PhD in Laid Back Beats, With a Minor in Kickin' It
So as I listen to the new Air CD I can't help but think of how Air is like college life. Stick with me on this one and it'll all be made clear.
So first up comes your freshman year (i.e. Moon Safari). This first experience is new and exciting. You're full of great new ideas and ready to learn and grow. During this first year you work your ass off and are still concerned with the whole GPA thing. The first year is so full of new experiences that it seems to go on forever, but in a good way. It's a great time for all and memorable.
Next we move into the sophmore phase (i.e. Premiers Symptomes). Here you still have some of that energy and spunk from freshman year, but without quite the extreme work ethic as before. Hence you're left with a shorter version of everything. There's a drop in the creativitty and originality as you begin to fall into the college lifestyle. It's still a good time, but not quite as unique as the first year.
Then come junior year (i.e. The Virgin Suicides Soundtrack) you decide that you need a change, so you fool around with your major. Or better yet you head off for a semester/year abroad. You experience new things, new places, new people, and sort of relive your youthful freshman days, but with a slightly different view of it all.
Finally we come around the bend to senior year (i.e. 10,000 Hz Legend). This is your final year, so you're either bunrt out or just don't really care anymore. You're already looking ahead to the places you'll go and looking back at the times you've had. You're looking just about everywhere except towards your classes. Sure you still get by, but it's not quite up to par with the first couple years. In some cases you get so lax that you even need an extra semester or two to make up for the work you've missed (i.e. Everbody Hurtz). Finally you do get through it all though, and man does it feel good to be finished. But then you get a little ways down the road and...
Grad school! That's right! A couple years out in the real world and you begin to see what things are really like and you long for those innnocent college days, plus you realize you need more schooling or better direction, so you head back for some post graduate work (i.e. Talkie Walkie). Here in grad school you're re-energized and ready to work hard. But grad school isn't just about class like normal college. No, in grad school you do research and experiment. You're rekindled love of learning brings you to new depths of knowledge and maturity. Maybe it's not quite as amazing as your freshman year, but there's something about the colaboration of aquired knowledge, life experiences, and a renewed vigor for education that leads you to something that's almost better.
So there you have it. Air can very easily be paralelled with the college system. And I think we can all learn a very important lesson from all of this: The new Air CD is quite good (almost as good as Moon Safari) so you should go out and give it a listen. Oh, and try not to slack off senior year, those extra semesters can be killer on the wallet. Insted just go off and find some grad school to pay you to learn more. I mean it seems to have worked for my roommates.