Overheard

Speaking of music, I was in Barnes & Noble a couple of times today, and I swear that the music they were playing, their in-store soundtrack or whatever they might call it, was somebody's iPod. I was in for a few minutes at lunch, and I wasn't paying close attention, but all of a sudden I noticed I was hearing "Crosseyed and Painless" by Talking Heads. That wasn't even a hit. That wasn't even a single. It was smack in the middle of Remain in Light's side one. I didn't have a lot of time at lunch, so I don't know what else might've been on the playlist, but even as musak gets more intriguing and diverse, that's one one of the most unexpected songs I've ever heard in that context. The only time that was close was a few years ago when I was in a Cub Foods and heard a variety of '80s alternative songs, including The Smiths' "Panic" (I was certain that I'd blogged about trying to get my fellow shoppers to join in a rousing chorus of "Hang the DJ," but it must've been a pre-blog e-mail). Anyway, what made me think Barnes & Noble was actually piping somebody's iPod over the intercom was that I went back this evening to pick up a couple of things I didn't have time to wait in line for this afternoon, I heard some more unexpected music--not quite as obscure as "Crosseyed and Painless," but nothing I'd heard in a store before. First, there was "Once in a Lifetime," the single from Remain in Light, but it was joined by the Beat's "Save It for Later" and the Jam's "Going Underground." Oh, sure, there were some clinkers, too, like "Private Eyes" by Hall and Oates, but I was glad for the '80s playlist while I bought my copy of Mojo's New Wave special (which I'd intended to buy before I walked into the store, so I was not influenced by the music, although the sales clerk ringing up my order was smiling like she assumed I was).