Here I go again!
Hit and Miss #39
“Here I go again!”
I don’t know how old I was when I first saw (experienced?) Mamma Mia!. It was probably over a decade ago. Since then, I’ve listened to the cast recording many, many times. According to my iPod, I’ve listened to some of the songs more than a thousand times. I’ve had the good fortune of seeing the show live a few times since, too.
It’s been one of the few albums that’s constant through my life—I’ve listened to it in good times and bad, intently and lazily. I know the entire thing, including the bits of dialogue. As soon as a song finishes, I start humming the instrumental introduction of the next one.
I remember reading once the story of a man who loved Beethoven’s Ninth. Living in the 19th century, before easy access to reproducible sound, the man had only heard it three times in his life, which he considered an accomplishment. Now, with easy access to recordings, we can listen to music constantly. How does this change our relationship to music? How does live performance still retain some magic?
I’m going to see Mamma Mia! this afternoon in Nepean, and I’m thrilled. There are few things for which I get genuinely giddily excited; seeing this show is one such thing.
It’s not necessarily an incredibly good story. There’s not a lot of depth there. But it’s a guaranteed good time, and sometimes you need that, like when you need to watch a romcom.
Do you have any favourite shows or albums that you return to again and again? What pulls you back?
Sorry for a pretty light newsletter this week, but I’m indulging in my excitement. Lucas Thinks Serious Thoughts™️ will return next week. I hope you can enjoy some lightness today, too. In the meantime, all the best for the week ahead!