For the last installment of my ‘Back Then’ week, I present to you a little something I like to call ‘I Was So Old at Such a Young Age’. The photo has nothing to do with the post, really, except that it was taken on the same bed I laid in while cursing my noisy neighbours. Monty was such a good hamster.
The (underage) girls who live on the ground floor of our house and their (supposedly legal) boyfriends enjoy to party. And like most Stupid Young People (as opposed to Clumsy, Yet Moderately Clever Young People, the category to which I like to think I belong), their partying relies heavily on Music I Don’t Care For, also known as Thumpy Thumpy Music.
Over the course of three days, I’ve been treated to the bass lines of, I don’t know, four songs. Just kidding. It’s actually about a hundred songs by people who just don’t know more than four bass lines. There’s thump thump thumpa thumpa and thumpa thumpa thummmp thummmp and thump th-thump thump [rest] and, lastly, THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP. That last one’s neat because it makes the house rattle just like the washing machine. What I find remarkable is that the bass line doesn’t change for the entire song. Where’s the verse? Where’s the chorus? Where’s the middle eight? I’m not saying you’ve got to stick to a formula to make good music (because, actually, I think most people would agree that’s exactly what you shouldn’t do.), but an unvarying bass line for a thirty minute song (that’s how long it seems at four in the morning)?
Now, I like loud music just as much as the next person. But not for dancing, which I think is why I don’t understand Thumpy Thumpy Music. Loud music is good for playing guitar to. It’s also handy when you want to sit around with friends and appreciate good music. Loudly. But sweaty dancing with a plastic cup of beer in my hand? Not my thing. Maybe what I’ll do is introduce the kids downstairs to the world of narcotics, which will open their minds to new musical horizons. Or hallucinogens! Then they’ll be too distracted by the bugs in their arms to want to dance to Thumpy Thumpy Music.
Excellent. I don’t see how this could possibly go wrong.
This is hilarious! I have been reading (lurking?) your blog for a while now, and I just want to say I really enjoy your writing, the old and the new.
happy spring!
- amanda
I’m with AmandaMay—I’ve been reading twelve22 for a while and it never fails to brighten my day! And this entry in particular made me laugh and made me thankful all over again that I moved out from underneath my thumpy thump neighbors last year.
This reminds me of my last apartment. It took me a couple months to realize they were continually listening to one CD of dance music from the early 90s. I wanted to burn them a mix CD and introduce them to enjoyable dance music that was actually recorded in this millenium. I figured that if I had to be awake at 3 a.m., I might as well be listening to something I tolerable.