Member-only story
Paranoid
A 30-day Series of Music Memories
The smell of new carpet–but not too new–you don’t smell it when you walk into the room, only when you lay down on it and rest your face against it.
As a kid, I’d lay on my older brother’s bedroom floor while he played music. The most memorable times were those when he’d get a new tape. He got a cassette player before I did. My brother was always so excited when he got new music to listen to. Usually, he’d pre-listen to stuff before inviting me in to join him. I remember the first time I heard Paranoid.
I was in my room playing when he shouted for me to come in and hear this song. He was so excited. He was lying on the floor, cassette liner notes out of their case. I joined him on the floor, belly down, elbows in the carpet, ready to look at the liner notes with him. He had the tape queued to exactly the right spot on his small portable cassette player. We weren’t allowed to talk the first time through the song. Then, we’d listen again and talk through liner notes. He’d explain why he thought the music was great and how the sound was like nothing he’d ever heard. I’d rest my face on the carpet and watch him. I can still feel how much he loved the experience of music. I’m right back there with him every time I hear this song, experiencing it again for the first time.
