Zen and the Art of Not Listening

Juxtapose (or, just suppose) that I already know we don’t know each other. But lately, I’ve been thinking about wavelengths, that is, how to get on someone else’s – how to get someone else onto my own. With deep, old friends, you can share a movie quote or a shared anecdote and SNAP into a relatable true moment. But what about a complete stranger? That’s what I’m offering up here today – an ordinary playlist but also an opportunity.

Is it Zen? I don’t know. What is Zen? According to the zen studies society, “it’s both something we are—our true nature expressing itself moment by moment—and something we do—a disciplined practice through which we can realize the joy of being.”

Start here. (Click play, I'll wait)...

These are the tracks that I forget I’m listening to. I’ve listened to them the most, but I’m not sure that I HEAR them anymore. With them, I get to focus, forget, sleep, read, and stop listening to things that I don’t want to hear.

The noise fades into background

The discordant tunes flow into each other without overt interconnectedness. They are connected now because I connected them stitched them together in this order. A picture of a kind of me emerges.

This list is unique. It is simply one of a kind. No one else but me (and now you)

in this order

on a playlist

ever.

That’s not so special – there’s a lot of songs. But there is only one of me, and by listening to the whole thing, you’ll get to be inside my head, for a minute (or 2 hours and 4 minutes, to be precise).

I’m not inviting you to critique me or the selections –

heck please DON’T like any of them

– in fact, try NOT to listen as they play in the background of whatever the hell you’ve got to get done or were supposed to be doing.

“Music makes me forget my real situation. It transports me into a state which is not my own.

Under the influence of music, I really seem to feel what I do not feel,

to understand what I do not understand, to have powers which I cannot have.” ~Leo Tolstoy

Interestingly, this playlist was not deliberate; it’s more of a survival collection – the tracks I’d be ok listening to over and over again if I was stuck on a desert island (or if the wifi was unavailable). Early on one long air trip (back when that was a thing), I knew I had to download something to listen to – to get through the on-boarding, to get through the announcements, and to save my precious battery life – because streaming destroys batteries.

The tracks.

The order in which you listen is not important – I think there’s better magic when you’re on shuffle mode. The regular tingles get mixed up and there’s a bit of a-ha! momentary background grins that occur.

Some spoken word

There are two sound poets – early futurists/DADAists – that are in the mix; F.T. Marinetti and Kurt Schwitters. Sound poetry is the most interesting poetry to me. Recreating the noisy-ness of the world and not trying to “shut it out” is important to me. There is no quiet. Nature is noisy. We should celebrate it.

Some Tuuvan throat singing

Throat singing – especially when it’s polyphonic – makes we want to head to the steppes, grab some yak butter, and chill in a yurt. The fact that I don’t know what it’s saying is what draws me in close

Some Death Metal \m/

Speaking of not understanding the words…I listen to way more death metal than this playlist lets on. Death metal is my go-to genre for getting shit done, the more percussive and guttural the better. If I don’t understand a single word of lyric and have rocked my head back and forth as if in a younger me mosh pit, the better.

Some jazz

I love 50’s jazz – but the jazz selections on this playlist are modern and accessible. And they rock.

Some psychedelic

You may not be familiar with Captain Beefheart – a contemporary of Frank Zappa. A student of mine once shared Orange Claw Hammer (included on this list) during a poetry reading. That was 2003. I’ve listened to this song every week since.

Some archaic/indy stuff

Bunch of college-y tunes on here as well – what’s notable is how much RESTRAINT I have by not including so many great tracks.

This is my headphone diary – I’m covered in earworms. When I’m in here, I don’t value being out there with you more than being in here with these songs

- at least while the plane loads

- while I’m waiting for school to get out and the

- other parents on the playground to read

the signal:

go away, me time is happening.

Fümms bö wö tää zää Uu,

pögiff,

kwii Ee. 1

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo, 6

dll rrrrr beeeee bö

dll rrrrr beeeee bö fümms bö, (A)

rrrrr beeeee bö fümms bö wö,

beeeee bö fümms bö wö tää,

bö fümms bö wö tää zää,

fümms bö wö tää zää Uu: 5

primera parte:

tema 1:

Fümms bö wö tää zää Uu,

pögiff,

Kwii Ee. 1

tema 2:

Dedesnn nn rrrrr,

Ii Ee,

mpiff tillff too,

tillll,

Jüü Kaa? 2

tema 3:

Rinnzekete bee bee nnz krr müü?

ziiuu ennze, ziiuu rinnzkrrmüü, 3

rakete bee bee... - Ursonate by Kurt Schwitters

“Words are all we have. Each word is like an unnecessary stain in the silence and nothingness.”—Samuel Beckett