The Tunes of Life Dom Brock ** Side 1 ** Music, Artist, “Pink Floyd”, Shuffle: Volume level 5. Well, that’s not enough! A friend once told me that Pink Floyd would probably sound better while high on drugs. I’ve never got what he means by this; I can only assume there’s something he’s not telling me. Volume level 12 - that’s better. Now time to immerse my thoughts in my music. ‘Dogs’, the 16 minute brutish, shouty song about a cut-throat business in a massively capitalist world where everyone works all their life for nothing. It reminded me of where I was going. Work had become hellish over the last month and our boss had turned into a vicious dictator of a man - although he wasn’t much different when I first knew him. The drive to work became more and more frustrating as traffic lights disobeyed my every command. I’m not usually a negative person, but I knew today wasn’t going to be a good one. Maybe it was just the brute force from “Dogs” putting me on edge. 12 minutes in and the Gilmour acoustics plinked and echoed around the car. The speaker boomed as the song changed. The first drumbeat of “Learning to Fly” rang around the car for a second before being smashed by the striking guitar. A great song, but frankly it wasn’t right at that moment. I needed something stronger, more invigorating. Music, Artist, “Pink Floyd”, The Wall (Side2): Hey You. I wasn’t far from work and I knew that this was the song that would get me in the mood for the day ahead. Roger Waters’s cries for help made it very topical for the events that would soon occur when I got there. I coasted the car into the car park. The song hadn’t finished so I stayed put. The final cries of horror screamed and the vibrating acoustics faded away. My cue to exit. I got out of my car, locked it and pulled the handle to make sure, my mind a labyrinth of unanswered questions and trepidation. I can’t bear the sounds of reality. Sirens, lorries and other ghastly harsh sounds. I had to get out my iPod and change that. Music, Artist, “Gorrilaz”, “Demon Days”, “Dirty Harry”: “Gorrilaz” was the music I used for the flow of everyday life. I would walk to the beat, each beat a step on the ground. When I did it, the people around seemed to do the same, almost if they’d become part of a melodic synchronisation with me and the music. The walk to work from the nearby car park wasn’t too long, but I managed to get through both ‘Dirty Harry’ and ‘Feel Good Inc.’ before I got there. As I approached the revolving door to my work I got ready for war.
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