The Infrequently Filled Journal of One Whose Opinions are Irrelevant

Dec 2010
11:51 AM AST

On music

Hello.

I've decided to vent on a topic that has a huge spot in my heart and great personal value to me. Recently, Sam and I got into an argument about music. It started with me (gently) mocking David, who's sixteen, for knowing all the lyrics to Total Eclipse of the Heart. Now, I hate, loathe, despise, and DETEST 80s music. I also find it amusing that a sixteen-year-old guy knows the lyrics to what I consider to be one of the cheesiest, most absurd songs ever written. My older brother's response to my laughter and disdain for other kinds of music that we subsequently brought up (like Neil Young, GNR, Depeche Mode, Blondie, and many more) went along the lines of this:

"You have no leg to stand on when it comes to horrendous musical tastes. Some of your favorite bands from the past and present include: Muse, Coldplay, The Fray, among others. Now, I do not pretend to be a musical expert, but Bruce Springsteen has won 20 grammy awards. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has deemed him worthy of 20 recognitions. Your beloved Coldplay has only won 5. So next time you decide to bother David about listening to a timeless 80's power ballad, just think for a second. Essentially we all share the same musical taste, and if David decides that he wants to branch off and listen to crappy 80's love ballads that is absolutely fine. I mean c'mon, you never hear us giving you shit about the vampire movie soundtracks you listen to. Perhaps next time you should focus on refining your own musical tastes before insulting others."

This made me furious for many reasons. I feel like I should address this point by point, but the more I think about it, the more furious I get, so I am just going to give my views on music.

Now, I actually do dislike 80s music. I don't especially know why. Maybe it's what I call the laserbeams: the extremely synthesized and unnatural sounding accompanying instruments. It's also the drum beats, which on many of the cheesy power ballads make me grind my teeth (snare! SNAAAARE!). The overall cheesiness is also rather repellent to me. Now, that does NOT mean that I hate all 80s music. I love David Bowie. Love Billy Joel, Queen, some Aerosmith, the Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac, and several more. (I know that not all of these artists were created in the 80s, but I like the music they produced during that time.) I can even listen to Michael Jackson sometimes. But overall, yes, I do dislike that decade in music immensely.

As for my tastes, they include the aforementioned bands, along with classic rock a la Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, etc, classical music including Debussy, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Beethoven and many more, and a bunch of recent stuff not limited to, yes, Coldplay, Muse, Florence + the Machine, Broken Bells, Jack Johnson, RHCP, and Explosions in the Sky. To add to that, I listen to Johnny Cash and Ray Charles, a bunch of music from movie soundtracks, and many other artists for which I can't give an overall genre.

I know that I have natural tendencies towards some music. For example, as a pianist, I know that I'm inclined through no conscious decision to like piano music. Maybe I can appreciate it better because listening to it, I can appreciate the complexity or simplicity of it, and this engages me while I listen. I love harmonies too, and if a song has interesting ones or unusual chord progressions and melodies that I might not have guessed, then hooray! You had me at "Is there anybody out there?". Lyrics, too, have a part to play; while there are some songs I would certainly not sing out loud in front of my mother (see Howl by Florence + the Machine), if I feel a connection to the poetry of it, then it's an added bonus. Other than those, I cannot honestly give an explanation as to what music makes my heart soar and speaks to my soul.

Now, I do not delude myself: I know I am a musical elitist. But that's not based upon any standards but the ones that exist inside my mind. I dislike synthesizers (goodbye 80s and much of the dance music from today). Unless they're masterfully performed, highly measured and mathematically precise music holds no interest for me (the reason I can only listen to some performances of Bach: he's lifeless otherwise). On the other hand, there's got to be some sort of order to it, be it in the melody or the rhythm; abstract music doesn't do it for me (jazz). Also overly simplistic music--if I can walk over to the piano and figure out the chord progression after listening to the song ONCE, it's not a good sign (many early Beatles songs, for example). This... pickiness, I suppose, does not limit itself to any one kind of music, nor did I consciously decide to dislike the music that fits into these neuroses. In other words, I didn't CHOOSE the things that irritate me. I also don't decide to arbitrarily hate all music from one time; if they happen to fit into one or more of those categories, then it's likely I won't like them.

