Dying a little through your iPod

I've been obsessed with the shuffle feature of my iPod recently. I've been arduously tagging and scrubbing all my music. I've even forced myself to star rate every song that I encounter. with the hope that one day that I can just set the right of data personalization such that my my all-knowing white box will just play what I want. It's hard work. No version of CDDB or even iTunes has this figured out.

When it works, it's blissful. There is something to having your iPod being your spontaneous DJ -- the music just sounds better when you didn't choose it yourself. Picking it yourself is a little like self-massage. Yeah, it works, but ...

So, I am an ardent user of CDex and Mp3 Tag Tools. However, I kept thinking, "Isn't this a lot of preparation to create a spontaneous moment? Aren't I just a little ridiculous?"

I thought I was just abnormally obsessive compulsive, until I read "They Came From Hollywood" by Charles Arnold in this month's edition of SPIN:

Frank Sinatra is rumored to have said of Judy Garland, "Every time she sings, she dies a little." And that's what we want from our musical heroes -- not that they die, but that they give everything they have to their music.

Because if you're a true fan, especially when you're young and maddeningly confused, music is so powerful that it can call your entire existence into question. And when you're deeply moved for the first time by a band or a song -- and exclaim, "Fuck, yeah, this is it!" -- well, you can spend the rest of your life aching to recapture that feeling.

That quote totally summed up how I feel about music. I feel a bit vindicated and retro-justify my time scrubbing my music.

As my good friend Lee has said about himself, "OK, I'm a dork. But whatever."

Me too.


(For those who know him, there is a very funny story behind Lee's quote. Email me and buy me a beer. The story is funnier after a few drinks).