Sunday Mixtape #7 (Joy, etc.)

Here is the track list for Everything That’s Been, The Future’s Smashed: 26 Absolutions, Vol. 4, completed by Jay Thompson in March 2015:

Side A:

1. Primal Scream, Velocity Girl

2. The Apples In Stereo, High Tide

3. Real Estate, Green Aisles

4. Nicholas Krgovich, The Backlot

5. Niki + The Dove, The Gentle Roar

6. Caribou, She’s the One

7. Haim, The Wire

8. Future Islands, Seasons (Waiting On You)

9. Saint Etienne, Like a Motorway

10. New Pornographers, Use It

11. Wire, Ex Lion Tamer

12. 100 Flowers, California’s Falling Into the Ocean

13. Bleached, Dead in Your Head

Side B:

1. Comet Gain, Books of California

2. Ought, Habit

3. Mirah, La Familia

4. Barbara Manning, Prophecy Written

5. The Clientele, The House Always Wins

6. The Undertones, Julie Ocean

7. Guided By Voices, Choking Tara

8. Daniel Johnston, Blue Clouds

9. Yo La Tengo, Pablo and Andrea

10. Miaow, Sport Most Royal

11. Lovers Without Borders, Athena From Bow

12. The Minutemen, No Exchange

13. The Bats, Daddy’s Highway

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Just yesterday, as I drove a few teenagers and a friend across the state for a track meet, I was accused, by a teenager, for about the seventy-fifth time in adulthood, of hating joy. The reason? My professed dislike of the widely-known, widely-liked song “Take On Me” (which, nevertheless, I have performed on stage in public and in earnest in spite of said dislike, so at least I don’t let dislike stand in my way I guess…or at least I don’t let my principles stand in the way of others’ joy I guess…which of those is a greater truth?). And alright, about seventy of those seventy-five accusations, including yesterday’s, were professed to be jokes. But, you know, in every joke there’s a little bit of joke.

And fine, I admit that I’ve told others over time that I don’t like fun — that, in times when I’ve felt too serious for fun, and meaning not enjoyment but “fun.” You know, dancing, parties and gatherings, games and diversions, etc.. That kind of fun. But I don’t know why I ever said such a thing — except that saying something like “I don’t like fun” is itself kinda fun. A diversion, an enjoyment. But here’s the thing (and there’s a good song with that title): really I’m a joyful person. I love the world and I love people. I love talking and I love listening. I love work and I love fun. I love achievement and I love failure. And so on. Joy is everywhere, and yes, I love joy.

Except…well, except then there’s pop music. Was there ever a music more bent on joy than pop music? It appeals directly, no shyness in the profile, to literally everyone it can reach. It cries out, here, here I am, connect with one another through me! Love me, all of you love me! Love each other because you both and you all love me! Dance! Have fun! I’m perfect and uncomplicated and you’ll feel perfect and uncomplicated too if you can love me like I am meant to be loved!

Doesn’t it?

And here I sit in my joy-loving skin and I hear that and something in me says NO. Not so fast. You don’t get my joy just by asking, pop music. Your hooks, they’re too obvious. Your surface, it’s too perfect. Your beauty, it’s for everyone. I’m not that easy. Where are your beautiful flaws? Where’s your complexity? Is it even there at all? And it’s a short path from there to the STOP and SKIP buttons. A short path from there to self-righteous dismissal of potential joy.

Fortunately, my friend Jay loves pop music. What a perspective-changer that has been. What a strange and complicated thing to find that the person whose musical taste I admire more than that of anyone else’s in the world has a strong and growing love of the music I find easiest to dismiss. What, I’m going to dismiss Carly Rae Jepsen or Haim or whomever when I know that Jay loves them for reasons I can’t comprehend? When I know that Jay is among the most complex people anyone could ever hope to know? And while he’s never hidden his love of pop music, there’s also no doubt that said love has grown considerably over the past decade, beginning right around the time of this mix — or maybe, the first side of this mix was when I began to really notice what was going on.

So fine, maybe I like pop music just a little bit, even if it takes me more time than the average person to get past the love of objection that keeps me from loving joy. And maybe I even like “Take On Me” — okay, just a little bit. Even if I do prefer the slow, melancholy version to the bubbly, famous version. Thanks, Jay — thanks for all the pop music. It’s been good for me. Keep it coming.