Dope smoker asks for an enormous amount of trust from the listener in a time of increasingly shorter attention spans. My initial reaction was resistance. Not because of the length but because of the style and essence of the music. in the intro its fuzzy guitar drones on for what feels like an eternity. Once the drums and bass kick in it feels ritualistic attempting to pull the listen down to a low vibrational guttural feeling. This is created by the repetitive driving nature of the piece.
My experience while listening to this was difficult. As I tried to do my best to embody it I came to realize that embodiment is partly optional. although it was inevitable to be effected by the tone to a degree I did not let myself fully surrender to the music. This was because in the moment I was not fully willing to go there. For the discomfort and uneasiness of the piece, if fully embraced I thought might leave me in a bleak or dark place. When it comes to embodying music it requires your mind and body to be in agreement to embrace a particular experience. If they are not, there is a discomfort as well as a disconnect created.
When the guitar riff is exposed on it’s own then the following vocals come in, it manages to capture the sliver of trust in me that remains towards the song. But then it loses me again when I find it continues to stay on one track in mostly one chord, freezing me in time with it. The question of how one is meant to listen to this piece in one sitting boggles me, since they do not earn my trust with taking me somewhere worthwhile. The imaginary scene in my mind is a band of angry men in a hot boxed base-meant smelling of weed and cigarettes indulging in their angst with no pre planned sheet music.
Though I did’t enjoy the music it was an interesting experience to have to sit through because in doing so it forced me to perceive the relationship between embodiment and acceptance. I believe this isn’t a coincidence but rather a human feature which helps us to not absorb and embody anything and everything that comes our way in this dense auditory world.
In the end to me it didn’t redeem itself. I was left craving something melodic to shift me out of the stagnant negative feeling it left behind. I put on some Erykah Badu and groove out with easy embodiment.