Let’s talk about music. Why? Because it’s my blog, and I’ll talk about whatever I want. In this case, it’s music. Why? because why not? I have terrible taste in music, which I will cheerfully admit at the drop of a hat. It flummoxes people, actually. They’ll tell me I have terrible taste in music and I’ll agree with them. It really takes the wind out of their sails, which makes me extremely happy. There is one song that I was embarrassed to admit I liked: What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction. But when I confessed it, many other people said they liked it, too, and that it was a banging song. And I realized that I was being prejudiced simply because they’re a boy band (which is historically looked down upon because anything a young girl likes is considered lesser).
Now, I don’t give a shit; I truly don’t. It’s how I feel about the popular media I consume in general. I like what I like and so what? I read mysteries mostly and twenty years ago, it was considered strictly genre and mostly for women. Which, again, meant that it was lesser. It didn’t matter that it was hugely popular, it was still looked down upon, until men started reading it more. I noticed roughly fifteen years ago that there was a massive influx of muscular mysteries that include ex-FBI/CIA operatives going rogue-ish. Very boring, to be honest, but also to be expected.
I also have no interest in the mystery-romance crossover, though I did try to get into it. Iris Johansen is a huge name in this, and I read several of her books. They’re fine for passing the time, but they’re so disposable. And it has the ‘tough, independent woman who needs to be tame’/’gruff, woman-hating guy who needs a gentle touch’ stereotype running through it.
Back to music. The first band I ever stanned was Duran Duran. Man, that is a pleasing sentence. I loved them so much and went to one of their concerts. Then, it was the hair metal bands phase, starting with Bon Jovi. I saw them and Cinderella in concert. I also liked White Lion, Poison, Firehouse, Warrant, Autograph, Def Leppard (and yes, I’m now looking at an alphabetical list), Europe, Extreme, and more. (I got bored after E).
When I hit college, I became aware of sexism and the fact that women often get shoved to the back or ignored completely. I made a choice to listen to more women. Some of them include: Indigo Girls.
Side Note: The Indigo Girls are the ones who helped me realize that I was attracted to women as well as men (this was back in the binary days). I had a crush on Amy that continues to this day.
Melissa Etheridge was also tops for me. Then there was TLC, Salt-N-Pepa, En Vogue, Cyndi Lauper (who, by the way, is so badass), Jann Arden, Toni Amos, Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega, Lisa Loeb, and the Dixie Chicks (now The Chicks).
I also like a few indie folk people, such as Lowen & Navarro, and Shawn Mullins. I’m really sad about Lowen dying from ALS, even though that was ten years ago.
Recently, I’ve been obsessed with Lizzo and Harry Styles. Both separately and together. They are the perfect duo because they’re both so comfortable and confident in themselves. Plus, it’s clear that they enjoy each other’s company and have fun flirting with each other. I amo going to, again, include thein version of What Makes You Beautiful that they did at Coachella this year. They’re both dressed in pink and having the time of their lives. Their joy is infectious and I can’t help grooving in my seat every time I watch this. I do my Taiji weapons forms to this song sometimes, and it’s great to do a sword jam to it as well.
I have a hard time knowing what people/acts I’ll like and which I won’t. I have a bunch of songs by different groups I like, but I don’t like the rest of their music. I don’t have a specific genre I’m wedded to, either. I like music from all these genres: rap, hip hop, indie folk, alternative, rock, heavy meatal, I can take some new agey like Enya in very small doses.
Oh! I forgot that I like synth pop such as Erasure and Depeche Mode. I like both of them quite a bit.
It’s a mood thing with me. I put on music to match my mood. I don’t think that’s an unusual thing to do, but I could be wrong. Oh! And I have a rota of songs I use for fighting hard bosses in From games. It started with me playing The Pina Colada Song (Escape) by Rupert Holmes on repeat while fighting Biggie & Small (O&S). That was my FromSoft boss fight song for quite some time. Then, I got to Sekiro, and it wasn’t enough. So I started adding other song to it, such as Gangnam Style by Psy, but I always started with The Pina Colada Song.
More people I like! I like humor songs, such as the ones sung by Tim Minchin and Axis of Awesome. I love Vienna Teng for many reasons as well. she’s not a humor singer, but I think of her when I think of Tim Minchin because they both have atheist Christmas songs.
The moral of the story is that I cannot be shamed about my musical taste. I like what I like, and I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks about it. It’s the one bonus to being a freak in just about everything–there’s very little anyone can do to make me feel bad about what I like. It’s actually fun to watch people get flummoxed when I don’t react the way they expect me to. They want me to get flustered and defend myself and my tastes.
For example, I’ll say that I don’t like The Beatles. Someone on Twitter will be aghast and question how I could have this dastardly opinion. They’ll question what I like and I’ll metaphorically shrug and say, yeah, my taste is terrible. Berating me about it isn’t going to make me like The Beatles any better.
I get that many people identify with what they like to an unhealthy extent. I don’t denigrate other people’s tastes, so I’m bemused when other people tear me down for mine. I don’t consider, “I don’t like The Beatles” to be denigrating, by the way. It’s just a statement of my tastes. Also, there is not a hidden addendum of ‘which means they suck’ attached, though some people seem to hear that. That’s wild to me. That some people identify so much with some popular media, they’ll be offended if you don’t feel the same way.
I got dumped by an ex who did not like my opinions on Pulp Fiction. We dated way after the movie was released. He talked it up and how it was such a great movie. We went to see it at a theater that shows older movies. I went in with an open mind, not knowing much about it, and I hated it from the start. I found it artificial and stylized. That’s not what I like in my movies, unless they’re musicals. Plus, so very white. Very very white. And very male.
I loathed every second of it. I would consider it in the top five least-favorite movies I’ve ever seen. I cannot overstate how much I hated this movie. And, naievley, when my boyfriend asked me what I thought about it, I told him. In great details. Once I was done, he got very quiet and said he could not be with someone who had that world view. Then he dumped me over Pulp Fiction. That was the first time I internalized that people really identified with various media and vowed to keep my opinions, especially of movies, to myself.
That didn’t last long, obviously, but I’m still wary of watching movies with people I date because they take it so damn personally. It’s not a fun way to watch movies, especially when I don’t like them in general.