The 0.5 Theory

       I'm taking a music class of sorts outside of school on audio production, and my homework is to listen to Led Zeppelin. Some kids would be delighted by such an assignment, others horrified, but I'd say I'm pretty neutral. As I sit here, simultaneously doing my audio homework and my language arts homework, my only thoughts are: I can't complain. Everything just feels...chill. There are guitars and bass thumping out of the speakers of my computer, but yet, it is relaxed, and I can't help but wonder why.

       My first theory, is that the puzzling relaxed quality I've found in Zeppelin is rooted in its lyrics, or lack of being that I can't understand them. The way they're delivered reminds me slightly of blues music, which takes me back to the evening Jeep rides home from my viola lessons; the wind blowing and the air chilling and the local blues cover artist vibrating from the speakers about his last two dollars. So perhaps that is theory 1.5.

       Theory number two would be the current state of my bedroom. Evening is coming and it's rained all day. The only light in the room pans out in a golden arch from the burlap lamp on the dresser beside me. There is also the glow of my computer screen, but I'd consider word documents a sort of home for me, as I write constantly and aimlessly in the night time on the weekends. So maybe that's theory 2.5; the thing that reminds me of the thing that reminds me of the thing that reminds me of the thing, which I'd say can be appropriately labeled as the 0.5 bit.

       My final theory, the grand number three, is the vintage of it. It's classic, therefore, I'm supposed to enjoy it and I'm supposed to appreciate it. However, the fact that something is classic has never swayed my opinion before, which leads me to theory 3.0: I just like it for what it is. It just keeps jamming. The bass, the drums, the guitar- there is a subtle blend of catchy and consistency among them all. The music follows a structure, just like classical music does, or really, just like all music does, which adds a touch of familiarity to it at well. So there, I suppose, is theory 3.5.

       A large part of my appreciation for Zeppelin lies in the relaxed principle of the 0.5; the remembering of familiar things. The 0.5 factor exists in every piece of music, though. Maybe not everyone feels it in every song or every artist, but every once in a while, people find the 0.5 in strange and unexpected places, like I did, and perhaps that is the true purpose of music.