What Are You Listening To?

"We went to this concert in Prospect Park, and he spent the whole time holding his phone up so his ex-girlfriend could hear the concert."

by Carrie Dennis
 

Nicholas, 30

What are you listening to?
I'm listening to Bjork's Telegram album. It's an old one, but a good one.

Does it remind you of someone?
Not exactly. I just saw it on my playlist and was like, "Oh! I haven't listened to this for awhile."

Do you have any songs that remind you of anyone?
Oh God. Yeah — actually, there is a song on here that reminds me of somebody. "Army of Me" reminds me of my first crush in high school, who was also my best friend. He loved Bjork and was kind of the first person who got me into her in the first place. That was the first Bjork song that I really loved and we would always listen to it when we were doing stuff together.

Did you love it because you loved it, or did you love it because he loved it?
No, I totally loved it because I loved it. But because I loved it, it became this sort of meeting point for us. A Bjork meeting point.

How did that crush turn out?
Not great. Like I said, he was my best friend. And he never wanted to be anything more than friends. It was a long time ago though so it's all right now.

Does that song evoke a lot of memories now?
Yeah, totally. Like all senses of that time — visual and audio senses. Just everything that was going on in my life at that time totally comes up when I listen to it.

Have you ever had a song ruined by an ex?
Ha, yeah. All Belle and Sebastian songs are completely ruined.

Every one of them?
Yeah. Them just in general. I don't know if I would've loved them anyway, but I had this boyfriend who was obsessed with Belle and Sebastian, and we went to this concert in Prospect Park — this was like, nine years ago — and he spent the whole time holding his phone up so his ex-girlfriend could hear the concert. I was totally horrified and hate the band forever now. I can't listen to them ever.

So I gather that relationship didn't turn out well...
No, you know, we're actually kind of friends again, but it was rocky for awhile.

If you could be a groupie for a band which band would it be?
Either The Rolling Stones or The Doors.

Do you have any music that you tie to anybody in your life?
Actually, he's not a romantic person, but Bjork is my business partner's like, goddess, so maybe that has something to do with why I'm re-listening to that album. He's is probably the most important person in my life right now, and he is obsessed with Bjork.

Lot of connections for that album for you.
Well, it's funny. I'm listening to it, and it makes me think of high school and that person and everything, but at the same time, it really is intertwined with my business partner too.

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