Well, dunno about you but when I find a new song I like I play it over and over until the sheen of novelty wears off.
So here’s a wacky hypothetical. I’ve invented a device that can scan your memory and do a find and replace, any song and replace it with 4′33″ by John Cage. That is, to say, silence. From Happy Birthday to the national anthem of Azerbaijan, you’ll forget it all. Every song you’ll hear from then will be like hearing for the first time - again.
You’ll still remember titles of songs and what your preferences were, and memories of songs like that make out session to Rock You Like A Hurricane but just not be able to recall any tune until you listen to it again. Interested?
Sign me up! Who doesn’t crave novelty? In fact, I think I’d prefer to not even know my preferences, either. Don’t want to get stuck in the same rut each time, unless it turns out that my preferences really are innate to my personality and not just some artifact of history.
Also, can I do the same thing for video games and books? I think I’d like to use the device every few years.
There’s a lot of music that I’ve loved for decades, and I’d love to hear it all again for the first time. Same as reading all my favorite books again for the first time.
Not a chance. I’m a singer, a choral baritone. If I lost all the songs in my head, I’d lose all memory of how to perform them, wiping out a lifetime spent practicing and developing my talent.
Not songs-- I’d lose the memories of the songs my aunt sung me when I was a kid, all the sing a long song from camp, and all the Jewish liturgy, which is sung.
But I wouldn’t mind reading some books for the first time again.
I said yes, BUT I would also remember which songs I hated and never wanted to hear again, right? So I’d know to avoid those? I’d love to erase the chicken dance or electric slide from my memories.
No. There is too much music out there I only like because of the time in my life it was introduced to me.
If I were to hear Beastie Boy’s “Fight for your right to party” for the first time as an adult. I would probably roll my eyes in indignation. But since the first time I heard that song I was a pot smoking 15yo, I tend to hear that song with fond nostalgic memories.
Yep. A lot of older music I like could suck big time now. Plus, I have almost 4000 songs on my computer song list, I wouldn’t want to start over collecting it.
Isn’t part of the joy of music the weaving of understandable and repetitive themes and motifs? In other words, your enjoyment of music is largely brought about by your memory of it, so to hear each song for the first time is essentially saying you’re hearing music for the first time… and wouldn’t that be little more than noise?
What an interesting hypothetical. I think i’ll go for it. I often have to take my new music in small doses, lest I wear the new off too soon.
E.g. I did enjoy that Black Sabbath that I was reminded of here recently. Sure, i was tired of hearing that shit many years ago, but it was a sweet melody to my eager ears last week.
My taste in music has gone through radical changes at least one time per decade. Some types of music I seem to always welcome while others I loose my taste for entirely. I have no need to forget.
If you’re lucky, you’ll live long enough to have advanced Alzheimers. You’ll forget all the songs you knew, and everything else. You meet new friends every day, when your family comes to visit. I’ve heard that it’s not something to look forward to.