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| Eye in the Sky (album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Well the music is your special friend
Dance on fire as it intends
Music is your only friend
Until the end
--The Doors
In late June of 1982 I was sitting in the parking lot of a supermarket in
Billings, Montana listening to the radio when I heard the
Alan Parsons Project song "
Eye in the Sky". Even before the song had ended I decided that this was a perfect pop hit and one of my favorite songs. To this day I stand by this. This is a song that I never tire of hearing.
Sometime in 1985 the song "
Cherish" by
Kool and the Gang was released. I had heard songs by Kool and the Gang for over a decade and never cared for the group that much though I didn't find their songs totally obnoxious--it just wasn't my kind of music. "Cherish" received extensive airplay after its release. I heard it often, but for the most part ignored it as it just wasn't my kind of music.
Then one afternoon sometime in January of 1988 I was sitting in the parking lot of Buddy's Market in
Maryville, Tennessee listening to the radio when the song "Cherish" came on. As I listened closely I realized what a beautiful song it was. The lyrics touched me deeply at that moment. Not only did this song become another one of my favorites, but I started buying Kool and the Gang albums as I began enjoying their other music. Now "Cherish" is another one of my favorite songs--I still well up with emotion whenever I listen to this exquisite song.
After I'd bought the album that contained the song "Cherish" I was playing it one day as my show crew was setting up our equipment for our performance later that night. As the song "Cherish" was playing I happened to mention to one of the young female cast members with whom I used to discuss music a lot how I thought the song was so beautiful. My comment was met with laughter as she responded, "Really! That's the cheesiest song ever. I can't stand it!"
Well, go figure. Granted her favorite music was Morrissey and
The Smiths--music that I likewise enjoyed--but I was baffled by her reaction to the song "Cherish". I wondered how someone could not like that song. But then I remembered that I was in no way impressed with the song either for a few years of having heard it. What was different about my experience and why should she have liked the song?
In some respects I think the way we appreciate music is similar to the way we make friends. Maybe your experiences are similar to mine. There have been people whom I have met and we immediately clicked. I liked them as soon as I saw them and remained friends with them throughout the years. Then there are certain people whom I had to learn to appreciate.
One of my best friends is an example. When I first met him I didn't care for him much at all and soon I came to somewhat dislike him. As time passed, I discovered this man to be an amazingly talented fellow as well as a very intelligent conversationalist. Over a period of several years I began to realize how this guy was someone I could always count on to do what he said he was going to do and was an extremely reliable individual. Now he is one of my favorite people and one of the few of my friends in Tennessee whom I call on a regular basis. It took some time, but I grew to like him.
Maybe not everyone is like this, but I think we are all more alike than not. For me at least, music is like the people I encounter. I tend to be polite and civil toward just about everyone with whom I come into contact. I'll give them a chance and maybe we become friends or maybe we don't. That's the way I approach music. Maybe the music is immediately recognized as being compatible with my tastes or maybe I have to discover the nuances that allow me to appreciate the music in the same way my good friend took time for me to appreciate him.
If there is music that I liked in the past, I will continue to find something to like now when I hear it. I may not enjoy listening to that music as much now as I used to, but I can't say I hate it because that music holds memories and evokes feelings. In fact, just as I prefer to say I don't hate any person, I don't like to say I hate any music as long as I can recognize some amount of talent that had to be present in order to create that music.
The way I see it, music is people. Not in the way
Soylent Green is people, but in the sense that music is an extension of the person or the people who created it. Writers should understand that as should anyone who creates. That which we mindfully produce as an extension of our creative spirit is part of us. The song composer might be someone who could possibly be a friend to us and so could the song the composer composes. Music has value, but it may not have the same value to all of us.
Your favorite song may not be my favorite because I have apparently not been in the zone you were when you decided that song was your favorite. Timing, place, circumstance, experience all contribute to influencing our preference. What we felt or who we were with when we heard a song can have a bearing on our liking it and it's possible that song might be in a genre we normally haven't liked before. Who can explain it? I'm sure there are explanations for each case, but they would be as many as the songs we have heard in our lifetime.
So what's the point of all this? Partly it's my contemplation on the nature of our preferences, our likes and dislikes, something to do with why we are like we are. I'm just skimming the surface of it all, but maybe it's something for you to reflect upon as well and add your thoughts in the comments.
And the heart of the matter in context of my posts of this week leading in to my
Battle of the Bands post coming up on Monday is that we should all be open to the music that each of us presents on our sites. In the Battles ahead as in my past Battles, I will continue to post music that I like or that interests me in some way. Not everyone might like what I post, but I hope you'll try to as least appreciate the music. Just because you've never heard a song or an artist before doesn't mean you can't come up with an opinion. All the better to have an open mind I think. Remember that the songs that are your favorites now were once songs you'd never heard before. Listen, learn, and vote on a favorite just like you might do if you were judging a talent contest.
Treat music as you would someone you might meet for the first time or have known for a long time. Music should be your friend. Or at least like someone whom you can tolerate respectfully while in their company. You don't have to hang around with people you don't get along with nor do you have to continually listen to music you don't like. Not under normal circumstances at least.
I just want to see everyone have fun with the
Battle of the Bands posts. I know I enjoy them.
When the music's over
Turn out the lights
--The Doors
Do you have a good friend whom you didn't like at first meeting? Would you say the personification of music as an extension of those who create it is a reasonable description? What are some of the criteria that you think determines preference?
