So
I heard Matt Nathanson’s new song today – “headphones.” It’s a little more poppy than Im used
to from him, but the lyrics, though simple, really resonated with me.
The
premise of the song is: girl goes
to New York City because she’s sick of everyone and everything in her
life. Wants to get away from it
all. The chorus: "I
feel invincible with my headphones on.” Anyone
who has ever put a pair of headphones on has felt this – the blocking out of
the whole world, only hearing the music, only seeing the music, only moving to
the music, and feeling like you can do anything. It’s like the song coming out
of your headphones completely covers you and pulls you into your own private
world. You’re invincible.
Listening
to music with headphones is dramatically different than say, listening to music
in your car or from the speakers of your computer. When you have headphones on, the music is the first thing
you’re doing – the main thing you’re paying attention to. When you’re in the car or fluttering about your house with
some background noise, the music becomes just that. Background.
Anyway,
my point about hearing this song today is that it took me back to a specific
day in April of 2011.
I
was that girl. I was
tired of everything around me; I needed to get out of Atlanta in order to find home again. That comfortable-in-your-own-skin, home. So I left. I went to New York City and I put on my
headphones.
Being
that it’s me, I walked all over Manhattan
in search of cozy seats in cute coffee shops where I could write and find the inner peace I swore was hiding up the the sleeves of the baristas serving me. I walked 12 miles with my headphones; invincibility and the sun were at my back.
I am grateful that I heard Matt Nathanson’s song today - it made me remember my bold move to get up and go somewhere else, throw myself at the mercy of the busiest city in the world armed only with headphones, and come out unscathed. for the better. finding home.
Below is the blog I wrote about it back then.
No comments:
Post a Comment