because music is just that impactful
i never hear anyone cite food, textures, odors, or even art the same way they cite music
Yeah, this is probably right. And the same hat wearing folks are delighted by a movie that conspicuously ends in 1988
I’ve heard that total loss of sound is actually harder to get used to than total loss of vision because it’s very isolating. You don’t have any of the normal noises that show you aren’t alone.
Maybe that’s part of why taste and smell aren’t sited often it’s more a “you” problem than something that affects connection. I lost both those senses with covid for a few weeks and it sucked but didn’t affect my functioning in social or work settings
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