So from what I can tell, this is the “bare your musical skeletons” journal. This is where I get to say, “I listen to this, but its ok because…” and then proceed to explain poor musical taste and choices. We all have these whether we care to share them or not, and we all are willing to laugh at ourselves and quickly explain away and defend the musical faux pas that appears in our Itunes playlist. They may be embarrassing and inconvenient, but these songs are close to our heart for many reasons, and will not be easily given up. They are embedded in us, in our friends, and in our lifestyle.
Before writing this, I scanned through my playlists and was quickly able to identify a few of my own skeletons such as “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston and “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes
(Yes, I am aware that this is perhaps the cheesiest and most overdone song ever). I am embarrassed to say that I not only listen to these corny products of the eighties, but that I also
enjoy them. Picture it: girls in their pajamas, dancing around the room, screaming these songs at the top of their lungs. (Yeah, most of us do not outgrow this when we enter college. It typically takes a little longer. Sorry guys.) These two songs are ideal for this type of activity and I think have become “classics” in their own, small way. I will be the first to say that they are far from
musical masterpieces, but it has been twenty years and they have not faded into obscurity yet. Everyone has their secret likes and dislikes in the music area. Whether you listen to love ballads, eighties music, or screamo, you do it because it is enjoyable and because in some way or another, it expresses something about yourself. Is that not what music is for—our enjoyment and expression? I am not a connoisseur of eighties music—far from it—but I do enjoy these two particular songs (and perhaps a few others). My taste in music ranges from Amos Lee and Ben Harper to Avril Lavigne and I Nine and I am currently listening to The Police. (Whoops, just gave away another eighties pleasure)Even though it’s eclectic, I do not feel as if my taste needs or requires an explanation. It is what it is.
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there is nothing wrong with corny 80's/ 90's music. i would give my right arm for the i had the time of my life download. i think it shows a more refined taste in music, everyone can listen to rehanna and chris brown or one of the latest idol winners, but classics like i had the time of my life and i waana dance with somebody, only the finest of them can appreciate that. so get that brush out and sing at the top of your lungs with me.. I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY, I WANNA FEEL THE HEAT WITH SOMEBODY...
ReplyDelete(a) wow, we were BOTH wrong about how to spell faux pas. haha
ReplyDelete(b) corny music skeletons are okay. I love N'Sync and Britney Spears. Why are some people considered losers for listening to these artists, while other people can pull it off. Does the coolness of the listener affect whether listening to, say, "Bye Bye Bye" is cool or not?
The 80s were such a time of awesome music. It was all overproduced, but the soundtrack of that decade will always make us feel great.
ReplyDeleteTo answer Anna, I suggest that it probably has to do with irony.
You know, I wonder if the music you listen to as a tween/early teen just seems corny because of that time of your life. If we go back to what our parents were listening to at that time, well, at least I find that music cool, but how do they feel about it? If it isn't corny because of the specific age we were listening to it, could it also be that these groups were SO big that they go from really cool to really not really fast?
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