Recently, "Singer" has been very popular. There are many music activities in school, and there are also many discussions about music on the forum. Today, I suddenly wanted to review my own listening history. I don't have any favorite singers or genres, it's just my personal experience! I have no talent for music and I'm not very sensitive to it. Music is only a way for me to remember what I was like during a certain period of time.
Not really an enlightenment#
If you ask me to recall life in my hometown in the countryside, there will definitely be a picture of a big-headed TV and a stack of discs in my mind. I can't remember exactly what music discs they were, but I vaguely remember that they were some folk songs and classic songs from the 90s (maybe). It was probably around 2006 or 2007.
Later, in elementary school music class, the teacher played Mozart, Beethoven, and many others for us, but at that time, I couldn't hear anything, and I still can't now (laughs); we learned to sing some songs, but I can hardly remember any of them now. The most memorable one is "I Am a Small Stone" or "Rain Flower Stone". Once the memories start, they can't be stopped. I remember a lot of things from music class, as well as stories with this music teacher. But today, I am writing about my story with music. I might write about some teachers who have had a profound impact on me in the future, she is my music teacher. It was probably around 2010.
Not a fanatic but also a fanatic summer#
I don't know why, but it seems like many of my memories related to music happened in the summer, maybe because there was summer vacation. It feels like summer vacation!
"You are not truly happy, your smile is just a protective color you wear~"
"Be a cat, be a dog, don't be a lover anymore~"
The first summer was the second and third seasons of "I Am a Singer". At that time, I still didn't know why I pretended to be deep and resonated with the song "You Are Not Truly Happy". Does that mean I haven't been happy for 10 years (sweat)? Even though I had never been in love, I could still relate to "Love and Sincerity" (laughs). It was probably around 2014 or 2015.
"In the sunny south, snow is falling; in the cold night of the north, it feels like spring~"
"I know, those summers, just like youth, can't come back. The only thing that can replace dreams is reluctantly~"
The second summer was folk music. "Nan Shan Nan," "An He Qiao," "Rose," "Zebra," and many more. At that time, I bought my first acoustic guitar, but I still haven't learned how to play it (laughs). Miss Dang, who was supposed to learn together, has become a very talented guitarist now! Suddenly, I remembered my dream at that time, to open a small bar in Dali, where people can listen to stories for free. I was a pretentious pseudo-intellectual at that time. It was probably around 2016.
"When you are on the other side of the mountains, I am on a lonely road with no end~"
"Who am I? Someone that's afraid to let go, uh~"
The third summer was about rap. That year, iQiyi released a variety show, and a good friend of mine highly recommended it, so I listened to a few episodes. It was my first exposure to Chinese rap, and I realized that rap can be so emotional, it can express the bitterness of life and be so touching. "80000" (although the current version doesn't have the same feeling as the original), "Intimate Lover," and many others. Then there was rap, and at that time, I really liked XXXTENTACION's songs, they were so melancholic. Whenever I was unhappy, I would listen to them. The annual song that year also had a song called "Sad," but I can no longer listen to his new songs. My favorite Chinese song was "Intimate Lover," and my favorite English song was "History." The summer was also accompanied by Wang Ji's lean meatballs, I kind of miss it. It was probably around 2017.
Not summer days#
The most concentrated period of listening to music was in middle school.
"Ten years ago, you didn't know me, I didn't belong to you... Ten years later, we are friends, we can still greet each other"
Influenced by my desk mate at that time, I listened to a lot of Eason Chan's songs. I even used 20 or so lines of his lyrics in one of my weekly essays. I still remember singing "Long Time No See" on the way back from military training. Whenever it's cloudy, I still think of the lyrics "Listening to what the cloudy day says, I've missed you for so long."
"君と夏の終わり 将来の夢 大きな希望 忘れない"
I remember a group of boys talking about how they cried while watching a certain anime, so I decided to watch it too. Well, it didn't make me cry. But this song became one of my favorite Japanese songs, along with "Only My Railgun." Then, I listened to a lot of theme songs while watching anime.
"All the oceans and seas know the sound. And if you tell them to be calm and be still."
That's when I started listening to Taylor Swift, starting with "Love Story." Then one day, "Beautiful You" appeared in my daily recommendations, and at that time, less than a hundred people had liked the song. It felt like I had discovered a hidden gem. I started listening to Troye Sivan after "for him," and Justin Bieber after "Love Yourself."
In school and out of school#
Later, I graduated from middle school early. In the first week of not being in school, I would wake up in the morning, open my laptop, play a random song from my daily recommendations, and then write an article (a story about me and a girl). The songs in my daily recommendations on Netease Cloud Music at that time included Chinese, English, folk, rap, and more. I would listen to the songs in my playlist and write down every word and sentence. If I didn't finish writing, I would continue after waking up from a nap at noon. After finishing writing, I would pick up a book to read (I read more books that week than I did in the following year).
When I was still in middle school and didn't graduate yet, if I didn't go out to play on weekends, I would sit in my room, look at the clouds and mountains outside, play the songs mentioned above, and occasionally learn one or two songs. But I overestimated my musical talent.
In high school, I listened to a lot of songs both in and out of school. When I was in school, I loved the radio show after dinner every day. I loved the music that floated around the campus. Even though I was almost invisible in high school, someone actually requested a song for me and sent me blessings. Besides the radio show, there was also the Friday night singing time (which was canceled after sophomore year). "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky" became our class song. At that time, I listened to many different types of songs, from Jeff Chang and Leslie Cheung to David Tao, Jay Chou, and JJ Lin, and so on.
During the days when I wasn't in school in high school, I could only listen to music when I went home on long weekends. At that time, I liked listening to R&B because I could share it with someone, because I knew someone liked it as much as I did. As a result, whenever I hear those songs, I would think of our past. That's the meaning music gave me.
Now#
Now, I rarely take the time to discover a new song. If the lyrics and melody remind me of something, I will add it to my favorites. After listening to it a few times and not feeling the same, I delete it. Now, I prefer to treat them as background noise.
I suddenly realized that I forgot to mention instrumental music. It's not that I haven't listened to it or listened to it less, but when I listen to instrumental music, I'm either sleeping, getting ready to sleep, doing homework, or rushing to finish homework. In short, it's not easy for me to remember them.
Finally#
The original title of this article was "Why I Don't Like Listening to Music Anymore." Compared to the past, now I don't have time to listen to music; my hearing is not as good, and I don't like wearing headphones in noisy environments (and the environment around me is always noisy); I can't find songs that can evoke memories anymore. The songs I like now are because they remind me of someone or some version of myself from the past. Maybe in a few years, when I look back, I will discover which songs have stayed with me throughout my college years. I think "Not being arrogant, embracing everything" and "The youth in the lights, graceful and beautiful" will definitely be among them.
Thank you for reading this, and I wish you every happiness when you listen to your favorite music.