Tuesday, 3/21

I'm doing it again. I keep listening to the same song over and over and over and over.

And over.

I've written in here before about how I seem to get into this weird groove where I listen to the same song again and again and again for no reason at all. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does happen, it happens with a surprising intensity.

And this time, it's thanks to John Mayer.

It's a song off of a forthcoming album he has, a song with one of the weirdest titles ever, “Emoji of a Wave”. According to my iTunes program, I've now listened to it 28 times in the past two days, and that's not even counting how many times I listened to it over and over on my iPod while running yesterday.. And it's funny; it's not necessarily a song that you think you'd listen to over & over. It's not filled with hooks or horns or a stomping beat, three things that seem to play into these little weird grooves into which I fall. Nope; it's a simple song with just the singer, his guitar, former Beach Boy Al Jardine and his son Matt on background vocals, and some strings. That's it.

And yet, the song has taken over my brain.

I'm not quite sure why, although when I first told Loraine about my latest “addiction” I blurted out that the song seems very “zen”, and maybe that's the key to it. The first time I listened to it I was intrigued by the simplicity of it, and pretty soon that simplicity hijacked my brain. I listen to it and zone out a little. My brain goes to a place it hasn't often visited. It's like when you meditate and you (theoretically) find yourself in harmony with your body. For me, listening to the song does that.

And I don't even have to assume the lotus pose.

I don't know why the song does that to me. It's just another of the numerous things I seem to do that makes no sense. All I know is that I can throw the song on, and assuming my co-workers, a barking dog, or a driver not paying attention to pedestrians don't interrupt me, something happens to me. And for once, that something that happens is something that's probably good for me, assuming anything that zens you out is good for your mental health.

Unless, of course, John Mayer is trying to take over my mind. In which case, he's succeeded. But in this case, I'll happily submit, at least if I can keep listening to the song.

Check it out for yourself...but if it hooks you, I'm not to blame. It's all John Mayer's fault.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)