A few hours ago:
It’s 1am. I can’t sleep.
Kurt Cobain asks me wailingly “Where did you sleep last night?”. Not that that’s relevant in any way; it’s just curious how that would randomly choose to play right now.
(He also refers to me as “My girl”, but I’m trying to ignore that bit.)
Mind you, this isn’t particularly unusual; I’ve had many a sleepless night before. However, as of late, I’ve been sleeping well.
(Okay, maybe “well” is a bit of a stretch, but at least I get my hours in, like the good little boy I’m trying to be.)
Which begs the question: Why? Why am I still up tonight? I mean, ordinarily, when I’m this tired, and my eyes feel this heavy, I usually konk off in seconds.
Maybe I’m stressed. Wouldn’t be too hard to believe, really. I tend to stress out more than I know. Besides, this whole new bottle-it-up way-of-life I’m trying to adhere to has been quite a strain.
… You don’t know what I’m talking about yet but I’m gonna tell you soon…
Nina Simone is a strange one. I can’t decide if I like her or not. On the one hand, she belts out Sinner Man, one of the few ten minute long songs I can actually be entertained by; on the other, she covers George Harrison’s Isn’t it a pity? which can only be described to as ‘curious’. But then again, she also made Julie Delpy dance in Before Sunset (though I might be wrong about that – it’s been a while since I saw that movie). That, at the very least, evens out the score. (Julie Delpy is a cutie!)
I love random playlists. It’s probably the only reason I stick to Windows Media Player. Of all the players I’ve tried in the past, this was the first one I discovered that generated auto-playlists that would shuffle songs too. I don’t know, maybe there are more; it’s been a while since I downloaded another music player.
But then again, I guess that tells you something about my fondness for windows Media Player.
And to think, all you need is a well-maintained Media Library. Microsoft rules! Woohoo!
(…)
(Dear God, I can almost hear the guns cocking.)
But coming back to random playlists: It’s fantastic. No matter how well you might know your music and what you’ve managed to collect over the years, it still manages to surprise you. You just pick a song to start with, and let it go. Every now and then, you hear a real gem that you hadn’t heard for ages, and you find yourself transported to a time when things were simpler and (thank God-or-whatever for poor memories) happier. Although you do tend to come across a few that are just not apropos to the moment (The Beatles just wished me Good Day, Sunshine. At 1am. The crazy b*stards.), you’re only a ‘skip’ away from the next surprise.
… the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, yeah…
Did everybody see The Dark Knight? I know it’s really late to be asking this, but eh, who’s really going to care? Despite all my trepidation at Heath Ledger being a lousy Joker (hey, in my defense, how many people would honestly have thought Brokeback boy could act??), I was blown away by the guy. The rest of the movie was, well, nice, entertaining, and y’know, comic book glory and what-not, but *man*, the Joker was one creepy mofo. Gave me chills. Fantastic.
Also, did anyone else feel he had a point with the whole “Why so serious?” thing? I mean, sure, it was twisted and all that, but it seemed like an important question, if you ask me. Life’s too full of shit to take everything so seriously. Laugh a little. Like I’d said during some rapidly exchanged SMS-es after the bombings here in New Delhi with SB, I appreciate flippancy. Sure, there’s “a time and a place” for everything, but a little light-heartedness never really hurt anybody.
Then again, there was that guy we all beat up in school because he started laughing when we lost some football game (or something like that. The details are hazy now. I don’t really care to remember too much of, well, stuff).
Hm.
It’s now 1.30am. Either I’ve been typing slower than I thought, or this isn’t flowing out as easily as I thought it would.
Oh well, I should hopefully be asleep on this side of 2.30, at least. That’s something.
…
Should probably stop sipping this leftover Coke though.
… Isn’t it a pity? Isn’t it a shame?…
All right, George Harrison, rep-RE-sent! Aiite! *crotch grab*
(I need to stop chatting with Ravin’. Crazy southie-wannabe-gangsta.)
See! Random playlists! Incredible! What are the chances that the player would play *both* the versions I have of the song in a span of 40 minutes? It can’t be too high; I have around 5,000 songs here (give or take), and it’s played only about 10 so far.
I suppose this is one of those *infinitely* rare occasions (well, except maybe in Vegas) when someone asks the question: Is there a math-guy in the house?
… bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum…
(That’s supposed to be the bass cello Tom is playing in the episode where he serenades some chick-cat with Is you is (or is you ain’t) my baby?, in case you were wondering.)
(Nothing to add to that, really. Was just “bumming” along.)
(Edit: If you’re interested: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIOmzsiecuA)
… And her name was G…
Gloria is such a fantastic song. Not that it has particularly deep lyrics, or particularly intricate music (at least not to my hopelessly tone-deaf ear), but so much fun! I’d love to be drunk somewhere when Gloria suddenly came on – I can just imagine everybody standing around screaming!
Come on now, everybody!!
And her name is G!
L!
O!
R!
I-I-IIII!
G-L-O-R-I-A!!!
GLOOOORIA!
G-L-O-R-I-A!!!
GLOOOORIA!!
I’m gonna shout it out now!!
GLOOOORIA!!!
I’m gonna shout it everyday!!
GLOOOORIA!!!
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah…
There are just some songs that are better suited for drunken indulgences than others. The last party I went for, I wound up dancing for hours to a slew of questionable Bollywood songs. Not particularly because they made me want to get up and *dance*, mind you; it’s just that it was so much fun to be part of the group that sang and danced along, with everybody acting out the lyrics in their own crazy way.
(Plus, with enough alcohol, everything stupid suddenly becomes so much more fun.)
(*sigh* I miss drunken stupors. Why is Delhi not mature enough for 24-hour liquor shops??)
…
Time update: 2am.
(I really wonder how I’d manage all these sleepless nights without music for company.)
(Ah, if only I had an ear for it. I’ve heard it’s nice.)
… Battiyaan bujha do!
(Arrey, batti to bujha de, yaar.)
Battiyan bujha do ke neend nahin aati haaaiin
Battiyaan bujhane se bhi neend nahin aayegi…
Of the handful of songs I have on my PC that are not in English, this would probably be my favourite (Sorry, Juanez).
I’ve found that I have a predisposition towards songs that tell a story of sorts. Especially ones that seem to build up with the story. It’s probably one of the reasons why I appreciate old R. D. Burman songs. That man knew his shit, man! Here, what starts off as a depressingly morose tunes, ends up with a lot of male grunting, funky disco beats, and powerful vocals! How can you *not* like that??! It makes you want to beat your chest and scream “I HEAR YOU, MAN! RESPECT!”
(…)
(Damn you, Raven.)
But either which way, I haven’t met a guy yet who has heard the song and doesn’t feel heartened by it. There just aren’t enough “We will survive” songs for men.
(…)
(Okay, I have to admit, I tweaked that stream-of-thought a little. Cake’s version of I Will Survive started playing, and I just wanted to make it seem like I have coherent thoughts that aren’t just running on lack of sleep and endless music.)
(But, having said that…)
… And yooou see me with somebody new, I’m not that stupid little person still in love with you…
As I was saying, there just aren’t enough guy-power songs that don’t sound pathetically mushy. I’ve never been a guy who appreciated songs switching genders (you know, like a guy version of Nothing Compares To You is just so wrong, or a girl version of You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away. No real logic behind it, it’s just always felt wrong, y’know?). But every so often, a couple of them make the jump quite sweetly, I think. Sheryl Crow’s versions of The First Cut is the Deepest and Sweet Child O’ Mine are nice; they don’t get automatically compared to the original in my head. They just stand and declare themselves as independent songs, and it works.
Cake’s version of I Will Survive is bee-yoo-tiful! I mean, it’s souped up, and has a lot more anger in it (which is really something people should learn to understand is a *crucial* part of getting over someone). I first heard it by accident – I was actually looking for a video clip of the The Replacements rendition, when Kazaa (I *think* it was back when I used to use Kazaa) popped up this version, which blew my mind away.
Although, now that I think about it, I wonder if I can still get that clip somewhere. Maybe on Youtube. Must check whenever I get online.
If you haven’t seen it, it’s a fun scene. A bunch of big ornery men singing, clapping and line-dancing to I Will Survive in a jail-cell.
(…)
(Let me take a moment here to specify: No, I’m not gay.)
(Edit: if you’re interested, go to: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=R9LhScThq84)
…
It’s 2.30am.
I’m going to bed now.
I have work tomorrow, and it’s hard enough to stay awake on a full night’s sleep.
Can’t even imagine what tomorrow’ll be like.
Yikes.
Goombye, please.