I finally got my stupid computer setup to use headphones.  Between that and my iPod, I’ve been spending a lot of time just listening to music.  To me it’s truly amazing what a difference there is between what you pick up over an FM modulator on your car stereo and what you hear with headphones or a quality home stereo system.  In some instances it’s like different versions of the same song.

I was just listening to Old Crow Medicine Show’s cover of CC Rider.  I’ve listened to it who knows how many dozens of times over the years.  At the 28 second mark you hear Ketch Secor say, “Play that a while.  Let me get my harmonica.”

Yesterday I was listening to a track called “Wasted and Ready” by Ben Kweller.  It’s another song I’ve listened to tons of times, but I finally picked up on the fact that “Silent Night” plays quietly in a break down starting at 2 minutes, 4 seconds. Judging from what I’m finding on YouTube, it’s only the album version. Sorry I don’t have anything to share on that one.

When I was younger, I was inseparable from my Walkman and, later, my Discman. After years of owning sub-par MP3 players, I finally got an iPod. Things have been better ever since. I’ve really gotten back into just listening to music, like I used to. Pick an album and go through it several times. Listen to the lyrics, listen to the vocals, listen to the guitars, listen to the drums. The same song is different every time.

I realized other people did this same type of auditory dissection of music when I met Neil. Sometime in what was probably our first week working together, we talked about the odd things you hear in the backgrounds of songs. I don’t remember which example I brought up, but he told me about one I wasn’t familiar with. Check out the 1:22 mark on CCR’s “Down on the Corner.”

What songs have you discovered little audio oddities on?
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