Hi friends,

I spent two weeks heavily debugging, doing math, and attempting to change my major. In the meantime, I also attended the Cavalera’s live concert and had fun in the cyber security club.

In this post, I will talk about my thoughts on re-listening to music and sharing it, along with two album recommendation.

Hope you enjoy and have a peaceful autumn!

Best,Drunken Boat

I believe that 30 years ago, there were already numerous blogs stating that music is a great way to capture a moment and provide a soundtrack to our experiences, emotions, and memories. In fact, LLM can understand what I mean by “music as metadata” and generate a large amount of generic text for me.

However, I want to discuss music as a shortcut to revisit the past and feel nostalgic. I highly recommend that you try re-listening to your old favorite album, song, playlist, or even a memorable riff that often lingers in your ear.

Here’s the thing: I have a song that I used as a timer when solving a certain type of math problem six years ago. Every time the song ended, I knew I had to finish the solution. Last week, I played it again, and all the emotions came rushing back. There is undoubtedly a strong connection between the music playing in my headphones and the corresponding feelings and thoughts.

Sulphur Aeon - Gateway to the Antisphere: I listened to this album a lot during the summer of 2021. I ate spicy chicken noodles in the dining hall at least 20 times while slightly moshing to the main riff in “Call from Below”. The overwhelming stress and enduring yet steady anger grew within me as the song played. The spicy sauce made my tongue numb and painful every time. I can easily recall all these subtle feelings just by relistening to this song.

But music also shapes the moment and the place. It becomes a part of the scenario.

Stormkeep - Tales of Othertime: This album served as the background music during a cold December afternoon. I spent four hours writing essays at McDonald’s and was waiting for the bus to go back to school. I gazed at the lights in the buildings and the deep blue sky with a few stars. The cold north wind blew, and I wrapped my leather jacket tighter. In my earphones, I listened to the chorus of “The Serpent’s Stone”. The melody gave me courage, and the night sky became dynamic and vivid. The blasting sound in my earphones covered all the tiredness and mundane toil. This power-y melodic black metal album is always a fun adventure for me.

Furthermore, music serves as a form of expression. We curate playlists that reflect our moods and identities. We use music to communicate our feelings and connect with others. I love how metalheads gather and share both music and stories. They meet offline at a friend’s home to listen to music together or leave comments on YouTube about listening to Agalloch during a winter morning commute. Some even write long-ass taxonomy-level reviews on Metal Archives. Music is a public key that we all share, while the feelings it evokes remain private and subtle.

So, the next time you press play on your current favorite album, take a moment to appreciate the role music plays as metadata. Share music as a public key with your friends. Listen closely to the killer-banger-brutal riffs, lyrics, and rhythms that come together to create a rich tapestry of experiences and emotions. Let music be the soundtrack that accompanies and enhances your journey through life.