Anthony and I (and perhaps Sinder Velvin?) have decided to listen to "Chic - Dance Dance Dance (Yowsah Yowsah Yowsay)" as long as possible today. We've chosen the short radio edit version and will all start at 9 AM local time and will share our experience through hourly posts in this topic.

I'll start this off after having listened to the song for the first time (second if you count last week). I mentioned this before, but I think it's gonna be hard to ignore and I definitely have some studying to do.. so we'll have to see how that works out. So far I'm not annoyed by the song yet, but after 1 listen that would be pretty bad.

Stay tuned!

Time: 9:57AM
Listens: 17

I'm not really annoyed yet, I even catch myself singing along sometimes. I guess that means this song can't be all bad. The slow part around minute 2 is already beginning to work on my nerves though.

Time: 11:06
Listens: 35

I found myself freezing for a moment when I accidently clicked mute instead of volume up, and I am beginning to realize what this guy meant when he was waiting for the 10 seconds between the end of the song and the beginning of the new. For me it's only 5 seconds however. Other than that, I'm still good.

I didn't actually count the times the was played but calculated it and I now notice there's a slight error in my calculations. The first was 16 listens, the second 33. My bad.

Time: 12:05
Listens: 49

I am slowly growing tired of the song, but I'm finding this actually works as far as studying goes. I cannot watch a film or series, all I can do is listen to this song and study (a lot).

Time: 12:56
Listens: 63

I am beginning to see it's acclaim a little bit, after 60+ listens still not hating a song is not something any song could pull off. It's getting old though.. and there's 3 or 4 more hours to go until Anthony even gets started. I don't envy you, Anthony!

Time: 13:59
Listens: 80

5 hours in and I think I just crossed the point where I started hating the song.. who's stupid idea was it to do this? I could be listening to something good right now! The slow part around 2:10 is especially getting verrrrrry annoying by now.

The first bit isn't too bad though. "I wanna boogie with youuuuu!"

Time: 15:00 (3:00 PM)
Listens: 96

Closing in on the 100 listens after 6 hours and pretty much the entire song is starting to get annoying now. I've counted the times "Dance Dance Dance" is sung, which is 26, and the word dance is in the song over 100 times.. sigh.

Very interesting, this. How high is the volume, Stephan? Have you, at some point during the day, considered to put this song on your all-time top 200 list? Or top 200 worst, maybe?

It's at the level I normally listen music too. Too loud for background music and too loud too ignore, but not so loud that I would annoy other people. My brother thinks I'm a complete nutbar though, I just explained what I was doing.

I have not for a second considered putting it in my top 200, but it's moving towards the bottom top 200.

Time: 16:01 (4:01 PM)
Listens: 112

Henrik's question was interesting because I noticed at first that I thought the level of the sound was ok, even a little low, and now I think it's way too high. I had my first "breakdown" of sorts just now, as I wanted to throw my speakers around. I could not imagine getting so annoyed by a song when I started this, but it is really harder than it seems. Strangely enough that feeling is totally gone now, and I'm just annoyed again.

One more hour until Anthony joins in on the 'fun'.

I'm sure the human brain can get used to almost anything not too hurtfull.
Soon (I hope) you'll start to be resigned

Time: 17:00(5:00 PM)
Listens: 128

Funny, I can set my clock to these songs, exactly 16 fit in an hour and I only just figured that out. I've also counted the actual amount of times the word "dance" or "dancing" is in the radio edit, which is 47. Less than I expected. That must mean the total version is even more repetitive. My annoyance is stagnating.

Welcome to hell Anthony!

ENTRY #1

TIME: 9:29am (local time)

PLAYCOUNT: 2

Aaaaand, we're off! I'm "dancin' the the beat" and "movin'" my feet", and I'm lovin' every minute of it.

Later!

*proceeds to read Stephan's diary*

Time: 17:52 (5:52 PM)
Listens: 142

Time for dinner so I'm posting this one a little early. It seems nicolas was right, my annoyance with the song is becoming a little less. Perhaps I can just ignore it better.

Great to have you aboard Anthony.

