Surrender to the Shuffle: Or How I Learned to Let Go

"Just The Two of Us" by Bill Withers just came on, the song that played after we were pronounced man and wife. It's been 2 1/2 months since I've seen my husband. He's been gone since 2 days after our wedding and tomorrow night, he's coming to meet me here in NY. I haven't heard this song since that perfect day in Amagansett...

While on the phone with Dave earlier in the evening, Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam" played in the background. I told him that this song should be one of our theme songs because from now on, home is wherever we are together -- whether it's a hotel room in NYC, or our place in Cali, a tipi in Puerto Rico, or on set with one another. We're gypsies, at least for now...

Bill Withers again, "Ain't No Sunshine"...A sitar version of "Jumping Jack Flash"..."Hard To Handle", The Grateful Dead..."Heebie Jeebies" Louis Armstrong..."Paranoid" Black Sabbath...Damn, Debarge? Yes, "Time Will Reveal"... I think the shuffle is psychic.

My friend Jauretsi and I were hanging at her place, listening to music, working, shootin' the shit. "Hey, you ever use the shuffle setting on your iTunes before?" I ask. No, not really, she says. I totally understood what she meant. For some, myself included, it's hard to 'let go' and give the control of choosing. It's hard to let some mysterious force be the great selector. What if it plays something I don't like? What if it wrecks the mood? How does it know what to play and when? Yeah, I've been there, I tell her. But you gotta trust yourself and your taste. If something comes on that you don't like, so what, skip to the next one. You'll discover music you didn't know you had, or songs that you never really listened to, or hear a mix of songs that you would never ever think could blend together. The ultimate DJ... The shuffle is your friend. Come on sister, you can do it! Forget the playlists. You just gotta believe. Your music will not do you wrong. You too will come to love and appreciate the shuffle!

And so she did, and in fact, now keeps a playlist titled 'random' where she puts all of the songs she 'discovers' that pop out of nowhere, giving her great ideas for DJ sets, and all the while reminding her to live just a lil' bit more.

As Dave and I sat down to our first dinner as husband and wife, Aretha's "You're All I Need to Get By", the song that I walked down the aisle to, 'randomly' appears at the perfect time.

Originally published at StarworksNY.com.

Comments

[rockyersocksoff]

The songs you cited reveal that you absolutely should have married ME and not this Dave person.

Or maybe I should marry your iPod. It's after my heart.

The Dead into Satch into Sabbath. Wow. Get out of my head!

[strifeknot]

I listen to albums, not to songs.

And shuffling works especially poorly for classical music.