When I was on my 15.5 hour flight from San Francisco to Doha on my way to Jakarta, I clearly had to take advantage of all possible entertainment resources to pass the time, especially as I find it almost impossible to sleep while sitting up.
Part of my time was spent listening to a selection of music called "World Sounds." On this playlist was this particular song, called Dim Sum, performed by an old British punk rock dude named Jah Wobble who was part of the controversial group The Sex Pistols decades ago, along with GZ Tian a 22-year-old Chinese rapper, now based in London. This tune is incredibly bizarre by my customary standards. It is modern rap interspersed with an interpretation of an ancient Chinese musical motif. Check it out on the YouTube link that's on the adjacent post and you'll wonder if being trapped on an airplane for 15.5 hours caused me to lose my mind. But, for some inexplicable reason, I really enjoy listening to Dim Sum--it has a vibe that I like.
I sometimes wonder who I've morphed into. I haven't kept track of many of my friends from high school, but I do know a few men my age from the States and they are like the little insects you see trapped in the prehistoric amber stones that rings and necklaces are sometimes made from. When I observe them listening to music, it's the same songs they enjoyed while in junior high or in high school. If they listened to Dim Sum, they would think I'd gone mad or was high on unspecified cosmopolitan drugs. But is it something to be proud of, if every day you listen exclusively to Def Lepperd, Dire Straits, Rod Stewart, and the Doobie Brothers and nothing more current than that? Perhaps it's what happens when you don't venture much further than Spokane--your musical experience hits a stone wall just before 1983.
I think the explanation for my unusual tastes must be that I've spent much of my adult life traveling around and living in various countries and, in addition, most of my working hours have been in the company of college students and their contemporary tastes and preferences. Or maybe the only taste I possess is squarely situated solely inside of my mouth? If you listen to Dim Sum, what conclusion have you reached about the most bizarre song I've ever liked? You're just probably relieved you don't have to sit next to me on 15.5 hour flights.
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