Pulling in 12-hour shifts at the office has been running me ragged. I’m perpetually low on sleep, talk a bit slower and write like an idiot, which leads to rewrites after getting a caffeine fix in the form of green tea.
But that’s not the point of the story. Music is the point. When I need to concentrate hard, I usually plug into my iPod and dig into the “Yeah Yeah Songs” playlist. As its name suggests, the songs there are usually catchy, uplifting or have a rockin’ beat that keeps me going and going. And strangely enough, whenever a particular song plays, a visual image of the song actually appears in my mind.
You see, a large part of my music comes from movies and TV shows that I catch, like The O.C. and Grey’s Anatomy, or on Internet radio (Virgin Radio) and podcasts (The Scott Mills Daily). And invariably, listening to the song brings me back to that moment when I heard it and liked it.
For instance, South’s “Paint the Silence” would take me back to when Ryan and Marissa on The O.C. shared a tender kiss as the ferris wheel ascends. When the strains of piano of The Fray’s “How to Save a Life” flit through the earphones, I see Grey’s Anatomy’s Derek staring intensely at Meredith even as they are both dancing with Addison and the vet (forgot his name) during the prom. Meanwhile, “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol would bring on an image of Izzy lying wretchedly on top of the very dead Denny Duquette, who died unexpectedly after a successful heart transplant. When I hear The Ting Ting’s “That’s not my name”, I immediately think of Scott Mills’ “party in my tummy” episode. The image of the large fish tank in Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting pops into my head when Desiree croons “Kissing You”. And Mika’s “Happy Ending” would bring to mind the ill-fated romance between Serena and Dan.
Rather than being distracting, it’s actually great. It allows me to take a couple of seconds off my work, smile and remember the wonderful shows that I love. And then I go back to work, feeling just a tad happier.
Yannisms 