Musings on Music

Bad jokes aside, I never understood people who, when asked what kind of music they enjoy, respond "I listen to everything." I guess it's a good throwaway answer if you're just having small talk, but there are circumstances when I actually want to know what they listen to. The worst part is that most people who say that seem to actually believe it to be true. At least, until they hear the kind of stuff I listen to.

I think a lot of the blame falls on most people having a very narrow definition of what constitutes "everything." At least half of what they hear is music made in this country, and even then only in genres popular in whatever area they live in. It reminds me of that joke from The Blues Brothers. Elwood asks a woman at a bar they're about play at "What kind of music do you usually have here?" She responds "Oh, we got both kinds. We got country and western." It's funny cuz it's true.

I've got a few different genres of music I listen to regularly. On my phone, I've got groups such as Metallica, David Bowie, Michael Tolcher, Iron Maiden, Phil Collins, Beck, and The Scorpions. There's even a two-disk compilation of Trance music on there. A bit eclectic, perhaps, but I note that almost all of it falls under Rock or Metal. And that's hardly everything.

I don't know, maybe I'm being pedantic. But it just bugs me sometimes, this "I listen to everything" stuff. Perhaps if we actually did give "everything" a shot, we'd broaden our horizons. Or perhaps not. No matter how much we deny it, we're comfortable with what's familiar, and we don't like change. Even the most left-leaning open-minded person will balk at anything that goes against what he or she is used to. It's just how we are. I'm probably no different, even though I'd like to think I am. Does that make me a hypocrite? I hope not.