ENTRY #2

TIME: 10:08am
PLAYCOUNT: 13
TOLERANCE METER: low; needle hasn't wavered

Stephan - your posts were great! Counting how many times "dance" appears? Calculating the number of plays within an hour? Hilarious (but unfortunately, all signs of a psychosis settling in).

There's a slight inadequacy when I compare my playcounts to yours (where are you now, in the 140s?), but I'll get to that point eventually. Maybe. Hopefully.

At this time (while I still have a critical ear), I will say that this song is horrendous; it's nothing more than repetitive, unintelligent and juvenile lyrics on top of a canned instrumental disco loop (something you'd hear from a Casio ToneBank keyboard). But... I am finding myself singing along every once in a while (which is more a result of familiarity than merit as a song).

Time: 18:58 (6:58 PM)
Playcount (indeed a better term than 'Listens'): 160

The way they're throwing "Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah" at you still makes me smile from time to time, but other than that the song has lost all its appeal. I don't even hear anything other than "Dance. Dance, Dance, Dance" anymore. The part around 2:10 is actually starting to become the better part of the song because it has some small moments that are almost silent.

I am longing for something that doesn't have a repetitive rhytmn; Miles Davis would probably sound very good right about now. But I must resist the dark side. 10 hours down, 6 to go. This is gonna be a long evening.

ENTRY #3

TIME: 11:02am
PLAYCOUNT: 26
TOLERANCE METER: low; a bit of needle movement, but nothing altogether significant

Thanks, Stephan - happy to be here (I think...)

This song still hasn't hit an annoying nerve yet, but worth noting are the few momentary losses of focus I've experienced over the last hour. I'll have a thought, and then it's gone almost immediately, as if an imaginary arm has reached out from my monitor, into my head, and snipped the connection. The thought re-emerges after a few seconds when its discovered a new route to travel. (I fear all connections becoming severed after a day's worth of listening to this crap).

Yeah, the song's drum and bass loop has Casio ToneBank written all over it. I had one as a kid, and among its canned loops was an instrumental version of Rick Astley's "Together Forever". Man, I miss that keyboard...

The vocals are incredibly awful; there's nary an ounce of talent to be found here. But, I am kind of enjoying those synth-horn stabs at the beginning. (And that acapella break at ~2:00! Are those hand-claps or finger snaps?)

And what's the lyric at ~1:40, just before the "yowsah, yowsah, yowsah"?

That's "Rumba and tango, latin hustle too".

Time: 20:00 (8:00 PM)
Playcount: 176

I'm over most of my annoyance, right now I'm just.. fairly indifferent to the song. I suspect that if someone were to switch to a different song I would not even notice.. probably a wrong suspicion though.

ENTRY #4

TIME: 12:07am
PLAYCOUNT: 44
TOLERANCE METER: surprisingly, still low (picture an old integrated amp, and I'm hanging out somewhere between 0.01 and 0.1Ω on the "output level").

After listening to this song 40+ times, I've started to pay particular attention to the subtle nuances of the piece; specifically, the instrumentation. There's actually quite a lot going on within this song - synth, flute, marimba, guitar, bongos, horns (trumpet?) - it's a virtual disco zoo, and the caged animals have been released!

The lyrics are bloody terrible, especially the part that goes "Latin Hustle too-oooo!" (thanks Stephan. Listen close for the harmonies on the "too" - it's magical.)

I find myself occasionally dancing along (and by "dancing", I mean a sporadic arm-jerk and head-bob every once in a while).

Overall, I'm having a good time with Chic.

Hahaha you guys are doing very well. Now I'll play this song on my ipod to hear just what it is you've been listening to(I guess I've had that song on there for about a year - playcount:0)

ENTRY #5

TIME: 12:49pm
PLAYCOUNT: 55
TOLERANCE METER: low-to-moderate; needle fluctuates, but mostly remains near the left

Nearing 60 plays, and I fear I've entered the beginnings of a slow descent into the abyss. (Case in point: each time the song ends, I'm hoping that something different will begin playing). I'm still not even close to throwing in the towel, but some Radiohead or Oasis would be a nice breath of fresh air right about now.

