Death & Music
By Nancy Buchan
There’s a whole mess of annoying crap that happens to us as we get older. First it’s the vision thing. You can’t see worth a darn, then when you do get the appropriate glasses, you’re always putting them down somewhere where you can’t find them. I can’t read music without them, or change a string, or even tell how cute that guy is in the middle of the audience who keeps winking at me. Or maybe he’s just got eye problems like me, thanks so much for the reality check. Most musicians suffer from a bit a hearing loss if they’ve been standing next to the drummer for years or play electric guitar with the amp turned up to 10. Usually the loss is at either end of the auditory spectrum – the highs and lows of pitch. When I was younger I loved being right next to the drummer, especially if he was a slamming rock all-over-the-place kind of player. “Bring it on” was my motto then – now it’s “huh? Say again, I can’t hear you…”