You know your yard is in unhappy shape when your mother is looking at pictures of your dog, that you’ve posted online for family and close friends to see, and then comments about how unkept it looks. Thus having done a bunch of musical work yesterday I figured today would be an ideal day to do some hands on work on cleaning up the weeds and overgrown stuff in the backyard. No, I don’t hire someone to do it. I may be budding rockstar, but I still like to get out and do things that seem mundane. Mostly because it provides time to think and not be so connected to the job.
Speaking of being so connected… I watched an editorial piece on CNN today as well. It was about how there is information and connection overload with the internet. I’m gonna have to go out on a limb and say that I’m probably one of those people that have hit the wall with being over connected. Facebook, Twitter, a website, a sagging myspace page, and other sites that I tend to frequent are actually starting to get a bit boring. As I was watching the story unfold, I began to think how I really made a concerted effort to continue blogging a year or so ago when I was on vacation. On vacation and out in the middle of nowhere.
Don’t get me wrong, I really dig showcasing music here. However, I think this year when I decide to vacation and unplug I will do exactly that. Unplug. I may preload the blog with posts that state I’m on vacation that will only have the song for that day. And not much else.
The one person they quoted in the piece was Trent Reznor who is fairly famous for his music under the name Nine Inch Nails. Apparently Trent is about to pull himself offline as much as possible and announced this to the world. More power to him. I’m not sure why there is a need to announce it. Oh wait, I did the same thing a moment ago. Though there are sites where I used to be a staple poster on a regular basis, that I did not tell I was taking a break and I’m sure they don’t really miss me all that much. Though when I do make the occasional post now, people do ask what I’ve been up to.
And since attention spans are dwindling to the point of being only good for 140 characters ala twitter. I think it’s best I get on to the music since this post is running on…
As I sit here resting from the big improvement I’ve made to my back yard (yes, it’s now under control and looking better), I’m listening to iTunes DJ play thru songs in my library. Earlier I heard a Nine Inch Nails song, so I figure what the hell, lets go with that. It’s also timely as I got an email from a service that provides daily insight to a thought on life and last night it was about not putting family or close friends on a pedestal with your loving feelings of them. I know my mom meant well telling me about my yard, and it’s a direct reason as to why I cleaned it up today.
I know that the song ends up questioning the concept of why someone would get all the love in the world. The very nature of someone getting all the love goes against the grain of the email that I got. Lyrically I can understand why someone would question that concept. It should be questioned.
What I dig is how the song starts very sparse – but somewhat complex. The drum beat is fairly involved. And Trent is singing a simple melody over it. Then little by little pieces of instruments get added. Kinda parallels how someone might begin to notice bit by bit how someone else is getting all the love. Suddenly it will dawn on the antagonist that it’s overpowering and has become too much. I also like how Trent changes the direction at the end of the song where it becomes more major and shifts the focus. Because of that shift I think this has become one of my favorite Nine Inch Nails songs ever.
If you haven’t got this song or the CD it’s high time you get yourself over to iTunes or Amazon and pick it up.