That overdubbed "yowsah, yowsah, yowsah" line reeks of gimmick. I suppose it's the result of a genre so homogenous that they needed a distinguishing feature in the song that people would remember.

My favorite instrumental parts are the funky rhythm guitar (a clean tone; I'm thinking Stratocaster) and the descending marimba runs (probably synth). The guy (or gal) rocking the bongos isn't half bad either.

(In a relieving moment of recall, I remembered reading this. Check it out!)

Time: 21:02 (9:02 PM)
Playcount: 192

Time is passing really slowly right now, and the song is really really boring. I know when every bit of lyric will come, I know when they'll change up the instrumentation a little bit, nothing comes as a surprise except for the ending. The ending still surprises me as the song seems to be endless. I'm now completely understanding the guy saying those few seconds between songs are great. Because they are. Really, I don't think I'll put Miles Davis on when I'm finished tonight, or even Bob Dylan. Silence will be golden.

ENTRY #6

TIME: 1:46pm
PLAYCOUNT: 70
TOLERANCE METER: low-to-moderate

The name of the game has temporarily changed. No longer is it "what is this song doing for me?", it's "what can I do for this song?". So... I picked up my guitar, declared myself an honorary member of Chic, and started vamping and soloing along - adding my own bluesy flavor to an otherwise delicious mixture.

The song is based in a minor key (Fm and Gm are the predominant chords); typically, songs based on a minor key scale sound sad or forlorn, but this one sounds joyous and uplifiting, which I've decided is a result of the ascending synth and horn runs and the tribal-esque drum beat. I suppose the dance-inspired lyrics help too. Which raises the question: is there such a thing as a sad disco song?

(Also, I've decided that this song could really benefit from some scat singing, or perhaps some beatbox. Like the PSP guy says: "Reeee-mixxxxx!")

In all honesty though, I played along on my guitar once before putting it back on the stand. Chic doesn't deserve my talents. Also noteworthy: every so often, I'm bursting into fits of uncontrollable laughter (attributable to a combination of reading Stephan's posts, the nauseating awfulness of this song, and the question of "what the f%&k are we doing???)

Time: 21:59 (9:59 PM)
Playcount: 208

That is a good question, and I'm actually laughing as well now. This is indeed completely insane. I celebrated the 200th play of the song by turning it up very loud, which promptly lead to complaints and (from my parents) some sounds of recognition. My mother apparently bought this song as as single. Completely insane, I'm telling you. Who in his/her right mind would listen to this song out of free will is beyond me.

Time: 22:57 (9:57 PM)
Playcount: 224

2 hours to go and can't really find anything else to do but aimlessly click around on some websites, walk around in my room and listening to this song. I've got nothing left to do, and nothing to keep my mind off of the song. I now hate every single moment in the song, as I cannot longer ignore it. I fear the song will keep playing when I press stop.. but no worries, it'll be a very long and excruciating 2 hours before that!

Will keep playing in my head, that is.

ENTRY #7

TIME: 3:09pm
PLAYCOUNT: 94
ANNOYANCE METER: low-to-moderate (closer to moderate)

(I just realized... my tolerance of this song - up to, and including this point anyway - is rather high, and conversely, my annoyance is low. Therefore, please note the above change.)

So, since my last entry, I've drank two green tea chai lattes, nibbled at a hangnail, blanked-out for about 10 minutes while staring at my left speaker, eaten some grapes, and thumbed through the latest issue of Blender magazine. All in all, this is turning out to be one productive Family Day.

I'm quickly approaching the 100 mark here, and the song has gone from being unobtrusive background noise to painfully irritating.

And maybe I'm just hallucinating here, but there's a few notes at the end that remind me of the intro to Weezer's "Falling For You" (from Pinkerton). It's creating a false sense of excitement. Damn you notes! DAMN YOU!!!

OMG
I'm listening to the song
During the first seconds you can think it's good, the bass/drums intro then the guitar are not so bad, they're groovy, but as soon as the strings and the vocals come, I'm starting to feel sympathy for you
Those vocals...

