The Insomniac - a playlist
Note: Amod writes about a phenomenon we all have experienced at some stage in our lives. One assumes so because it isn’t difficult to assume. Hope you find these songs your perfect companions when sleep is busy eluding you.
It should not be much of a wonder that a playlist titled “The Insomniac” starts with a Scandinavian band. It is this region where, once upon a time, I wandered into the long nights - something that’s unheard of for someone who had spent a large part of his life much closer to the equator. This is where the obsession with nights began and grew, and with it grew the need for long lonely walks. Empty metro stations, stray cats, unattended garbage bags waiting to be taken away in the morning, the night bus drivers, some homeless folks, a few policemen at times, a drunk idiot (which was more common than you would think), and fellow insomniacs, all were a visual company. I would hear nothing of what was going outside because I would have my headphones on. They would say an uninterested and tired “hi”. They would also ask the people outside to not say anything to me unless there is something that should urgently interest me. I have spent hours in a person’s company in this way on a bus stand. Both of us needed just that, a presence beside us. Not a single thing more. When this becomes a habit, the will to interact begins to fade away. We wonder why can’t this be a norm where we all merely exist without the burden of a conversation. This is a sorry state to be in.
During these walks, you pass countless buildings, bus stops, and metro stations. You gaze into their blank, dimly lit faces. Conversation becomes a burden when you want an outcome determined by you. You do not converse if all you feel is that it will go to a place where you don’t want to look. This is when headphones come into picture and play songs, selected by you, that act as a conversation between those blank, dimly lit faces. These songs of loneliness can bring you some solace in the conversations with inanimate objects that have become your best friends.
This playlist is an attempt to try and provide that solace in the hope that you can come out of the long walks with some contemplation and hopefully a smile.
Youtube link -
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqfU7Sge2l69FtCYPFJk-FmmYNZlobunK&si=wSRZrkqsbZ6ha7x4
Spotify link -
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