Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] (powd) the aftermath

Matthew Mesina soberman_69 at hotmail.com
Tue Dec 2 11:53:07 MST 2003


Esteemed Listees,

     It has been a year since I was left numb with the realization that
Midnight Oil as I knew it was no more.   The horrible knowledge created
a void that I felt would never heal.  So I turned to the only thing I
could.  Other music.
     Whereas in the past I used to listen to the Oils almost daily,
often several times daily, I now only listen to them on occasion.
Yesterday was one such occasion when, needing an stark alternative to
the Christmas Carols I've been playing since first snowfall last week, I
threw on "Redneck Wonderland".   Indeed, this was the first Oils I'd
played in over a week, and, as usual, I felt a renewed sense of why I
loved them so much.  There's some special, ineffable quality about that
music that I don't believe the passage of time will ever diminish.
Moreover, listening to the Oils on a less frequent basis really serves
to bring that into sharper than ever focus.  It's like there's
everything else, and then there's the Oils.
     Yet still I fell like a traitor.  I've barely been listening to the
Oils anymore.  Am I like the survivng spouse that remarries within
months of the loved-one's death?  This time spent with other musc has
been a blessing to me; I've rediscovered classics from my record
collection, explored jazz, and just generally started to appreciate
OTHER, not Oils,  music more.   (For instance, my Starflyer 59 records
have been getting much play this week.  I used to kinda scoff at how
simplistic the lyrics were, but now I truly appreciate the clarity and
pinpoint accuracy these "emotional snapshots" of melancholy have to
offer.)  Does anyone else feel like this?  Am I alone in this, and does
it constitute a 'betrayal" of sorts?

 Dealing with the consequences of a bad sound,

Matt

the

Soberman

"Be sober and vigilant.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a
roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." -1 Peter 5:8