Oh guys, I give you all my respect
I don't know if I should call what you're doing crazy, fun or stupid, but you're very brave because I don't think I could do such a thing, even with my favourite.
Aren't afraid to loose your love for music for ever ?

I'm listening to the song right now. It's a long version I found on Youtube. It's horrible, but I might be interested in trying to do a thing like this later this week. My girlfriend and my son is going away to celebrate the birthday of a great-grandmother, and I'll be home alone. That way, I can do this without annoying the hell out of them, only myself.

If I do it, I will turn the difficulty up one level, and play an even worse song for 24 hours straight, while being hungover.

Time: 0:04 (0:04 AM)
Playcount: 241

I am really counting down the songs, the minutes and the "dance"'s left now. 15 songs, 56 minutes and 705 times "dance" remaining. 16 hours, I am quite proud of myself. I will never ever do this again if it's not for some good money though.

"I know when every bit of lyric will come, I know when they'll change up the instrumentation a little bit, nothing comes as a surprise except for the ending. The ending still surprises me as the song seems to be endless." Boy, it's scary and comic at the same time!

Guys, I'm really admired by your determination... You must be now passing for the most brutal test of inner strenght of your whole lives!

ENTRY #8

TIME: 4:41pm
PLAYCOUNT: 119
ANNOYANCE METER: moderate (on a scale of 1-10, a 5.8/5.9, maybe 6.0)

Seven-plus hours in and the war of attrition continues.

Oddly, at times, the song seems to increase in tempo, even though I know no such change is happening. I think the "chug-a-chug-a" beat is screwing with my perception.

At this point, my honest evaluation of this song is that it's shit. I can only believe that its acclaim is for being era-defining; there is nothing else positive to say about this song.

(This would make for a great celebrity charity event - $2/minute or something like that).

The descent into madness continues...

I think Stephan's brother is right.

Time: 1:03
Playcount: 256

I have finally stopped the music, and the silence is indeed golden. The beat only lingered in my mind for a few seconds, which is a good thing for me but says something about the quality of the song. I can't say it's the worst song ever made (although it would probably be in my top 10 wost songs just because of this day) but it's definitely not very good either.

It's been a fairly dull day, but a memorable challenge it certainly was. And remarkably, it was a very productive one for studying as well. Anthony, good luck on the remaining hours. I'll read your experiences tomorrow, because it's now time for silence and sleep.

Good night folks.

P.s. yes Rocky, he probably is. Still, I'm glad I gave it a try, now I know never to do it again.

Ze Diary of Me, Sadly Over-belatedly
Entry 1
Time: 2:30 A.M.
Plays so far: 6

I was too depressed this weekend to listen to anything other than Big Star's "Third/Sister Lovers," and thus regretfully delayed my part in our agreement.

And I also ended up going to sleep at 7-8 A.M. on every day, after not being able to sleep at night at all. So no luck even with 9 A.M...

I am now finally listening. RUMBA AND TANGO! YAWSEH YAWSEH YAWSEH! I wanna boogie with you.

Sorry for taking so long. I'll keep you updated.

ENTRY #9

TIME: 5:41pm
PLAYCOUNT: 136
ANNOYANCE METER: moderate-to-high (6.5 to 7.0 out of 10).

As I'm writing this, the song has just finished and that brief moment of silence is indeed a beautiful thing. But then the drums kick in again, and I'm struck by a strange feeling that evokes a reaction of half laughing, and half crying inside - almost as if I'm all at once acknowledging its presence, yet surprised and disappointed at the same time. (I may just cry before the night is through).

133 plays in, and I've discovered a new instrument - a sprinkling of notes played on the upper register of a piano - but only within the first minute or so of the song; after which, it can be heard no longer. It's like the piano track was sacrificed for the sake of additional vocal tracks. It's also entirely possible that I may be hearing things that aren't there.

(Websites have become my lone friend in this endeavour. Recent stumblings include a journey through the Stride gum website; I've been eating this gum exclusively for the past week, and I'm fascinated by the "proprietary sweetener encapsulation" technology that they have discovered. It's really just a fancy way of saying "longer lasting flavour", but this gum's flavor does really last a long time, and one has to wonder why this innovation has just been discovered now, and not 20 years ago).

