They’re a universal symbol that say sorry, you’re busy right now, busy listening to something that’s more important than the outside world, at least for the moment of the song or the album length. Anyone wearing headphones as they walk are letting everyone around them know that the sounds filtering into their aural canals are infinitely more important than the natural sounds around them, the chant of the people on the sidewalk, at bus stops, loudly on cell phones, and out car windows. You know that someone who’s got a pair of them on is not someone to be trifled with. Well, more like it’d take more than just a half-yelled “hey” in their general direction to get their attention, and these days when everyone wants to be noticed and high-strung, ready on a moment’s notice to be called to attention, such a luxury of isolation is something to be respected.

Headphones, technically speaking, are a pair of transducers that receive an electrical signal from a device such as a receiver or, in most cases, a musical player like an iPod or a Walkman, and use small speakers set into some sort of rig that holds them in place in proximity to your ears. The transducers translate electrical signals into audio waves. They can be small buds that you place into the ear, canal buds that are inserted further in the ear, or a larger unit that encompasses a significant portion of the ear, if not all of it. They can be wireless, though more often musically-oriented ones have a direct wire connection between the transducers to the media player. On a more spiritual level, they’re a gateway to another place where the only thing that you notice is the music, the beats the sounds the wordsand the feelings and emotions that are poured into the music. Who hasn’t retreated into the safety of the wolrd that their headphones provide? Who hasn’t wished that they could solely exist in that place between the songs where the outside world can’t compete with the electronic impulses that are translated into a beat, so to speak?

It’s such a common sight that, while highly adaptable and versatile and a general sign of the progress of technology, we still think it no big deal to see someone walking down the street with a pair of headphones on, listening to something. The design’s even be co-opted to be used for hands-free telephone use, so that you can talk on a cellular phone without having to hold the whole phone against the side of your head. Still, the most common application of headphones is for music. Since the invention of the Walkman (technically, the personal stereo) in 1979 for tapes (or even for listening at home with a stereo), we’ve seen some form of headphone in usage for years. What’s that common description of the “stereotypical” child of the 1970’s? In his or her room with Led Zeppelin playing through a bulky pair of headphones plugged into the stereo. Ever see a cheesy made-for-TV theatrical monstrosity with a token “problem child/teen” thrown in there? What’ve they got on besides a terrible haircut and acne?

Headphones around the neck.

Apple’s iPod music player is considered a cultural mainstay as of 2006, and what best defines the “iPod generation” better than that trademark white earbud cord traveling, bright and near-dayglow, from ears to pocket? It’s a sure sign of the sleek little buggers, something that anyone can spot (arguably) from feet away. In comparison, a large set of larger, over-the-head Koss headphones can be a sign of a connection to DJing and hip-hop (it’s easier to hear your music if you’re DJing with a larger set of headphones that will filter out excess outside noise), or they can even be connected with the newer “hipster” crowd and their preening attachment to retro style and symbolism for the sheer sake of it (vinyl-only and giant headphones to let you know that THEY’RE oblivious to the white earbud trend, never mind that those giant ear-speakers of theirs are probably attached to an iPod hidden in their pocket).

Or you could just be one of those people who picks up the most comfortable pair you can get, be they bulky or buds, and damn the connection.

Regardless, no matter how one chooses to display any sort of connection to their musical and cultural choices via headphone fashions, their symbolism is still there. They can be a $10-pair bought from a guy in a magazine shop, or a $50-pair of super-durable multi-tonal hyper sound filter-types with optional wireless connection, they’re all headphones, meant to plug into that Walkman to cut you off. You’re creating your own soundtrack to the world passing by, to the day that is going on around you as you deliver documents as a bike or strolling from the subway to the office, staring out the window of the train or even sitting on a park bench, watching the birds and the street not 20 feet from where you’re sitting.

Hold on, someone’s trying to get my attention, I need to take my headphones off.

Tags: essay, headphones //