Field Trip
Kris is playing songs for me like he used to do when we were first dating.
He sits with his hands in his lap, shoulders relaxed, and his face lit blue by the computer as he listens with his eyes in the distance. Folksy songs and sad songs interspersed with sunny Beatlesy-sounding songs that remind me vaguely of Jan and Dean. A modern Irish folk song. One piece is just the piano, with a brief harmonica solo, and the sound of dogs howling faintly in the distance. Eeerie and beautiful music, subtle and sweet- I’ve never heard of any of these bands. He is showing me a compilation CD he got for Christmas.
“Anne really knows what kind of music I like”
I smile and close my eyes. It’s Friday night, and I am stretched out on the couch letting the week seep out of my bones. It feels good to just be here, letting him take me on a field trip. He tells me about the Irish folk band, The Pogues- how they’re bringing their traditional sound to the younger generation much like the Dixie Chicks are doing with young country fans here in the U.S. If I stay here and listen, he will show me other new songs; Burning Flies by Looper, or a new CD from the Thomas Mapfumo band.
Kris’ taste in music is like his taste in food. His range is tremendous, but his palate is highly specific. He loves hiphop as much as he loves 80’s New Age, folk, pop and country- as long as it’s good. He would no more buy a Spice Girls album than eat at Applebee’s, but he loves the power of Christina Aguilera’s voice, and we do have some Dixie Chicks and Kimberly Locke songs in our collection.
Tonight’s field trip is really good. These songs are fresh and surprising- I wonder where he keeps finding out about this stuff.
Though I live in the largest, most diverse city in the U.S., when I spin the dial on the car radio I get Ashlee Simpson on four stations, and I’ve never heard The Pogues.
