Audio Torture

There are many things about this hotel that remind me of the hotel from the 1980 movie The Shining. Long often empty corridors, tall ceilings and echoing silence broken only by the presence of Muzak or elevator music piped into hallways, restaurant and, of course, elevators. Last night and this morning as I sat in La Terrasse (“... a French Brasserie style restaurant offering a range of international cuisine from a buffet which is open very early and closes very late....”) my torture began with “bland instrumental arrangements” of Lionel Richie’s Endless Love, The Thompson Twins’ Hold Me Now and Strawberry Fields Forever by the Beatles.

Now, torture is a strong word but there is something about being in this majestic hotel in Kolkata, India that evokes such a reaction in me. I don’t really understand it but I fear that these sounds could spell certain doom for me in the future.

I am sure that many before me have questioned what makes anyone think that any human enjoys this music. Since it is not generally heard in a place where people are expected to join in with their own voice, ala Karaoke, it seems odd to abuse one’s patrons with this not-so easy listening music as opposed to other instrumentals from any number of cultures or genres (my personal favorite being ambient music). Even odder to me is hearing these dated, western tunes, without their lyrics, in a world that couldn’t be further from the culture of the originals.