DJ Jim Q's Playlist: Reverie
Reverie is a fitting theme for these waning wistful spring-like days before the heat of summer fully suppresses our anticipatory exuberance. The liminal seasons appear to be contracting tighter and tighter every year, leaving little space for these months of slow imagination. Similarly, our lives also seem to be compressing leaving minimal room for anything slow.
The time between substantive moments are now fully preoccupied with a bevy of frivolous distractions: scrolling; emails; status updates; text messages; videos; clicks; and clicks and clicks. It’s rare to witness someone sitting alone without a screen between their face and the world. So much so that I feel a little self conscious if I don’t have my phone in front of me while dining alone.
A friend recently reminded me of a quote from the 17th century philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal, “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone”. Written over 350 years ago, the sentiment sounds like a prescient warning. In our efforts to escape from our thoughts, what do we lose? Boredom, after all, is the seat of inspiration and the slow burn fuel for creativity. Ideas both great and small are rendered in the simmering broth of aimless wonder and imagination.
In our perpetually stimulated lives, is the daydream still a thing? Can we sit alone with our thoughts long enough to let our minds detach and indulge in fantasy? That is where the magic happens. Creative inspiration is fleeting and I’m most receptive to it when lost in reverie. Next time you are craving inspiration, look inward rather than outward. Oh, and be sure to turn off your notifications.
Music inspires a particular type of reverie within my mind. Listening, even passively, usually provokes a menagerie of vague visualizations and ephemeral vignettes. These little visions are often dream-like, abstract and formless. Any semblance of narrative is often fragmented, nonlinear and fleeting. Sometimes the artist is there, sometimes the song shapes my thoughts, but more often than not, the visualization is completely unrelated. I have noticed certain songs have repeating motifs that manifest every time I listen. For instance, Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road” always conjures a bucolic yet ominous scene of a woman seated in a prairie looking back to a house in the distance — it is most certainly a remembered image of Andrew Wyeth’s painting Christina’s World.
Another example is Sinead O'Conner’s haunting lamentation “Jackie”. Listening always elicits the same storm-threatened rocky shore with waves crashing violently against the grey spires. I imagine a heroine standing in defiance among the jagged stones singing out to a lost love. Most songs with an emotive core create these little movies in my mind, and I’m sure I’m not unique in this way. Since an early age, music has had this power to stimulate my imagination and compel me deep into daydreams. This is why I love music so much: it provides endless inspiration and a temporary escape from the external world.
Next time your favorite song comes on, stop what you’re doing, get comfortable, increase the volume to drown out the noise, close your eyes, clear your mind and lose yourself in reverie. What visions does your imagination have in store for you?
On an unrelated and much sadder note, only a few days before drafting this post, news came through that Tina Turner passed away at the age of 83. Aretha was the queen of soul, but Tina was no doubt the queen of rock ‘n roll. Nobody does it better. Beginning her musical ascendance in the mid 1950s, she reinvented herself dramatically and perpetually throughout her decades-long career. She found no comfort in the stability of genres and moved through musical styles like she was floating through air. She is rock 'n roll. I won’t even attempt to tell her full story here, but I would highly recommend devoting an evening to the 2021 documentary “Tina”.
Also here are few good tribute articles from reputable music journalists: Rolling Stone; The Atlantic; and The New York Times.
While I included her cover of Doby Grey’s country pop hit “Drift Away” on this playlist, I also wanted to share a few more of my favorite Tina Turner selections for your enjoyment:
What a day for a “Daydream.” The theme this month is Reverie so indulge in your wandering mind, let your thoughts float on, and immerse in imagination. These 40+ songs will keep you sonically adrift in fantasy for hours. The playlist this month is filled with dreamers and escapists lost in imagination. Steve Lacy indulges in negative fantasy in “Dark Red”, Little Dragons’ “Ritual Union” examines the tension between reality and imagined ideals of love and relationships. The Monkees serve the saccharine serenade “Day Dream Believer” with such sweetness you might get a cavity. And Nas illustrates hopes and aspirations of transcending the trapping of street life in “Street Dreams”. You’re sure to find a fitting sound-bed for your daydreams.
Thanks for spending some time with the playlist this month. If you like them, please let me know, I would love to hear from you on Twitter. Also be sure to like and follow on Spotify. See you next month with another themed playlist.