ANTHONY, LET'S DAAAAANCE DAAAAAAANCE DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANCE

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 2
Time: 3:41 A.M.
Plays so far: 26

At the moment, I can either try to ignore it, or get lost in its wacky stupidity. The latter is fun!

ENTRY #10

TIME: 6:45pm
PLAYCOUNT: 153
ANNOYANCE METER: needle momentarily shot into the red, but now sits comfortably at 5.0 (out of 10).

Around play #140, my consciousness wanted the madness to end. As if I was being manipulated by a power not my own, the mouse pointer moved slowly towards the pause button on iTunes, but at the last second, my hand quickly shot back. A near disaster was averted.

Then, a complete 180...

Shortly after, the song began to feel like a warm blanket, and was actually satisfying. I even found myself busting a move in my kitchen. Two words immediately came to mind: Stockholm syndrome.

Now, the song is irritating again. Like Stephan noted previously (around the same number of playcounts), all I can hear is "dance, dance dance" - and boy, I'd love to hear something different. Some distorted guitar crunch would really go down smooth right now.

I'm not sure how much longer I can take this...

Hang in there, Anthony.

Heh, can you actually still dance to it anymore if you try?

ENTRY #11

TIME: 6:58pm
PLAYCOUNT: 157
ANNOYANCE METER: 8.0 (out of 10).

A new low. I tried to dance, but my brain isn't buying it. I can almost hear its smug voice say "are you f&%ing kidding me?"

I feel like I'm in a police interrogation room; the lamp's in my face and I'm sweating profusely. Ready to breakdown at any second...

Sweating? "Oh, what a treat, feels so sweet, ah, that body heat"...

This is awesome! I actually quite like this song, but I can see it getting annoying after awhile.

My record for repeated continuous listens to a song is about 60, and the singing stayed in my mind for hours afterward...

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 3
Time: 4:45 A.M.
Plays so far: 42

I'm not noticing the song anymore, but when I do, I force myself to jump around to it for a bit.

ENTRY #12

TIME: 7:55pm
PLAYCOUNT: 172
ANNOYANCE METER: 5.0 (out of 10).
INDIFFERENCE METER: 10.0 (out of 10).

I'm done.

After 172 plays (~10.5 hours) of Chic's "Dance Dance Dance", I just desperately wanted to hear something else. My annoyance decreased (although, the song was still mildly irritating), but my indifference reached a plateau whereby I could see myself continuing to listen to it, but why bother?

Regardless, I couldn't go on any further, so my sincerest kudos go out to Stephan, who was able to listen to it 84 more times than I was (which equals a whole lotta' "yowsah"'s). Well done, friend.

This was fun - I've never done anything like this before. Would I do it again? Sure, if the price is right. Did I learn anything from this? Apart from the psychological aspect (ie. the fluctuating stages of happiness, annoyance and indifference - which may or may not be linear - I'd need more data in order to draw any reasonable conclusions) I really can't take anything away from this that I didn't already know. I'm not a fan of disco, nor am I much of a fan of repeated exposure to any one thing. You know what they say about variety...

Fwiw, the first song I chose to listen upon waving the white flag was "Is There a Ghost" by Band of Horses.

Those opening arpeggio guitar notes were wonderful on the ears.

Perhaps there will be some entertaining Pavlovian side effect if someone on the forum types "yowsah"!

Moonbeam - lol. If there is, I'd probably have to hear it for there to be any response. And the response would either be laughing, crying, or running away.

I hope this doesn't forever tarnish your image of Chic, not that I know what that image was before this whole extravaganza. They have some top notch songs, the best of which I think is "I Want Your Love", which probably would have made for a much more enjoyable experience.

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 4
Time: 6:00 A.M.
Plays so far: 62

Squeak squeak squeak! I still like the squeaky bits in the song. But the lyrics aren't as funny anymore.

Daaaance daaaance daaaaance...

Nah. I think their best is "Everybody Dance." I think they say the word dance less in that song.