There are exceptions, however. These aren't absolutes: I dislike most dance music, but I like Take it Off by Ke$ha, as weird as it is for me to admit it. Once in a while, I can even be persuaded to listen to Babe by Styx, despite disliking Styx more than almost any other band. I don't approve of rap as a rule, but I can listen to some Eminem (yeah, I know, of all rappers...). When I am in an extremely bad mood and all I want to do is mope, then I put on The Fray, because I find all their songs (including their happy ones) to be extremely depressive. I could go on, but those illustrate my point fairly well.

What pissed me off most about Sam's diatribe was the latent superiority. He starts with calling MY music crap, and then ends with saying that we should respect each other's muscial preferences. I can only assume that "other's" signifies his. He too suffers from this musical elitism, although he won't admit to it, being convinced that what he considers to be crappy music is universally acknowledged as rubbish. Not so, and he wouldn't listen when I informed him of this.

Everyone is entirely entitled to listen to whatever suits them. I don't really care. (Unless you blast it from your speakers and expect me to appreciate it... David.) If 80s music makes you happy, go for it. But then don't tell me to stop listening to Coldplay because you think they're awful. I've been listening to music as I write this and taking note of what comes on. The list runs as follows:
Changes - David Bowie
Symphony no. 8 in F major--Allegretto scherzando - Beethoven
Green Eyes - Coldplay
Fall Line - Jack Johnson
Heartbreaker - Led Zeppelin
One Last Shot - Klaus Badelt
A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay
Lollipop - Mika
Us and Them - Pink Floyd
Blinding - Florence + the Machine
Bell Bottom Blues - Derek and the Dominos
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen
Wash Away - Joe Purdy
Vienna - Billy Joel

So there you have it. I don't think I've said anything unreasonable, but Sam's little... thing had really been bothering me, and since it's impossible to have a discussion with him, at least I can get all of this off my chest here.

Song recommendation for the day: let's hit next and see what comes up... Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin. Go for it.

AB

PS: The vampire soundtrack thing ended about two years ago. He's lucky I didn't bring up Children of Bodom.

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Username: opinionated

Gender / Age: Female, 31

Location: United Kingdom

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About Me: Everything that you need to know about me is in my posts. Moreover, everything posted on this journal is my own work, except where otherwise indicated. It belongs to me, so no reposting or claiming as your own. Thanks a bundle, loves.

Interests: Books, writing, music, camping, books, talking about books, theorising about books, dreaming, reading, books, music, piano, writing, music, books, reading, books, instruments, books, writing.

Favorite Music: All kinds. Classic rock (Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and Pink Floyd, to name some of many), some modern stuff (Coldplay, Broken Bells, KT Tunstall, The Fray, Weezer, and there are more...), classical, some folk rock, Latin... Oh, and alternative rock. Music I will NOT listen to: Rap, country (excluding Cash), jazz (kill. me. now.)

Favorite Movies: The Harry Potters minus the fifth, Chronicles of Narnia, Get Smart, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lord of the Rings, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Love Actually, Fight Club, Role Models

Favorite Television: Lost, The Office and The Simpsons

Favorite Books: Seriously?! Fine. You asked. In no particular order... | Wolf Hall | Harry Potter (all) | Chronicles of Narnia | All Tamora Pierce | All Shannon Hale | All Alison Croggon | Thief Lord, Inkheart, Inkspell, and Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke | Romeo and Juliet | Macbeth | Artemis Fowl (all) | Maximum Ride series | The Book Thief (awesome book <3) | Jacky Faber series | All Kate Constable | Elsewhere | A Wrinkle in Time | A Great and Terrible Beauty and sequels | My Swordhand is Singing | The Book of Dead Days and sequel | To Kill a Mockingbird | Lord of the Rings series | The Hobbit | The Host | Mortal Instruments series | Peeps | The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks | Sepulchre | The Hunger Games