I had one of those shocking moments this morning where one realizes that the brain is a fascinating place to inhabit.
Let me set the stage: I was the parent-helper at my 4 year old’s Preschool this morning. Young master Riley attends the 2nd oldest co-operative preschool in the country, right here in Minneapolis. At one point during the day the teacher put a CD on, a common occurrence, while the kids were playing in their various areas. Within two seconds I said to her: “When are you going to put on some Pink Floyd?” She responded: “I just did!” She had put on this CD from Rockabye Baby! Records which is the music of Pink Floyd done as a set of lullabies. This particular one featured classic Floyd cuts done by some guy playing what sounds like the vibraphone. The first track was the classic “Time” off of Dark Side of the Moon. In a flash I realize that the following had happened:
1. Led Zeppelin played their first concert in 27 years last night.
2. I would seriously consider listing my first born son on Ebay for the chance to see Led Zeppelin in concert (please please guys, would you come on tour? I’m begging here!!).
3. I read the review of L.Z. in the New York Times this morning.
4. The reviewer asked readers to submit their dream reunion tour.
5. Many folk mentioned Pink Floyd.
6. Somehow, in the very deep dark recesses of my subconscious, I had instantly recognized the opening chord structure of “Time” which, because of the mentions on the NYTimes website was very much on my mind.
And thus it came to me to say “When are you going to put on some Pink Floyd? Despite the fact that this tune was now on the vibraphone, and it was completely out of the context of a preschool (even the hippie dippie preschool that Riley goes to), my brain had instantly made the musical connection. Now, admittedly, I’m a professional musician. In retrospect I suppose that my brain is trained to do exactly what happened. But it still startled me.
This bring up the wonderful new book by Oliver Sacks called Musicophilia. Anyone who is interested in how the brain works should read this book, especially if your interest lies in how the brain deals with music. Sacks has compiled some two dozen stories about people who have had sudden changes in their brains, due to illness or whatever, that have had a profound impact on how they perceive music. The particulars are to involved to get into here – I just recommend buying this book and reading it. You will not be disappointed.
This leads to another rant – I hate Christmas. I have two reasons for this: I particularly dislike the rampant materialism that is now part of this holiday. I’m sick of BUY! BUY! BUY! There’s another reason though – I can’t stand the incessant Christmas music. I only have to hear the first 3 notes of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer to have that damn song stuck in my head for hours on end, and this is only one of a thousand Christmas songs that one cannot avoid hearing during this month. Malls, radio, whatever – you simply cannot avoid them. It’s this time of year that I keep threatening to move to a predominantly Muslim country. Of course, that has it’s own issues.