A dormmate and I once tried to see how many times we could blast Human League's "Fascination" in a row, before the rest of the dorm tried to kill us... We didn't last too long.

Relating to Schwah's story, I was kinda subjected to a similar experiment back in 2000 while I studied in Mexico. One of my suitemates was OBSESSED with a song that was terrible enough to begin with, but after 6 continuous hours of it blasting through the speakers, it quickly became one of my bottom 10 songs ever.

Behold the amazing heights of awfulness achieved by this:

Hey, I would've figured you'd enjoy Aqua, Moonbeam. No? They're like Roxette, but more fun!

Moonbeam, that song left me speechless. How can anyone listen to that once, let alone so much?

(I'm going to sleep. Everything seems like masochism now.)

Roxette for chipmunks, at a very long stretch, Anthony! Aqua is deplorable on every level. Roxette may be uber-cheesy, but they crafted songs, not sonic torture!

Well said, Moonbeam.

(Just between friends, I listened to "Joyride" the other day; not just the song - the entire album. I forgot how deliciously catchy those songs are!)

Ah... Joyride- cotton candy for the ears. "Fading Like a Flower" and "Spending My Time" rock my socks, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I used to get down to "Hot Blooded" and "Soul Deep".

You probably won't believe this Anthony, but guess what I put on this morning (last night silence was all I needed) when I woke up? It wasn't Dylan, it wasn't Davis, I went for something recent and it wasn't The National. It was "Is There A Ghost"! Heh, I think you've turned me into a fan.

Too bad you didn't make it, reading your posts I know exactly how you felt. The indifference was indeed quite hard, but I made it through it. Kudos to you too for making it all the way to 184.

Actually, Stephan, I only made it to 172 (you managed to endure 84 more plays). Well done. I think we both deserve a pat on the back, right?

After I stopped the song, I immediately started to search for something to get the disco flavor out of my mouth. I needed something that 1) was pure melody and 2) rocked like a son of a b#$%. "Is There a Ghost" was the perfect remedy. (For good measure, I ended up listening to the entire album). That's strange that you chose the exact same song!

Glad to hear you enjoying BoH. (I think Andre was becoming a fan too).

Oh, my bad. I wrote that message rather fast because I had to catch a bus. Still, 172 is quite a feat as well and we do indeed both deserve a pat.

I think it's interesting we both experienced the same feelings around the same playcount, I suppose that's the only useful thing we can get out of this horrid idea.

"Cease To Begin" has moved into my top 150 and is currently my third album of 2007, and when the time comes to make a new songlist I'll definitely include "Is There A Ghost".

Yeah, I think if there was more data, we'd possibly see some patterns emerge. For example, if 10 or 20 people took part in something like this (even if each had a different song), I think it's possible that those people would all experience the same feelings around the same time (eg. happiness, frustration, annoyance, back to mild happiness, complete irritation, etc.) Well, it's a theory anyway.

As for Band of Horses, do you know which song has grown on me? "Islands on the Coast". I overlooked it the first, oh, 50 or so times I listened to the album - it didn't really make an impression. But now, I'm really enjoying it. My top 5 from "Cease to Begin":

1. Ode to LRC
2. Cigarettes, Wedding Bands
3. Detlef Shrempf
4. Is There a Ghost
5. Islands on the Coast

But if we're talking about favorite BoH songs, then "Funeral" and "Great Salt Lake" would be up there.

A dormmate and I once tried to see how many times we could blast Human League's "Fascination" in a row, before the rest of the dorm tried to kill us... We didn't last too long.

Crazy coincidence. A buddy of mine would just sample and loop that ultra-annoying synth part. It will drive you insane.

And I feel the need to defend Chic, too. "Dance Dance Dance" isn't all that good, but Moonbeam is right about "I Want Your Love". (Not to mention "Good Times", which is pretty much faultless.)

Any song will become horrible with that many consecutive repeat plays though, I will argue.

Right. I've often been the person that fails at something, and then gets really stubborn and makes a comeback.

I've decided to listen to the song for 1000 times.

Let's see how that goes...

