Nature Sounds

Waiting at a stoplight on the way back to my house, my ear became transfixed on the sound of a flock of parrots. Yes, that's right, parrots. It turns out that someone in my neighborhood trains parrots and every so often, if you get the timing right, you'll find yourself mesmerized by the bird song. Oblivious to this at the time, my mind filled with wonderment at the sound. It was uncharacteristic of the soundscape I've grown accustomed to in the past six years of residing in my town, yet, it was not threatening or overwhelming. I can attribute this to the fact that I was aware that the sound was coming from birds since it was familiar. However, I was perplexed by my dire impulse to see the sound's source. I immediately began to search for the source of the sound. Being that the parrot's color camouflaged perfectly with the green leaves of the trees lining the street, I was unable to access the origins of my curiosity. To my surprise, I was ailed by my failure to identify what was responsible for the sound. Ironically, the sound was beautiful, yet, my mind was consumed by the overwhelming urge to see the sound to the extent that the my sight took precedence over my hearing.
Of course, I could relate this to the hierarchy of the senses in Western culture, but I couldn't help but wonder, why did I have feelings of uneasiness even when the sound was pleasing to my ear and I knew it was coming from parrots?
This made me think about the realm of the record. Since recordings offer us a work of art and a history, maybe we have become nostalgic for something natural, something that brings us back to life. The only way to know a sound is authentic in the realm of the record, is to see the source. The source is proof of something real, unplanned and unintended for recording.