It was the beginning of
spring break, and I drove to my mother's house to spend a few days. She had already left for work when I arrived, so I had the house all to myself for the day. I had brought my last hit of
acid with me, and proceeded to consume it -- there was no way I was going to just store it in the freezer. "Son, what's this piece of paper doing here? Oh, look at that pretty little cartoon on it! Seems a shame to just throw it away..."
I did the hit, but fell asleep soon after, for about a half hour -- I had gotten up early to make the drive, and the loss of sleep caught up with me. I woke up to McHale's Navy on the TV, and spent the next while just channel surfing, stopping here and there for a change of pace.
At the peak part of the trip, I was in the mood for some music. I had my nylon-string guitar with me, and just randomly played a bit. Then I played the opening part of "Lucifer Sam", but had a hankerin' to hear the real thing -- I could almost hear, in my head, "Lucifer Sam" and "Interstellar Overdrive", and "Pow R Toc H" playing for real. Almost. Unfortunately, my records were back in the dorm. I played the piano for a few minutes, but it couldn't quite compare to the sound of old Pink Floyd.
As I was coming down, I went to the kitchen to make some pancakes. Wanting to hear some music, my only recourse was to grab a portable AM/FM radio and plop it on the counter. It was tuned to the local "Mix foo" FM station, so I left it there and got on with the pancakes. At some point, they played a Sheena Easton song, I guess it was the theme for some James Bond film. It sounded great. Sweet 3-D sounds filled the kitchen, emanating from this tiny radio.
I didn't become a Sheena fan-for-life, and I've never heard the song since that day -- it was all just one of those "set and setting" things that Timothy Leary used to harp on about. Under the right circumstances, anything can sound great. It doesn't even need drugs to make it work -- whatever great thing is going on will color your experience of the music, if that great thing is great enough; it can be a great acid trip, or the love of a loved one, or driving down the interstate on a road trip with the stereo blazing. The music might suck for you if it's just a dry listen, but it can sound like the greatest thing in the world, if only for a Sheena moment.