We’ve all played this game. You pick a thing or things that you couldn’t live without if you were stranded on a desert island. You think through a few favorites, maybe considering how your answer may sound to the other person. Then, with the confidence of someone who knows they will probably never be stranded on a desert island, you proudly proclaim your choice. This is met with feigned excitement from the other participants, as if you just showed them a picture of your favorite aunt. Never mind that you just decided what your last connection to the civilized world is, while you’re stuck on A DESERT ISLAND!

Now, as you can imagine, as someone who works in a record store, I have played this game many times with many people. And I can tell you that the majority of those exchanges are met with little more thought than your average 2nd level small talk, from both parties! I am no exception to this crime of social apathy. After all, it’s just a bit of good fun, right? WRONG! Consider the conditions you have presented. You are trapped on a desert island. Meaning, you are in a very lonely, potentially life threatening situation. I would imagine you have two major concerns to address. One being hunger and the other being your sanity. So, we’ve just upped the ante. You are now dying of hunger and losing your mind. You often hear tails of how others caught in this situation kept their mind busy with games or songs. Now, where these stories fall short of our discussion is the fact that they are told by survivors, who have made it off the island. We are talking about being “stuck” on a desert island. You will rarely hear the stories about how singing your favorite song kept you going…for the first year or so, until it eventually drove you absolutely insane!

So, let’s reconsider that desert island pick. It is my belief that you will be best served with things that challenge you. There will be plenty of time to become familiar with whatever music you are stuck with. Why not have something that takes a little while to understand? I’m sure you’ve listened to albums where you hear something different every time. See how far you can take that. Also, what does music sound like, taken completely out of the context of our social environment? We can deny it all we want, but our taste is highly influenced by our environment, and in many ways, a reflection of the person we are trying to portray to others. What happens when we no longer have a need for identity? Will those things that once seemed “hip” all of a sudden seem so absolutely useless? Do you embrace your new surroundings and make the world what you will, of it? Or, do you hold on to all the nostalgia of your former life? I’m sure that answer is different for each person, but I think these questions are important to consider. So, if you’ve read this far, I would imagine you agree that the “Desert Island Pick” is not a subject to be taken lightly. If that is the case, please share with us your well-considered Desert Island Pick. Also feel free to explain your reasoning. If it’s just an album you feel you couldn’t live without, tell us why you couldn’t live without it. After all, you are making what could potentially be one of the most important decisions of your life…hypothetically speaking.