Over what kind of time period? (and you're crazy by the way)

This week! All of it. Non-stop DAANCE DAAANCE DAAANCE.

I recovered my iPod today. Yay. So now I can listen all the time.

And yes! Crazy and always looking to drive myself crazier.

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 5
Time: 9:07 A.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during this round: 20

So far so good. The effects of listening to it yesterday seem to have half-faded.

DAAANCE DAAAAAAANCE DAAAAAAAAANCE

err, P.M. not A.M. obviously

And by "yesterday," I mean the time when I was awake before I went to sleep.

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 6
Time: 11:07 A.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during this round: 50

I found a great way to not be annoyed by the song. Basically, it involves me taking it on as my theme song! And it works great!

*sighs*

correction:

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 6
Time: 11:00 P.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during this round: 50

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 7
Time: 12:04 A.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during this round: 67

The theme song novelty is lost and gone. I'm trying to perceive it as a soulful song instead.

But I'm in a way better mood than I was in last night.

Wait, there's a song called "Detlef Schrempf"? He was one of my favorite basketball players!

Yeah man. Track 4 on "Cease to Begin". It's a great song.

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 7
Time: 1:00 A.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during this round: 82

I started enjoying the song again for a while when I started listening to it on the iPod, because it sounded slightly different. And started daaaaaancing and kept on doin' it. Well, for a few minutes there.

I'm still not minding it at the moment, though. Gotten used to it. And I keep telling people I wanna boogie with them.

Gah. Every second post, I seem to make a mistake somewhere.

I meant Entry 8

Wait, there's a song called "Detlef Schrempf"? He was one of my favorite basketball players!

I was looking at that song title a couple of days ago and wondering where they came up with such an unusual title, now I know. Thanks Moonbeam.

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 9
Time: 2:00 A.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during this round: 98

The song has taken control of me. I actually like it more right now that I've ever liked it before, and I intend to listen to Chic's other hits once this is over.

So either I'm losing the precious remains of my sanity, or I'm going through something temporary.

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 10
Time: 3:07 A.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during this round: 114

The answer to my recent dilemma seems to have been "both."

I'm forgetting the song is there. My perception of it has turned it into a weary song, like everyone was tired and pretending to be good when they made it.

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 11
Time: 4:07 A.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during this round: 130

I'm trying to recover that alien sci-fi feel that I had imposed on my experience of the song.

Makes me imagine all sorts of wacky outer space plots. Usually it's about some bar somewhere on a spaceship where the ET's are gonna listen to "The Hustle" afterwards.

Of course, it's all done with style.

I think this thread can be the prime example of when Acclaimedmusic.net jumped the shark when it comes to music geekery.

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 12
Time: 5:00 A.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during this round: 154

I'm gonna try to go to sleep now, iPod headphones on my ears. Will probably take me hours to actually fall asleep, but I'm turning the computer off all the same.

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 13
Time: 2:04 P.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during this round: 248

Oh man...

After 5:00 A.M., I started walking around in the kitchen, having headaches, my brain melting from the song. Life felt so unreal.

Then, for a short time, I went through the whole spectrum of human emotions. I felt anger, sadness, happiness, disgust, surprise, gratitude; hell, even ecstacy - you name it, I felt it. At points, I was dancing and singing to it again.

By 7:00 A.M. (184 listens at that point), I had inexplicably started to believe the song was my favorite song of all time.

That passed too, but later than I expected. I turned down the volume on the iPod slightly, though, and was suddenly glad the experience had changed. Now the song felt a little bit more, uh, quiet. Such a profound difference excited me.

So I kept walking around, trying to mess with my perception of the song, pretending it was an introspective ballad or something, while thinking of things varied and many.

It wasn't long before I decided to finally hit the sack. So I went into bed at about 8:00 A.M., song still playing, and by that point I was regarding the song as an old friend, and wasn't irked by it anymore at all. Much of the time, I didn't even notice it there, and when I did, I nodded my head to the beat.

Still, with that thing ringing in my ears, I wasn't able to sleep.

