611 good-byes

I had 611 songs on my computer through Ruckus. These songs were both free and perfectly legal.

Sounds too good to be true?

Yup. Because it was too good to be true. Last night I faced the shock a "final notice" from Ruckus. The service had been turned off. I don't know if BU just stopped paying or if the entire company went under, but whatever the reason, I just lost 611 songs. I do not know if this makes it better or worse, but I didn't lose the songs in one go. Instead, they will fade slowly over the next few weeks until nothing is left.

I realize that Mac users never had this privilege to begin with, and are probably laughing at their fellow PC users-- "Ha. Ha. See, now you can't have it either!"

First off, as Damien Rice sang in one of his sad little Irish songs, "you feel it when they take it away." And second, it's always mean to take pleasure in other people's discomfort (i.e. don't laugh because you're entire hard drive will probably crash as a result.)

So, I'll work to gain back my music in the most legal, but cheap, way possible. In the mean time, goodbye Tupac. Goodbye City High, The Fugees, Timbaland, R.Kelly, Jay-Z, Nelly, Coolio. Goodbye Dvorak, Yo Yo Ma, Duke Ellington, Vince Guraldi. Goodbye Elliot Smith, Citizen Cope, Muse, REM, David Gray and your earlier albums, Wilco and Dispatch. Goodbye all the other garbage I just had because it was free. And goodbye, dear U2. We will meet again.