Brian's World

Fields of Gold

Today (Monday), I have the third circuits exam.  The material doesn’t seem as challenging as the previous exam, but the fact that there are 2 other big things this week (exam + project) means that I am extra stressed.  I’ve spent a good amount of time reviewing material for the exam and I hope to do decent.  Who knows how I’ll actually do.

One thing I realized today is that increasing the volume of music, turning it up, does not increase the truth it carries or the actuality behind the lyrics.  My circuits professor, Don Mallard, plays music in class and lab session when we’re doing individual work.  I’ve never been a huge believer in environmental based recall, the idea that you perform better in similar environments to those in which you learned the material, but something pushes me to play music when I’m reviewing circuits material now.

In particular, there are a few songs by “Sting & The Police” [[at least that is who I have identified them as]] that resonate with me.  Fields of Gold, Message in a Bottle, and Desert Rose are the top three that came to mind.  I can’t really pinpoint why I like the songs.  I feel like I remember them from somewhere.. maybe they were popular when I was growing up or I am recognizing them from a forgotten movie.  Regardless I have some of the key lyrics stuck in my mind.. nothing that Men in Black can’t get out, but its not an everyday event that I get music stuck in my head… never mind from someone 37 years older than me.

At one point I found myself increasing the volume, something I rarely rarely do.  Right afterwards I caught myself.  Why was I doing that?  The music was sufficiently loud enough for me to hear, I didn’t need the extra dB to overcome any background noise.  Then it dawned on me, maybe I was increasing the volume as in some subconscious attempt to make the scenarios in the music more real or better immerse myself in it.  Of course I quickly turned the volume down, can’t have any of that weird immersion stuff going on here, but I can’t say I have too many ‘escapes’ of everyday life that I turn to, and I can’t say there are many musical compositions with lyrics that serve such.  There has always been some classical music, but the message there isn’t conveyed in words.

It does make me wonder what those people who walk around with blasting headphones are trying to escape from.  What are they avoiding?  I’m going to continue to make a point of driving in the car without the radio on from time to time.  I found that over the summer I would drive to/from work listening to NPR to escape whatever I should be thinking about.  Some famous persons have said that people are afraid of silence.  I argue that people are afraid of their problems, and silence commonly forces that door open.