so Gilly!

Like countless victims of the iPhone generation, I can (and sometimes do) wax lyrical about how much I luuuvvvv my utterly essential accessory and how many cool things it does and how it improves my life. Out of respect, I’ll curb my iambic enthusiasm cauz’, yeah I know, it gets really old and boring.

Except (!!) in the 6 months since I launched this blog I never once mentioned any apps so please indulge me, just this once, because it’s an app that so completely captures a universal need.

The application’s tagline goes “Lovin’ that tune? Shazam lets you discover, buy and share the song that is playing.”

For less than $2 I installed and promptly forgot I had Shazam. Until recently, when my son reminded me. We’d bounded off the couch to groove to a cool song accompanying the credits of a film we’d just watched and I said “this is such a great song, I wonder who sings it?” Without skipping a beat he exclaimed “Mommy! Shazam it!” to my perplexed expression he practically shouted “Shazam it! Shazam it!” and grabbed the iPhone (to hand, sadly) and pointed it towards the source of the music (in this case the TV). Within 2 seconds the name of the song and the band appeared on the screen, within 3 we were directed to an iTunes window allowing immediate purchase of the song. Done, dusted, loaded. The next morning I was running to it. And no, I’m not revealing what song.

Turns out Shazam can truly identify EVERYTHING, even early 1950’s Cuban music from an unheard of album (yes, I own such a thing), like magic. It unfailingly spits out the name of the song and artist.

Jogging happily to my newly downloaded song, I tried to pinpoint where my enthusiasm for this gizmo sprang from, and suddenly, it was clear as day: the joy of capturing a fleeting feeling or moment (in this case: a tune) and holding on to it, forever. Whatever the song evokes, you can reach out and grab it, without any restriction, permission or tedium. In nanoseconds, you can satisfy the primal “gimme some of that” urge, best embodied by babies swiping at an older child’s cotton candy or reaching, with every yearning ounce of strength and willpower for those juicy cherries or a shiny toy. If only we allowed ourselves to be more like that, with more things in life, more of the time! You want it? Shazam it! And you too can have it.

Hmmm, so much for not waxing lyrical.

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