Tuesday, January 17, 2012

many-track minded

Everyone in the city is a DJ these days, channeling crates of vinyl and generations of history through ever-shrinking devices connected to the internet-cloud or some digital "library" somewhere. Right now, Dorothy Ashby's "look of love" pops into my headphones. I lift one ear in the underground train station as i walk toward a street-performer, an old black man, stomping and singing "A Change Gonna Come" and then "Tracks of my tears." He blends in and out of time with Dorothy Ashby, and soon she's given way to Paul Simon. Share with your friends on facebook: Isaac is listening to "Sounds of Silence (Live)" on Spotify or the shuffled iPod, or the echoing halls of the underground. Like it or not, thumbs up or down, the one-song-at-a-time status update seems a little one-track minded, because here comes the train roaring over the man who now sings "Rock Steady" on request. As i step through the door while a disembodied voice tells me it's closing, i wonder, Maybe the words of the prophet are written on the Subway walls, which Paul Simon whispers into one ear. Or maybe the neon gods of SUBWAY, Bank of America, and the Blue Man Group have already colonized the walls that now rush past me on the train. Maybe i should like them on facebook, and write on their walls: "Eat fresh? Eat money? Eat with both ears, if you've got'em."

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