So there I was, in bed, still listening, tired but content, until 11:00 A.M., when I decided to take a shower.

Of course, taking the iPod with me into the shower didn't seem like the best of ideas, so I decided not to do it.

So that's where Round 2 ended for me. 248 listens up to that point.

Then I had lunch. Although I hadn't had breakfast, so maybe it was actually breakfast. Then again, given the bizarreness of my sleeping patterns (if you can call something totally random a "pattern"), I'm thinking it was dinner, technically.

And now I'm back. Weehoo. I'm afraid of starting up the song again. Really afraid. But here it goes anyway. I'm not going to go more insane than I already am, right?

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 14
Time: 2:36 P.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during Round 2: 248
Plays during this round: 2

Just 2 listens in, and I'm sleepy and drowsy and this song is the last thing I needed, haha.

I feel like in this Flash movie.

great ! You are a storyteller.
So you beat the record hand downs

Hey, Sinder Velvin but where are you from ? Baltic countries ? Romania ? Ukraine ? Bulgaria ? Greece ? Turkey ?
I know I'm a curious guy that's why I'm in charge of this demogeographic thread but you have the right to remain silent
Looks like the European AM section is expanding to the East and that's fine by me !

Yeah. I'm from Romania. I wish I was British. I have a British accent!



I've always wanted to use that emoticon. Now seemed like the most horrible time possible.

ok, thank you Sir Sinder Velvin !
where the hell do you find all of these emoticons ?

When you make a post, there's that More Smilies thing, to the right of the smilies. Just choose a category and look around.

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 15
Time: 3:36 P.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during Round 2: 248
Plays during this round: 18

I am a flying fish. My jaws make a "vroooooooooooom" sound. I like coconuts very much.

You should all be sectioned. Although it sounds like what you've been through is enough.

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 16
Time: 4:36 P.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during Round 2: 248
Plays during this round: 22

Not much to report this hour. I had to take a break to see if I could make an appointment to the doctor (no, not because of the song; its physical symptoms will show up a bit later, I believe).

By now, though, the song is maddening. I just want to crawl into a corner and never hear another sound again.

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 17
Time: 5:36 P.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during Round 2: 248
Plays during this round: 38

grhhhhhhhubbbbbbaghfafhiawegfdischad

fdzsfsa

bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb...

(my death gasp? hopefully not)

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 18
Time: 6:36 P.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during Round 2: 248
Plays during this round: 54

I actually started dancing again at some point, in a way that was authentically disco, but I wasn't really conscious of what was going on. It's what I've chosen to call the "disco coma phenomenon."

I'm also starting to doubt that the song really exists. Or maybe I'm the one who doesn't exist. Perhaps I am merely a figment of the song's imagination. Yes, that rather makes sense.

Almost... 400...

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 19
Time: 7:36 P.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during Round 2: 248
Plays during this round: 70

I'm starting to have hallucinations.

Luckily, I just have to hang on to life for a little bit more.

Ze Diary of Me
Entry 20
Time: 8:50 P.M.
Plays during Round 1: 64
Plays during Round 2: 248
Plays during this round: 90
Total: 402

I feel like I've taken a lot of drugs. I feel out of this world. This has been such a strange experience.

And I'm glad I tried it out.

I could go on for, say, another 100 listens. I'm actually starting to half-like the song all over again, even if it really hardly registers to my brain anymore.

Heck, I'd go as far as the proposed 1000 listens (a number which was regretted as soon as it was written, heh). If only it meant something. Like saving someone's life, or feeding hungry people, or anything worthwhile.

But it doesn't.

All I'd be doing would be to screw myself up. Which is fun, but gets old fast.

So yeah. This is the end for me.

Thank you, and good night.

And just remember... to...

DAAAAAAANCE DAAAAAAAAANCE DAAAAAAAAAAAAAANCE...

P.S. I never liked the silence in the song. I always liked the beginning, because hearing it meant I had lasted through yet another listen. And the "YAWSEH YAWSEH YAWSEH" ended up being my favorite part, merely for the fact that it doesn't get repeated.

(And I have truly gained an appreciation for the ability to listen to something just once.)