A few weeks ago, I finally fixed my parents old turntable and listened to my first vinyl record in, probably about 15 years. I remember playing with the records when I was a kid so when my sister, who is only 3 years younger than me, asked how I knew where to put the needle so I could play the exact song I wanted, I was shocked.
I remember the sound of dial-up internet and what a big deal it was when my parents got a second line so they could use the phone while we surfed AOL and sent IMs to our friends and robots like SmarterChild. I remember not knowing that there were more than 10ish channels that you could watch on tv because we didn't have cable until I was in my late teens. I remember sitting next to the huge radio system my parents had just waiting until my favorite new song came on so I could hit the record button at the right second, adding to my precious library of songs. Except this library was on a cassette tape. And if side A filled up at the exact moment a song ended, that was worthy of a celebration because who wants to lose half the song while waiting for it to flip to side B?
And so maybe it's because music fills up a huge portion of my memories and maybe it's because I have more memories of what it was like before CDs and iPods, but I used to think that there was nothing more romantic than a mixtape. My friends and I used to make tons of mix CDs before it wasn't standard to include MP3 player hook-ups in cars. And I understand the technicalities of making someone a mixtape now (besides me, does anyone have a stereo that can play cassettes anymore?) but there is something about the art of compiling songs together that went out of style with the advancements of technology.
Everyone now has playlists with an infinite number of songs on them and the "shuffle" option has made it oh so easy for us to not think about what we're listening to. Maybe it's because on vinyl there's no shuffle and only a few songs can fit on one side but there used to be a time, in the era when mixtapes were still common, where we had to put a lot of thought into the order and number of songs we could have. People even bought full albums and discovered that, even if it wasn't a radio hit, there could be some great hidden gems.
This is not intended to make it seem like a holier-than-thou speech. I have so many synced Spotify playlists that I go through faster than Apple goes through new products. I'm constantly making new mixes to tailor to my current mood. Heartbroken? Cheerful? Excited? Rockin' out? There's a playlist for that. What I meant when I say down to write this is that we have gotten lazy. We send YouTube links to each other with random songs that may relate to the moment but we have lost the art of creating a collection of songs that ebb and flow while conveying a story. There's a reason why we sing the same songs in a row in religious services and broadway shows - because the music is a journey. But now it's so much more about convenience and having everything at the tips of our fingers. We've gotten lazy and we stopped putting thought into how we express ourselves through music. Even some of what's out there now I can't even understand how people could define that as music.
I wonder if we will ever completely lose the art of mixtapes. Even when they aren't tapes; as it is those have already fallen by the wayside. But for some reason, I am still convinced that mixtapes are a romantic and intimate expression that can't be replicated in playlists or YouTube links. If someone puts thought into creating something like that for you where each song carries purpose and significance, where there is a story being told, I think that person is truly special. In a world that keeps pushing us away from those forms of expression, those who can stand out from the crowd are those who truly affect our lives.
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