Love and Rob
Remembering “Rumblefish”
Rob Sheffield is former radio D. J., as well as an editor and columnist for the Rolling Stones magazine. He stumbled upon a mix tape titled Rumblefish with no songs written on it. At first he referred to it as “just another piece of useless junk that Renee left behind” (Sheffield 643). Renee was his wife whom passed away after they were married for only five years. So as he listens through the tape, he finds himself re-living and relieving the memory of his life with his much loved wife; and each song is related with bittersweet memories. And so he drowns and looses himself into the mix tape.
Thinking back, there were many where I did just that. I would spend hours composing remix tapes and much thoughts would be given for song selection. It wasn’t hard to pick songs for your friends, but it was much harder to select songs for boyfriends or ex-boyfriends. So basically it is best to say that the time you spend on composing mix tapes really depends on who it was intended for, it’s purpose and what type of relationship you had with the individuals. Today, it’s a lot faster and easier and almost effortless to compose a song list, a mix tape is really hard to come by. The use of computers, cds, iPods, etc really cuts down the time to select, listen analysis, record, and download the songs. However, much thought still has to be given to song selection as you still have to interpret and dissect the meaning, hoping that the intended listener can also relate to the significance and meaning of the songs just as you had. We will never know if the Rumblefish mix tape was intended for Rob, but he certainly just went with the flow and tunes into the songs that she had picked out. And so my purpose is to write a rhetorical analysis of Rob’s essay, Rubmblefish. Through Rob’s words and his connections with each song, we will learn how a mix tape can help with one’s grieving process and how memories and music are interconnected in many
Rob Sheffield is former radio D. J., as well as an editor and columnist for the Rolling Stones magazine. He stumbled upon a mix tape titled Rumblefish with no songs written on it. At first he referred to it as “just another piece of useless junk that Renee left behind” (Sheffield 643). Renee was his wife whom passed away after they were married for only five years. So as he listens through the tape, he finds himself re-living and relieving the memory of his life with his much loved wife; and each song is related with bittersweet memories. And so he drowns and looses himself into the mix tape.
Thinking back, there were many where I did just that. I would spend hours composing remix tapes and much thoughts would be given for song selection. It wasn’t hard to pick songs for your friends, but it was much harder to select songs for boyfriends or ex-boyfriends. So basically it is best to say that the time you spend on composing mix tapes really depends on who it was intended for, it’s purpose and what type of relationship you had with the individuals. Today, it’s a lot faster and easier and almost effortless to compose a song list, a mix tape is really hard to come by. The use of computers, cds, iPods, etc really cuts down the time to select, listen analysis, record, and download the songs. However, much thought still has to be given to song selection as you still have to interpret and dissect the meaning, hoping that the intended listener can also relate to the significance and meaning of the songs just as you had. We will never know if the Rumblefish mix tape was intended for Rob, but he certainly just went with the flow and tunes into the songs that she had picked out. And so my purpose is to write a rhetorical analysis of Rob’s essay, Rubmblefish. Through Rob’s words and his connections with each song, we will learn how a mix tape can help with one’s grieving process and how memories and music are interconnected in many
Cited: Sheffield, Rob. “Rumblefish.” How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference with Readings. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin’s, 2012. Print. Sheffield, Rob. “Love is a MIX Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time.” Random House. Crown, Web. 10 July, 2012.