Liner Notes

Soundscape #99: Hell Is (Not Really) Other People

“Dress to impress”
“You get only 1 chance to make a good first impression”

Hugo. Untitled, 2007.

These clichés have permeated our social consciousness so thoroughly that a lack of a sense of occasion is now considered rude. We all know how important it is to look the part, especially when it comes to that important job interview and the like. It’s almost a social contract of sorts that we blend in with the rest of the people around us.

But why are we really giving so much weight to what people think of us? While it’s true that no man is an island, we do not exactly have to live exclusively by other people’s rules. We all know what it’s like to live up to our parents’ expectations (thankfully, my parents had given up a while back) but there are still other subtler rules by which we live.

Now, I’m not advocating that we throw it all to the winds and be anarchists (if you think about it, defying all the rules is in fact a rule in itself). But we do give ourselves a harder time than we really ought to. Take a look at the figure below:

I came across this article the other day and I think it’s a sad but true fact that people really almost always “mostly care about themselves.”

Sartre once said that Hell is other people but now I’m not so sure.

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Playlist:
1. (0:00) Modest Mouse – The World At Large (Good News For People Who Love Bad News)
2. (4:34) The Clientele – Step Into The Light (Strange Geometry)
3. (8:35) Portishead - Strangers (Dummy)
4. (12:33) The White Stripes – Little People (S/T)
5. (14:55) William Shatner – Common People (Has Been)
6. (17:14) Franz Ferdinand - Walk Away (You Could Have It So Much Better)
7. (20:50) The National – Mistaken For Strangers (Boxer)
8. (24:22) Beirut - Cherbourg (The Flying Club Cup)
9. (27:58) Okkervil River - Plus Ones (The Stage Names)
10. (31:41) M. Ward – Look Me Over (Duet For Guitars #2)
11. (35:49) The New Year – Stranger To Kindness (The End Is Near)
12. (38:33) Yo La Tengo – I Heard You Looking (Painful)