ODE To Mix Tapes
These days, it’s too easy to make mix tapes.
CD burners iPods, and iTunes
Have taken the place
Of vinyl cassette. And , soon
Enough, clever introverts will create
Quicker point-and-click ways to declare
One’s love, lust, friendship, and favor.
But I miss the labor
Of making old-school mix tapes — the midair
Acrobatics of recording one song
At a time. It sometimes took days
To Play, choose, pause,
Ponder, record, replay, erase,
And replace. But there was no magic wand.
It was blue-collar work. A great mix tape
Was sculpture designed to seduce
And let the hounds loose.
great mix tape was a three-chord parade
Led by the first song, something bold and brave,
A heat-seeker like Prince with “Cream,”
Or “Let’s Get It On,” by Marvin Gaye.
The next song was always Patsy Cline’s ” Sweet Dreams,”
or something by Hank. But O, the last track
Was the vessel that contained
The most devotion and pain
And made promises that you couldn’t take back.
~Sherman Alexie
War Dances
ODE To Mix Tapes
These days, it’s too easy to make mix tapes.
CD burners iPods, and iTunes
Have taken the place
Of vinyl cassette. And , soon
Enough, clever introverts will create
Quicker point-and-click ways to declare
One’s love, lust, friendship, and favor.
But I miss the labor
Of making old-school mix tapes — the midair
Acrobatics of recording one song
At a time. It sometimes took days
To Play, choose, pause,
Ponder, record, replay, erase,
And replace. But there was no magic wand.
It was blue-collar work. A great mix tape
Was sculpture designed to seduce
And let the hounds loose.
great mix tape was a three-chord parade
Led by the first song, something bold and brave,
A heat-seeker like Prince with “Cream,”
Or “Let’s Get It On,” by Marvin Gaye.
The next song was always Patsy Cline’s ” Sweet Dreams,”
or something by Hank. But O, the last track
Was the vessel that contained
The most devotion and pain
And made promises that you couldn’t take back.
~Sherman Alexie
War Dances
Posted 3 years ago 3 notes
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