Musical Stranger

I don't know why but strangers often feel that they can strike up a conversation with me.

Sometimes it's people at a gig who just want a chat while waiting to use the toilet, sometimes it's somebody in a shop who wants to know if I have any experience with the item they're holding and once it was a mysterious lady on the bus who wore sunglasses and gave me advice on how to change my privacy settings on Facebook to better suit my needs.

And then, sometimes, it's just completely random strangers at completely random times.

For example, I was waiting at Tara Street DART station for a train home one evening when a man in his late twenties stumbled onto the platform, holding a six-pack of beers.

He wasn't badly drunk, just inebriated enough to wobble a bit when he walked, and to discuss things with strangers.

A perfect place to forge new friendships

The guy looks up and makes eye contact with me.

Suddenly, his face breaks into a big grin and he lurches quickly over to me.

"Hey, do you listen to HIM?"

In complete fairness to this guy, I look like someone who listens to HIM and, yes, I do actually listen to the Finnish band fronted by Ville Valo from time to time.

"Yeah," I told him. "I like them."

"Have you heard the new song?" he asked me. "The new one? It's called 'All Lips Go Blue'."

I smiled at him and shook my head.
Like most people, I'm not a big fan of talking to unfamiliar faces, but I also don't want to be unfriendly to someone who may just be drunk and harmless.

"Not yet man," I told him.

I hadn't really listened to anything on the Tears On Tape album yet but it had been out about a year by the time this story takes place and, although 'All Lips Go Blue' was the last single released from the album, it was hardly the "new song" by the band.

That didn't halt this guy's passion for the song though.

"I was in Finland with a couple of friends last week," he told me, eyes glazing over dreamily at the memory. "One night, we rowed into the middle of the lake and one guy turned the song on. He just picked up his iPod and turned it on as we were all sitting there. And the music seemed to glide out over the water. We all just sat there listening. It was amazing."

As I wondered if I should recommend this guy to write a book while drunk, he stared whimsically into space for a moment and then looked back at me.

"It was like getting a virtual high-five," he said in awe.

"That's awesome, I'll have to check it out," I said. "Thanks for the recommendation."

The guy looked at me for a moment, then smiled, held up his hand and I slapped him a non-virtual high-five.

"Take it easy," he told me.

"You too, have a good one."

Then he stumbled down the platform to drink more of his cans.
A young businessman also waiting for the train looked at the guy, then looked back at me and gave me a quizzical smile as if to say "what just happened?"

I shrugged, smiled back at him, and put my headphones back in.

Picture from tatianaf.buzznet.com

That night, I went home and looked up 'All Lips Go Blue' by HIM.
I hadn't been lying to the guy - I hadn't heard it yet and was really glad I gave it a chance.
It stayed one of my favourite songs for a few weeks after that!

So I'd like to thank one of the most useful strangers I ever came across, who offered me both a music recommendation and a high-five.
Thank you unknown man ... wherever you are.