Of a Cylindrical Nature

Thoughts on old forms, rural Pennsylvania, and Bon Iver

They say distance makes the heart grow fonder. (I never know who “they” are but “they” always seem very insightful)

When I was an adolescent and very much into the electric guitar, I predominantly listened to rock music. Most of it classic rock music but also a fair amount of alternative, 90’s stuff and even current (at that time) rock and some metal. My listening habits varied of course but this was the bulk of what I indulged in. I loved it and it resonated with me at that time in various ways with how I was feeling and how I enjoyed expressing myself, for whatever reason.

Eventually though, I became a bit tired of it. Maybe overexposure or more realistically, I was just changing and how I expressed myself and how I was feeling didn’t necessarily align with how 16-year old me was feeling. That's when I started getting into more indie music, and more specifically, folk music. I discovered Damien Rice, and Iron & Wine, Joni Mitchell, Feist and Bon Iver, etc…and since then I’ve been more entrenched in a form of expression that leans more heavily towards those artists than what I was listening to before.

But at some point, a few years ago, after giving myself some distance between my ears and the music I grew up on, I started to crave those songs again. And not only did I crave them…but when I went back to listen to that music I often listened to as a teenager, I ended up finding whole other meanings and appreciations for those songs and artists that I didn’t have before. I didn’t just enjoy Soundgarden for the nostalgia of it, but I fell in love with Chris Cornell’s songwriting ability and his poetry and maannnn his voice. I didn’t just like The Beatles because I felt like I was supposed to but I more deeply appreciated the wide array that was their creative output, their thorough understanding of melody and the language of music, and how they were the first to do so many things.

Despite being a new version of myself, I started coming back around to old interests and feeling just as much at home with them as I did when I was with them the first time.