Ralph Ellison describes that in his NYC apartment building, music has put him in a dilemma. For example, while the sound of his neighbor disturbs him, he also cannot complain about it due to him being the same when he was younger. By the first sentence, “In those days it was either live with music or die with noise…,” he means that during those days, it was either enjoy the music, take it in and admire it, or consider the music as just an annoying noise and let it disrupt your peace. Schafer and Ellison both seem to be of the same opinion that sounds are something all around us.