I found a box full of cassette tapes in the closet. One of them was labeled, “The Art of the Toy Piano.” Now, I vaguely remember the circumstances that lead to my acquisition of this tape. I know it was a legitimate backup copy of a CD that a friend of mine had that she wanted to keep, “off site” for archival purposes. I have obviously kept it safe these many years.
The music is creepy. Not, “zombies are jumping out of a doorway” creepy, but “there’s something not quite right” creepy. There’s something about hearing “Eleanor Rigby” being fervently banged out on a toy piano that makes you feel uneasy.
I wanted to hear it again, so I hit rewind. And I waited. And then overshot the beginning of the song. And then I hit fast forward, waited, and then overshot the beginning of the song. I was searching for the song in the way that artillery used to range their shots.
So, before the advent of CDs and DVDs, I wonder how many minutes of my life was spent waiting for things to rewind or fast forward.
Now all that remains is getting rid of camcorder tapes.