If you like my music, we can be friends?
 

It's true enough. Don't we tend to think more of a person if they like the same music we like? If they reaffirm our own decisions? I think it matters if you like the Simpsons. If you don't ....I probably don't like you very much. If I think your music suck, you might get offended. But you didn't write the songs......

Nobody likes the music I like

And I have no friends except for that Tom guy.

Rings true for me.

Tony, I'm sorry to be the one to break this to you, but Tom works for MySpace. he greets everyone....automatically.

we kind of like you around here though. lil bit

Depends...if I share enough musical interests, we're cool. I like a lot of different shit, so I can't possibly expect someone to like all that I like.

Yeah, just think of him as Rupert Murdoch's little Myspace imp.

well, don't you look twice when someone tells you that depeche mode is their current fave?

Sure...they automatically become my second best friend for at least 10 minutes. Then they probably gush about Erasure and I beat them to death.

That's it! That Tom fucker is gone! Lousy liar and creep! And I got me a new friend!

Don't worry, Undertoad. I've a secret crush on you.

*blush*

But anyway back to the original question, I think we as a society are in trouble, because we are increasingly judging people by smaller and smaller criteria until we can only associate with people just like us.

I work with people from different cultures every day, and they are fine warm people with excellent senses of humor. Nigerian, Indian, Japanese. The different cultures amaze me. What also amazes me is what we don't have in common. And how important it is, or isn't.

As people talk with my co-worker Sudatta, they say things that I realize she doesn't quite "get". Someone said "I hate that elevator music" and I saw the comment go without acknowledgment. And I thought about it: the term "elevator music" is going out of use, since they actually rarely play music in elevators nowadays.

So not only has Sudatta not heard the term, but she has never experienced music in an elevator. But it's worse than that. When you stop to think about it, the entire idea, that there would be a form of music strictly for elevators, is totally bizarre!

So I tried to explain it: ok, they used to broadcast simpler versions of popular songs on elevators... simpler versions... which some people preferred, but which more, uh, cultured people, disliked, because they were simpler versions... and then this became a form of ridicule...

Wow. To us, the term "elevator music" conveys so much, culturally, that it's brutally difficult to convey it in mere words. Where we struggle to say "what is reggae", "what is elevator music" is even worse, because there are deep cultural notions involved.

But what if you're in the culture? Even then, each decade likes different things and sees art and entertainment from their point of view. A 20-something will see Springsteen as this over-the-hill folksy political guy, while a 40-something will seem him as the savior of an original form of rock, a hero to their sensibilities.

Does that mean that I, an American, can't be friends with the Nigerian / Indian / Japanese / etc or with 20-somethings or 60-somethings or 80-somethings. No, I find for me it doesn't prevent being friends, because the things that I rank in importance aren't so cultural, I don't need too much validation, and I don't have a very big pool.

Music is a big part of many people's lives and especially if someone listens to non-mainstream music, they like the idea of someone sharing the same tastes as them.

The type of music someone listens to can sometimes tell a lot about a person so if you share the same taste in music, there is a good chance you will share other, more important traits that can lead to a strong bond between two people.

What about all the people that think music is what's making the windows rattle when the ghetto cruisers go down the street?.

fuck them. that shit will rot your brains

No, I mean people that don't listen to music, at least intensionally, and think music is what's rattling their windows.... or telling them what's coming on the tube.

Music friends can be just that. Music friends..... Like the friends I had that I only saw at live shows. Kind of a shallow association.

But sometimes it's just a great beginning to a beautiful frienship.

I had the opposite happen--when I was interning at a recording studio, there was another intern there for a short period of time. We got along okay, and then randomly one day I happened to have my CD wallet brought in from the car*, and he started thumbing through it and finally just made this disgusted face and muttered, "So many things I've never heard of..." From then on, he acted weirdly standoffish with me. It's not even like he hated the bands, he had just never heard of them!


*Oh yeah! It was because the singer of some local band that was recording that day had a "They Might Be Giants" song stuck in his head, but couldn't remember the lyrics so it was driving him nuts, and I had the CD with me so I played it for him.

That's what you get for owning Britney Spears and Willa Ford CDs. ;)

Who? Never heard of 'em.

:)

Clod, it was because he suddenly realized you knew more than he did and from then on was afraid to misspeak and have you laugh either to his face or worse behind his back .

I bet your opinion of him slid a bit then? closed minded guy.... thats what i mean. his attitude is indicative of his personality. SOmeone that pulls a move like that is obviously a douchebag, right? Were later encounters true to course?

You don't need to love the same music, but you need not to hate the "music" they love :D

LJ - yeah, mostly I guess. I kind of suspected he was a douchebag beforehand though. It's hard to say whether the music encounter made me see what I already knew was there, or unfairly colored my opinion, or what... The studio manager made no bones about the fact that he liked me better though. I was there to work and to learn; he was there to hopefully get some of his own music recorded when no one else was using the studio.

I like so many different kinds of music that I can find something in common, musically speaking, with almost everyone. But if someone is so shallow as to think less of me because I'm not an expert or raving fan about their fave music, then I don't much care to waste my time cultivating a 'friendship' with them in the first place.

My experience is that I don't necessarily like people who like the same music I do (classical, broadway, some jazz). In fact I've said before many classical music lovers are stuck-up snobs. (<-- easy straight line for anybody who wants it.)

But... I can kind of see something like... if you like The Simpsons, you probably have a certain sense of humor. That doesn't mean you're going to be buddy-buddy with everybody else who likes the show. But if somebody thinks it's juvenile, crude, and generally offensive to right-thinking people, then that may be somebody you won't get along that well with.

