Leaving Well Enough Alone

July 19, 2019 (151 words)

A lot of popular music is over-produced, isn’t it? You especially notice this when an old song you like comes on the radio. (Remember the radio?) Or when one of your grown children streams a favorite in the car through their IPhone, during a summer road trip.

That tune you’ve been hearing in your head and humming to yourself for years doesn’t sound the same. It’s junked up with a lot of non-essential sound. The vocal seems camouflaged underneath all the added, unnecessary instrumentation. The tempo is wrong. It all sounds too glossy. As if the playing of the musicians is being manipulated away from its natural, organic quality.

So an anticipated interlude becomes a disappointment. What soundboard genius was responsible for messing with a perfectly good melody, back when they first cut this track?

Robert J. Cavanaugh, Jr.
July 19, 2019