Whistle While You Work

My previous post, about the racket in coffee shops and whether one could in fact work to the tune of rattling tea cups and the whoosh of the espresso machine, brought forth a number of interesting comments. It seems that we are split between those who need a semblance of quiet and those who can write while yelling "Rock On!"

Which got me to thinking about the sort of music people might rock on to ("on to which people might rock?")

I am a musical dullard and very mainstream. And I do not usually write to a soundtrack. I did once spend a weekend writing while obsessed by Keane's Hopes and Fears CD, and I'm not sure what that says about me.

This is the tune I listened to ad infinitum. I overheard a recent version on Glee, which my wife watches on her laptop while I read [code word for "fall asleep."] It briefly brought me out of my slumber, so I could anoint the show as my new favorite. However, the video is very strange and is apparently an homage to E.T.

If you write while listening to music, what's YOUR playlist?

Jamie Cullum makes me think

Driving in the car to pick up my kids yesterday morning, listening to NPR "Weekend Edition." Jacki Lyden interviewed English jazz artist, Jamie Cullum.

I'd never heard of him, but then I've never heard of a lot of people. He's apparently quite a star in the UK, having sold more jazz records there than any other British artist. At the end of the interview, Jacki Lyden asked him why he called his new album "The Pursuit." Here's his reply:

One of the reasons I called it "The Pursuit," is because, you know, as a musician you never get to the finish line. There are goals along the way but you never finish it. So it is this constant pursuit, one that I wake up every day wanting to get better at and wanting to make better music, 'cause I think as soon as I finish this album I had new ideas about the next one. So there's plenty to pursue.

Substitute 'musician' for 'writer' and Jamie Cullum and I are singing the same tune.