When I’m driving, I sometimes imagine individuals from various points in human history riding with me as we listen to the radio. I think about the songs, lyrics, even ads, and consider what kind of conversations and reactions they would generate from a person from medieval England or turn of the century America.
What would Bach think of The Black Keys? What would a farmer or slave in the new world think of modern blues and folk? What would a chariot driver think of going 70 on the highway?
I’ve played this mental game as long as I can remember. Sometimes it gets so exciting I feel genuine pain that I can’t transport someone from the past to experience the present.