Musically Speaking
June 28th, 2005
Whenever people ask about my favorite kind of music, or my favorite song, I always end up staring at them blankly, stuttering, “Um… well…gee…” for a while before saying, “I pretty much like everything. Except for heavy metal, techno and gospel music.” This is apparently a huge lie, as my friend Ali pointed out to me about a month ago in Montreal.
Ali hates it when people say they like all music, because it’s never true. Inevitably, when people say this, they forget about a billion types of music, so they are essentially lying. And if you are around someone that knows a lot about music, you’re in for a very educational conversation. To show you how this kind of conversation goes, I’ll give you an idea.
“Well… I really like all kinds of music. Except for heavy metal and gospel.”
“Oh really? So you like almost everything?”
“Yeah. I just like music, you know?”
“I know you like rock, pop, and rap… what about the blues? Jazz?”
“Yeah, they’re great too.”
“And country?”
“Yeah! I spent all of high school listening to country!”
“What about Christian rock? And rap?”
“Well… I think it’s cool that they have those types of music - religious people shouldn’t be stuck listening to un-danceable music just because of their beliefs. But I don’t really like it… I kind of lump religious music under gospel music in my mind though.”
“It’s not the same thing.”
“Okay, I like all music except for heavy metal, techno and religious music then. Oh! And bagpipes. Not a fan of bagpipes.”
“Good thing you tacked that on! What about polka? Do you like polka?”
“I don’t mind polka…”
“LIAR! NO ONE LIKES POLKA!”
“Well… ”
And on and on and on, with polka becoming a recurring theme.
Anyways, I don’t know if I was really going anywhere with this. But I’ve been thinking about it for the past month, and I’ve come to this conclusion - I like all kinds of music, except for heavy metal, techno, religious, bagpipes, kidz bop, and Enya. And I make no guarantees about types of music I don’t know about. If you think of anything else I should add on to this list, let me know.
And thanks for pointing out the error of my ways, Ali.
What about Tejano???
Hi Monday Evening!
Is Tejano like Selena? If so, then I think I like it…
I hate when people ask that question (What kind of music do you like?) because there’s no way to answer it. There’s no single kind of music that I love or hate completely, and for almost every kind of music I can find samples that I enjoy. For example: I like rock and roll, but I don’t like Linkin Park. I don’t like metal, but I like Metallica. Easy listening puts me to sleep, but I have a soft spot for Barry Manilow.
It seems like a conversation starter, but it’s really a conversation killer. Too broad. That’s why when someone asks me, I shrug my shoulders and say “all kinds.” But maybe that’s because I don’t like people.
Oh, and bagpipes can be cool, when played properly. Which is rare.
I know what you mean about liking a type, but not a particular group. I put that down to some music groups (like Linkin Park) just sucking - it has nothing to do with the type of music they play.
As for Metallica - I think that some groups rise above the type of music they play, and become MORE than just that music. You know? Heavy metal is, for the most part, just about anger and thrashing around, with little (if any) melody or beat. Metallica, however, brought actual MUSICAL TALENT to heavy metal - and I think they may be the only band in that genre to do so. At least, the only one I know of.