I recently had a call with a friend of mine. We’ve always had a good rapport and the conversation was very invigorating. I don’t quite recall everything we talked about, only that we flowed from one topic to another in multiple tangents, twists, and turns. One minute we’re talking about work issues and next to global politics and then to movies. When we were done, I was on a bit of a ‘conversation-high’, basking in the ebbing reverberations of our talk and from nowhere I had a thought, ‘That felt like good music!’
Now I’m no musical connoisseur but like most people I believe I know what good music sounds like. Depending on your nature, good music feels like something familiar yet more fun. I believe that different conversations can feel like different genres of music. Listening to couple of old friends rambling about the good ole days can feel like listening to some jazz musicians during a spontaneous jam session with no prior practice yet somehow it all flows and sounds great — if you love jazz that is! In contrast, formal conversations between strangers, or work meetings between different establishments can sound like some operatic or classical music — very rehearsed and precise with little room for error or spontaneity. This could apply to many examples, but it’s likely that the best conversations sound more like what type of music you like best.
Alternatively, boring conversations can feel like very bad music (shout out to Vic O!). If two people have nothing in common and just don’t jell, conversations can feel like trying to drive out of a housing estate to join the highway and always ending up in a dead end close — there’s just not enough flow to go anywhere. Interestingly, what’s boring to one person may be ultra-interesting to another, the key being that once there’s someone to jell with, then it makes sense. It’s also possible that good or bad conversations are not only about what was said or unsaid, but more about how the involved persons felt, how they were in tune and how it all just, hummed…
Another way to look at it is that the reverse is somewhat true. Good music does feel like a really great conversation between souls. It can feel like the artist just knew what was in your soul and found a way to express it in a way that resonated with you. Like in the 80’s, everyone just knew and understood that Billie Jean was not MJ’s lover! Or when Shina Peters first album came out and yet in northern Nigeria where little or no one understood Yoruba, it was so popular that his records routinely sold out. Or in 2013 when most of the planet hopped happily to Psy’s Gangnam Style with mostly zero understanding of the song’s words, yet it all…made…sense. Even more recently, watching Ed Sheeran and Fireboy DML rhyming to Peru had the same vibe, it all just, hummed…
Going even further, I wonder if there’s a link to the range of music appreciated to one’s ability as a conversationalist. Is it possible that the more types of music we listen to, the better we can become at different forms or types of conversation? Can this also help with travel, e.g. before visiting a new country, could spending some time listening to online stations that play the local music give one an appreciation or a feel of how the people are? Or can this be expanded beyond music to other forms of art like dance and paintings?
I currently have no answers to these and other related questions. But maybe that’s the secret to a satisfying life — to be surrounded with good family, applied in the right career, engaged with good friends, involved with mind expanding hobbies, living in the right location, etc., all combining for a Jazz-Fest jam session of a life. Thus, when reminiscing over our experiences at the end of our lives, a general summary of it would be, ‘That was a lotta great music, it all just, hummed…’
