Swap ‘rucksack’ for ‘turntable’ and I think he may have really been onto something:
“…I see the whole thing is a world full of rucksack wanderers, Dharma Bums refusing to subscribe to the general demand that they consume production and therefore have to work for the privilege of consuming, all that crap they didn’t really want anyway such as refrigerators, TV sets, cars,…and general junk you finally always see a week later in the garbage anyway, all of them imprisoned in a system of work, produce, consume, work, produce, consume, I see a vision of a great rucksack revolution thousands or even millions of young Americans wandering around with rucksacks, going up to mountains to pray, making children laugh and old men glad, making young girls happy and old girls happier, all of ’em Zen Lunatics who go about writing poems that happen to appear in their heads for no reason and also by being kind and also by strange unexpected acts keep giving visions of eternal freedom to everybody and to all living creatures. —Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums, 1958
@theantidc
Marissa Payne, The Anti DC
I’m not really a social animal. In fact, to put it bluntly, I hate most of humanity. Mostly because they’re all stupid. Except for you. Mostly because you’re reading this.
The problem is I probably don’t know you, which means I spend a good majority of my time sitting at home alone in the dark. The only real plus-side to this exciting lifestyle is that with a good song, sitting at home alone in the dark is as good and probably even better than going out to a DC bar and pretending to socialize. Unless, of course, I was meeting you at a DC bar. I’d socialize with you. But until we meet, here are five songs I love in the dark.
Radiohead – All I Need (Mp3)
You can count on this song to be on any list I will ever make no matter if I’m sitting home alone in the dark or not. (Although most of the time I am.) Just listen to what happens two minutes and 56 seconds in and you’ll understand.
Beirut – Guyamas Sonora (Mp3)
Time changes! No, literally, the beat changes in the middle of this song. I didn’t notice until I listened to this in the dark. It’s amazing how much more your ears pick up when you block some of your other senses.
Portishead – The Rip (Mp3)
This whole album is probably meant to be listened to in the dark but maybe not alone. This song makes me want to make out. It’s dreamy.
Phil Collins – In the Air Tonight (Mp3)
If you don’t shed a tear during this song, you probably have no soul. Seriously, listen to it in the dark and you’ll be wailing louder than Phil.
Bright Eyes – The Calendar Hung Itself (Mp3)
I was an angsty college kid once who played a lot of emo on my college radio station. Um, surprise. But while I’ve outgrown most of the whiny bullshit Mr. Conor Oberst made prior to his transformation into Jeff Tweedy, Jr., there’s something about listening to this song in the dark that still gets me. I think it’s the maracas. (They fill ‘em with beans!)
