March 21, 2010

I Feel I Failed To Impress You With My CD Collection

I really have to do something about this CD shelf.

Every time I bring a date back to my place, we get to that awkward tour of my room, where inevitably her eyes are drawn to this ridiculous IKEA monstrosity that holds every single CD I've ever purchased since 1990. It's like the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, but instead of emitting high-pitched shrieks to catapult species to the next evolutionary stage, it houses dustbin classics of yore.

Now, look; maybe you've been a super cool kid since 1990, but I can tell you with complete confidence that I was not. And now that you're in my room, I have the CDs to prove it.

Of course, your eyes breeze right past the Hot Chip and Catherine Wheel CDs and my extensive Ryan Adams and Bjork collections. Nope, instead you zero right in on the most embarrassing stuff.

"Wow! You sure do have a lot of Barenaked Ladies albums."

I'm usually pretty good about keeping things organized and orderly in my life. I have no problem throwing away all kinds of old stuff, but the idea of throwing away or selling an old CD just seems to be sacrilege. Sure, I haven't listened to the sweet dulcet tones of "If I Had A Million Dollars" in about ten years. But, that's beside the point! What if I randomly decide I need to hear that song?! There was a time in my life where I wore khaki cargo shorts and had blonde highlights and thought that song was amazing. I feel that in throwing away the CD, I'd be throwing away a little part of my musical biography, as awkward of a chapter as it may have been.

So yeah, you're basically face-to-face with my dark, lame musical past.

I suppose in the meantime, I could pretend my entire CD wall is an art project. I could title it, "Ode To A Dying Musical Format" and then maybe I'd impress you.

In the meantime, though, my CD collection isn't quite doing the trick.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

haha have totally had that experience as people flip through my two huge CD cases which of course have my most recent cds in the back. Nothing like having some hot hipster dude in your house sneering at my former(ok, so at this point it's lingering) affinity for bad pop-punk.

Unknown said...

dude, finding a lady that appreciates your 10+ year cd collection is like finding a needle in a haystack. blond highlights, however, i do not forgive.

Unknown said...

I think it is impressive. Also, the Barenaked Ladies are a classic 90's band. I listen to them every once in a while.

In a world of illegal downloading, it is nice to know that someone still appreciates CD's.

Anonymous said...

Should guys be scrubbing their CD collections of potentially embarrassing music the way girls clean their Facebook profiles of unflattering photos?

Unknown said...

Pfft! Thats nothin'!
You want embarrasing? I've got the double-wide monolith stocked floor to ceiling with dad-rock.
Kiss, BOC, The Nuge, Alice Cooper, Black Oak Arkansas, Accept,Scorpions,Rush,Boston.. all rubbing elbows with 'acceptable' artists like Iggy and the Stooges,VU, Mission Of Burma..etc.

Point is: Fuck em'! Just like what you like.. Besides, all of the currently 'cool' titles in your collection have a 75% chance of becoming dated and corny in three years according to a statistic that I just made up..

Seriously, its just music..Be into whatever, and don't worry about what liking a particular artist 'says' about you..Sure,being married, old and no longer giving a shit about trends helps, but you can do it too.

Anonymous said...

I love your CD collection! I think it's important to not let others make you feel guilty about supposedly guilty pleasures scattered amid good taste. Hold on to your past! You won't catch me in my old jnco jeans whose pant legs hid my shoes entirely, but I'll always have my oft mocked Third Eye Blind albums.

Anonymous said...

The Barenaked Ladies are hands-down my favorite band. Second favorite? Third Eye Blind. And not in an "oh I used to love them" way, in a "I still blast them in the car and sing loudly!" way. Don't be embarrassed - own it!

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