The Sounds of Silence

A fun game of "Show Me Yours" is making the rounds of the blogosphere at the moment. As far as I know, it started with Stephen Green (who admitted it was a variation on a game that John Scalzi originated). The game is simple: if you have an iPod, sort your song library by how many times a song has been played and then publish your top ten. Once done and published, as Stephen put it, the whole world will know your "bad taste" in music. Professor Bainbridge soon joined in, as did Scalzi himself and scores more in the comments sections. As I said, it's a fun game and it's always interesting to know what other people are listening to. I'd love to join in.

There's just one problem. I don't have an iPod (or any other mp3 player) and have no plans to get one - not soon, anyway.

Oh, it's not that I don't like music - I do. I have loads of albums from the 60's on and scores of CD's from the mid-80's on. The idea of having them all stored and organized and accessible in one handy, fits-in-the-palm-of-your-hand location is actually quite appealing. I'm sure I'll do it one day. No, the problem is that I work in retail. And if you don't work in retail - if you only experience retail from the shopping side - then even though you're exposed to the same thing I am, you probably don't notice it or perhaps you simply ignore it. Every once in awhile, it might cut through the fog of your awareness with something you recognize (or loathe) but then it's gone. In one ear and out the other.

What am I talking about? Why, the Soundtrack, of course.

Every retail store, every single mall that you enter has one, possibly even the same one. It can be difficult to tell them apart. Think of it as the Soundtrack of, well, not your life, maybe, but some mythical someone's life, set on continuous play. Some of the songs are good, some are bad and some are not worth mentioning in their awfulness. And yes, it does change, occasionally. In November and December, it becomes the Christmas Soundtrack - er, the Holiday Soundtrack, sorry - with songs carefully chosen to remind you that the true meaning of the holiday is to Spend, Spend, Spend. Other then that, there appears to be some sort of rotation in effect: in with Elton; out with Billy. You want Disco? Have some BeeGees. Want to liven things up? Throw in some Talking Heads and B-52's. And you can never - ever - have enough Cher.

I'm sure there's some deep, dark, ginormous conspiratorial plot behind it all, but it doesn't matter. Not any more. No, what matters is that the Soundtrack exists and it is omnipresent. There is no escaping it - if you work retail. So imagine a soundtrack. Any soundtrack. Pick your favorite songs from among the hundreds of thousands you've listened to in your life. Then imagine listening to that soundtrack over and over and over and over...

Is it any wonder that when I come home at night the only thing I want to listen to is silence? Beautiful, blessed silence. I'm sure that one day I will join the ranks of those who have downloaded, stored, catalogued, arranged and edited their favorite music. But for now the only tune I never get tired of is the Sounds of Silence (and no Simon and Garfunkel cracks).