So earlier tonight, I was ruminating about my disgust for the political state of our country -- you know, the way the politicians bicker, feud, point fingers, and generally stick their tongues out at each other for the sake of their "parties", rather than trying to compromise for the good of the COUNTRY!!!!!! -- when it occurred to me: we should HAVE no musical "guilty pleasures".
We all have them, right? You might be a straightfoward Dave Matthews kinda person with a secret love of "Too Drunk to Fuck" by the Dead Kennedys.
Or, hell, a Dead Kennedys fan with a secret love of Dave Matthews.
Anyway, what brought this to mind tonight was the Foo Fighters (as well as a discussion a few days ago with a friend). I'm firmly convinced that Dave Grohl doesn't have "guilty pleasures". He covered Gerry Rafferty's mid-'70s hit "Baker Street" (one of MY "guilty" songs, incidentally). And not in a jokey "ironic" way, but with feeling (at least that's how I hear it). Now I KNOW there was a lot of ironic covering in the '90s and '00s (ahem, "Smooth Criminal" anyone?). And much of it fell flat, in my opinion, simply because there was so MUCH of it.
But I digress. I have just come to the opinion, at least in regards to my own musical tastes, that the "guilty" needs to be removed from "guilty pleasures".
Dig: I have a CD of Barry Manilow's Greatest Hits. It sits on my CD shelf in close proximity to Mayhem, the Mary Shelley Overdrive, Bob Marley, the Matadors, Magic Sam and Mastodon. Now, in times past, I would winkingly admit to owning the Barry CD and further remark (as above) on its position in my "M" pantheon.
But wait: so...as a Mayhem/Mastodon/etc. fan, Barry is a "guilty pleasure", yes? So...if I'm a Barry Manilow fan -- someone that likes Barryesque music in general -- that happens to own "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas", wouldn't that make MAYHEM my "guilty pleasure"?
I just proclaimed my love for Journey in my previous post. Surely they are a "guilty pleasure" to certain factions of my friends, but other compadres del Wolffe may proudly proclaim that Journey are the bee's knees.
Should I feel bad for some reason for liking this song....
....or this one....
...at the same time I like this one?
...or this one?
Anyway, I guess my point is, I have moved past thinking it's "cool" to like certain stuff. Or "uncool". I may disparage your like for that detestable Black Eyed Peas song (you know the one), but if it makes you happy, who the frak cares what I think, yes? (This doesn't preclude me from pointing out that the song sucks, however. I may have had a revelation, but I'm still an ass.) If my iTunes jumps from Danko Jones (who I think is "cool") to Foreigner (who I thought were cool in 1977) to something I have ended up with in my playlist inadvertantly but have NEVER considered cool, such as this...
...well, that's just me and my questionable taste in music. I used to try to impress people with it. Hell, I guess I still try. But it doesn't matter. Like whatcha like; jam what you want. Just listen to music, because if you don't have music in your soul, then you are SOULLESS, LIKE THE MASS OF SELF-SERVING, CHILDISH POLITICIANS.
(Comments? Thoughts?)
I wonder why it is that some people who really love music still think it's cool to pretend they are soul-less? It's pretty obvious that someone who is passionate about something has a soul.
ReplyDeleteWell A, as for the "soulless" thing, that all depends on one's thoughts on the concept of "soul", I suppose. Also, you must remember that there are music LOVERS and music CONSUMERS. If you NEED music in your life, passionately CRAVE it, then it's a bit different, in my opinion, from someone who just "likes music". To me a music consumer is someone who enjoys whatever is presented to them, but doesn't necessarily seek out what they enjoy.
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