First, an update. I'm sick =( boo. Unfortunately last Sunday night I began to cough a lot, and this entire week has been in the cesspools for me. Good thing that the sickness looks like it is subsiding. The only thing that remains is the periodic coughing to clear the phlegm. Eww. Anyways, one thing that I thought I would start writing about is music. Since I've had a lot of music background, I wonder why I didn't start writing about it earlier.
One of the funniest cultural phenomenons that transcend cultures is that of music. It is prevalent over most of the world, though the style and characteristics of the music varies from place to place (obviously). Why did I say "funny"? Because no matter where you travel in the world, people everywhere have strong opinions of music and music styles. And when I say strong, I mean judgmentally-strong.
A generational gap seems to be the most common factor that defines music groupies. Grandparents often like operas and classical music that would induce z's amongst most everybody else in the family. Parents tend to like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, or Europop style old-ish rock songs, but hate the new pop songs. Teenagers tend to gravitate towards pop songs like Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber (ick), and Ke$ha and the likes. The funny part is that each older generation will say, "What the hell happened to good music? We had it so much better back then."
Each group will always defend their turf when they feel intruded upon. Go to an LGBT party and declare that you hate Lady Gaga - it's an open invitation to be banned from the next party. Ask a music hippie what their favorite bands are, and 99% of the time you'll be treated to a list of obscure indy bands, and while you nod and say "cool", you're pretty sure 99.9% of the world has not heard of them. Want to piss off country music folks? Tell them their music is always about them driving their tractors or their wives leaving or their dogs dying. Want to piss off other music folks? Tell them that country music is better than their music. It is like trolling in real life, but you troll at your own discretion.
Part of this is of course related to the associations of the music genre. Many people feel that their music collection is an extension of their personality. In my opinion, what a person likes to listen to is a pretty definitive guide to their lifestyle and their beliefs. For example, if someone likes dance-y music like Rihanna or Kesha, then I'd peg partying and clubbing as one of their hobbies. Indy fans tend to come across as kinda pretentious and rebellious at the same time, since they almost always reject mainstream music for "better" stuff that's not well-known. Classical music people claim that all other kinds of music are lame and less sophisticated.
In a sense, all of these observations are kinda correct. I personally like alternative rock better than all other types of music, and I tend to identify myself better with those that listen to the same type of music. I think it's a matter of personality. In general, people who like Radiohead or Coldplay or other alternative rock music are more chill and relaxed, while those who like Katy Perry or Rihanna tend to crave social interactions like bars or dancing or partying. I'm sure people have noticed this about other people, and even use it as a judge of the other person's personality before even getting to know them. For example, looking back now - I'd say my initial judgments on my first roommate was pretty accurate, based upon his posters of Incubus and Rage Against the Machine.
Ultimately, I think the big arguments that always come up during music bickering extends out to a bickering of what type of personality is better. It's not about whether the music is better or worse, but rather about which personality is better or worse. And when the issue at hand touches your own personality...well, it's expected that people would claw each other's eyes out over it.
Just a bored and not-intellectual observation for this week. Till the next post!
-FCDH
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