I’m fascinated by what people no longer want.
When I hit up The Sound Garden on my semi-regular visits, I usually try to make sure that I’ve got time to peruse their selection of used CDs. Obviously, there’s a practical reason for it; I’m looking to find some sought-after gems or albums that I couldn’t allow myself to purchase new.
For instance, I happened upon the soundtrack to New Moon in the used section. Now, seven months ago I wrote about how this soundtrack had caused a near schism within my very core. But finding the soundtrack used resolved that dilemma perfectly, and for the past couple nights I’ve had restful sleep throughout the night.
But there’s another reason why I like visiting the used section; it allows for a glimpse into a stranger’s musical journey.
When you go flipping though the racks, there are some albums that stand out to you. On my last visit, I saw that someone had sold a copy of Badly Drawn Boy’s Hour of the Bewilderbeast. Because I love that album so much, I was surprised and stunned for a second. I react pretty much the same way whenever I see Illmatic, Liquid Swords or anything by The Roots. I find it appalling that someone would feel the need to unburden themselves of such masterpieces.
However, there’s also the stuff that’s less then surprising, as you can come upon whole swaths of nü-metal. If you wished to own everything ever released by Korn and/or Limp Bizkit, you could easily find it used. You also see what phases people went though in college as Dave Matthews Band, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd all have huge sections devoted almost entirely to their catalogues. It’s almost like they immediately outgrew the bands after school, and sold the CDs to help pay off their college loans.
Obviously, I have no way of knowing if these scenarios I propose are true, but I think it’s a pretty valid hypothesis.
And that brings me to my next point: someone should make a documentary about a store that sells used CDs. If I were doing it, I’d probably pick either five albums or five artists (probably the latter, because it seems like a wider net) and then track the person who sold the CD, and then the person who bought the CD used.
I’m betting you could get some pretty interesting stories. Maybe someone sold a CD because it reminded them of a bad break-up or bought it because it reminded them of someone they lost. You get people reminiscing about their life and the role that music played in it. Hell, I want to make that documentary.
And that’s the thing; when I go to The Sound Garden, I’m looking for music, but I’m also thinking about who sold it and why. As a collector, I’m trying to figure out why someone would part with an album, and as a writer I’m theorizing about the individual who sold it, where they were in their life and what role it played in their life.
Y’know, it’s probably yet another one of those things that I completely over-think. But that’s my nature; what can I do?
