over my head

 

---------------------- [excerpt from Life, by Keith Richards with James Fox] ------------------------------- 

                          I grew up listening to really good music, including a little bit of Mozart and Bach in the background, which I found very over my head at the time, but I soaked it up.  

I was basically a musical sponge.  

And I was just fascinated by watching people play music.  

If they were in the street I'd gravitate towards it, a piano player in the pub, whatever it was.  

My ears were picking it up note for note.  

Didn't matter if it was out of tune, there were notes happening, there were rhythms and harmonies, and they would start zooming around in my ears.  

It was very like a drug.  

In fact a far bigger drug than smack.  I could kick smack; I couldn't kick music.  One note leads to another, and you never know quite what's going to come next, and you don't want to.  It's like walking on a beautiful tightrope.

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