Aaron Harp

Musical Nostalgia

A lot of the time listening to music is only half that.  The other half is reliving the different memories of people and places associated with each song.  Here are a few of them:

Sufjan Stevens: Illinois. This takes me back to good ol' Sparkman, Arkansas. There was really no reason for anyone to be in this town unless you knew someone there (but then why were they there?) Brandon O'Brien lived out there for a time and I would go visit every once in a while and we would talk music and literature. One of my best memories is sitting in the study listening to "Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is out to Get Us!", trying to figure out what it meant, all the while being swept away by its sheer beauty.

Chris Thile: Not All Who Wander are Lost.  Mark Hendrick let me borrow this CD on the flight to Germany for the Ouachita Singers/Wind Ensemble tour the summer after my freshman year.  I think I was smiling the entire time I listened to it.  Never had I heard melodies and harmonic progressions that were so near to perfection.

Jars of Clay: Much Afraid. I got this album for one of my birthdays (probably my 12th). We were at Applebee's and my parents gave me this and I remember being a bit disappointed. I guess I was hoping for the newest dc Talk or Newsboys album. Now this is probably my favorite album of theirs.

Macy Gray: On How Life Is.  To get around New Zealand, Sammy and I rented a nifty camper van.  We didn't have a cable to hook my iPod up to the stereo so we could only listen to CDs (of which we had none).  After a $5/gallon fill-up Sammy surprised me with this album.  I think we got through about 3 listens before we (or maybe just I) wanted to puncture the cones of the speakers.

This is fun.  I think I could write a book of all the different memories I have with music.  I'll have to write part 2 sometime soon.