Freewrite #7 - Document
(Photo Credit : Nicole Harrington)
When I think of the term “document”, I don’t think of it in the traditional sense. It’s funny how one single word can transform me to moments of time in my childhood. For me, “Document” is the name of a quintessential R.E.M. album that was released, when I was in high school.
The reason that this resonates with me is because that album, along with many others, got me through some rough formative years and helped me “self-medicate” emotional issues that most kids had growing up. Well, most kids, where I lived, anyway.
At the time, R.E.M. were a band definitely on the rise. My teenage years were spent attending live rock shows and just getting familiar with the gloriousness of rock and roll. R.E.M. were cut from a different cloth and considered to be one of the flagbearers for a new genre of music, dubbed “alternative”.
For me, I was heavily into R.E.M., 10,000 Maniacs, Indigo Girls, The Producers, B-52s and anything that derived from Athens, Georgia. Athens was considered to be the headquarters for this new concept of free thought and music.
The previous incantation of this ideology was in the Punk movement that featured Talking Heads, Television, Blondie and others. I considered the Athens contingent to be the next wave and had sugarplum dreams of one day moving to Athens and living above the 40 Watt Club.
As I graduated from high school and eventually managed a CD Warehouse franchise, I quickly learned that this alternative way of thinking was an eastern seaboard thing that happened throughout Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas.
Document might have meaning for other people, but for me it has a special place in my heart that reminds me of why I got involved with music, in the beginning and the joy it continues to bring me to this day. This freewrite actually makes me ponder the question of why I moved away from music in the first place and what might my life be like, should I move back towards it in this digital age we live in today.
Either way, this is @mariannewest fault.
PREVIOUS FREEWRITES :
#6 - Curry
#5 - Robes
#4 - Texas
#3 - Purple Squirrel
#2 - Blue
#1 - Airplane
This was excellent and I'm going to go back and listen to some R.E.M.
Glad you liked it! Thanks for the props!
My pleasure!
Loved the Music!!
Thanks for the curation action!
You are welcome :)
Sweet connection to the prompt! So many of my favorite bands from high school and college, too. Love your choice of early REM video/song. By the way, I saw David Byrne in concert last week- probably the best show I've ever seen.
#jealous
Hey, there was so much passion in freewrite. I hope you decide to go back to music. Music is bliss. In the previous post you said you're going to produce music. I'm waiting for it. :)
Nah, man. I never was a "producer". I owned (and guess always will) a micro-label, called Yawn Records. I released around 20 different titles, helping bands and pushing them. I just kept sinking money from the day job to fund doing what I loved to do. I eventually came to the conclusion that I couldn't keep spending money the way I had been, so I shut it down and went into concert promoter mode. Did that for awhile, moved to Los Angeles to be a music supervisor. Did that. Realized it sucked. Decided to learn how Google works and now I write copy for websites and whatnot, while I recover.
This is what I was up to before I croaked : https://bit.ly/2kUV0Mc
Well, you realized what you want to do now and that's more important. And I checked your youtube channel. Dude, it's really amazing. I mean I genuinely loved it. Especially "Bonus Points - Sangria Sunset" and "Summer was fun - Hold on"
Thanks, man! I dig Yahtzel and Falcon Funk, too. It helps me chillax. Thanks for visiting and the words of awesomeness!
You're welcome. :D
I really really love REM! They really made my teenage years, although they were a bit after my time! Really great band (good taste in music!) <3
Aaaanywho, I'm in charge of delivering today's prompt:
https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-180-5-minute-freewrite-tuesday-prompt-coin
When "Stand" was released, I lost interest. Everything before the "Green" album is worth exploring. I think "Green Grow The Rushes", "Driver 8" and "(Don't Go Back To)Rockville" are my favorites. "Exhuming McCarthy" is dope too.
Hmm I liked 'Stand' too...I guess that's one of the things about discovering a band after they're over (or near enough, by the time I got really into REM, they were broken up), you can't truly follow their progression, you just take it all in at once! :)
Right, I'm not knocking their big hits, just suggesting you dig a bit deeper. There is so much to this band. End Of The World and Stand are lame by comparison. The lyrics are rich and music is very cool. Especially for that era of time.
Still love to bring up some R.E.M. & 10,000 Maniacs on my playlist after all these years. I'm with ya @zingali, some things never get old :)
I gladly take the responsibility for you sharing great music with us!!! 😜