Huge laugh at the Griff res on this.

What's a "res?"

I actually AVOID conversations about music whenever possible because I like music, a lot, but I don't study up on bands and I rarely even know the name of the song/band I'm enjoying. I've had enough conversations with those "shallow people" that they've managed to make me feel BAD about this, so now I just tell everyone that I don't listen to music at all.

I think he means residence, but reservation would be more like it.

That's what I was thinking but it didn't start with res.

Eff yeah, man. There's nothing more pervasive than "I like every kind of music.. (and then the inevitable caveat) Except I hate rap and country."

Which usually means "I like pop music."

People like that tend to avoid death metal as well...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1407/...7665a93da1.jpg

People like that don't know what they're missing.

Since nobody ever likes the kind of music I like, this is typically a non-issue.

one of the girls in the ofice found out that I like tenacious D. she's wanted me badly ever since. she even made me a copy of her Tenacious D disc. I seriously reevaluated my opinion of her at that point, too. i mean...what kind of a freak would want ME.....besides jinx.

But you treat Jinx better than anyone else, possibly even yourself.

What kind of music do you like Wolf?

I have a very eclectic taste in music. I'm not too keen on hiphop, metal that's so heavy you can't make out the lyrics, free-form jazz and atonal music, but apart from that I'll listen to anything. Including country and yeah, some rap is okay.

So for me it depends on how tolerant the other person is. If it's someone who likes only pop or only classical or only opera and nothing else, chances are the person is too intolerant in other respects as well for me to bother with for very long. My "favorite band" changes frequently enough that I can't dislike someone for not liking my current favorite.

I can listen to Rammstein, followed by Rupert Holme's Pina Colada Song and not have my head explode.

The problem is not one particular type of music, but rather in the whiplash-inducing changes ...

Unpopular opinion: I hate that song. To paraphrase O Brother Where Art Thou:

(s)he: you was fixin' to cheat on me
(s)he: but it ended up being me!
(s)he: but you didn't know that at the time
(s)he: so I was a sleazy cheater until I DID know

:D

Music taste, like anything else, is something two people can have in common. Naturally, the more you have in common, the more you connect with that person, at least on that particular level.

Most of my friends have a similar taste to mine. The differences are what I look forward to - expanding my taste as I am introduced to artists/genres/etc I otherwise would not have known about.


That being said, I once discontinued a relationship with someone for playing Britney Spears in my truck.

I like music that does that. I have some bands that will play really intense metal then break into this perfectly melodic part with really good singing, then right back to metal.

Ah, the bi-polar bands. ;)

The joys of shuffle on iPod...one minute, I'll be listening to Bach, the next minute King Diamond.

Just like my roommate...:neutral:

Ah, I am so out there with music. It is so dependent on my mood, to the point that I will really like something one day, and dislike it, severely, the next. And a month later I will like it again. One day I will be whining about how much I can't stand modern country and the next I will be saying "Hey, I want to listen to some country." I think it is my constant effort to accept everything I hear, but only some genres at a time. There are some that I like every day, so I suppose those count as my "core" taste in music.

That probably didn't reveal anything about my taste in music.

Since is was brought up....They Might Be Giants is coming here on tour! Giving me a well earned break from Alt. Country.

I would hestitate to introduce someone to them. Especially if you know beforehand that it won't be appreciated. Piker.
;)

My girlfriend is an Opera fiend. I pretend that I don't care much for it... but I am secretly coming to enjoy it greatly....

The shame, the shame! :redface:

I hate the kids songs, they hate my songs and we have a beautiful relationship.

I'm just so used to people having bad taste in music, that I overlook it. Been married to my wife for 16 years, and her music tastes still haven't improved, but everything else has.:3eye: Far more important to me is what books they like, such as The World According to Garp, or their movie choices, like the greatest movie ever made, The Kentucky Fried Movie.

I just bought KFM. I was thinking of watching it tonight (assuming I quit messing around on the Cellar, leave work, and get home before midnight).

But that doesn't mean we could be friends.

I guess getting along with someone who has your taste in music could just be that you'll have something light and (pretty much) meaningless to talk to, something you can probably resort to talking about again if conversation finds itself stalling. It's always easier (and arguably less meaningful) to talk to someone when you dont have to grasp around for subjects

Anybody around here listen to any rockabilly?

Used to be a minor fan of Reverend Horton Heat, back in the day, but haven't listened in a long time.

Just saw the good Reverend last Saturday night in St. Louis...I believe this was time #12. He beat ass as usual.

I play in a six piece band. Five of us went to high school together...33 years ago.

I'd say music can and does help keep friends together.

My friends and I 'swap' music a lot. We have very eclectic tastes between us, but most of us like most of the stuff each of the other likes.

I can't present any evidence about music, but you know how netflix lets you know how similar to you other members are? The closest that I have ever seen to me is a 60% match. My musical tastes are similarly varied. Speaking of which ... I don't have anywhere near enough netflix friends. Anyone want to be netflix voyeurs to each other?

If April and I finally join, we're in.

SHEESH. say that 5 times fast.

If someone picks their "friends" based on similar tastes, judges those who like things they don't, they are a moron and deserve what they get.
I love the fact that those in my peer group enjoy and expose me to things I have previously misunderstood and if they like something I do not, I really don't see how that is an issue with our friendship?
These are the same people who think they know something about someone because of what sport team they like.