snarf.rocks
thoughts and musings from the mind of snarf
  • Snarf.Rocks
  • About Snarf
    • Snarf's Gear
  • Snarf's Blog
  • Contact Snarf

9/4/2022

Guilty Pleasure Music

0 Comments

Read Now
 
There's probably some music that you and your circle of friends will laugh at. If they catch you listening to it, they'll jeer and make fun of you until you concede that the music is bad and shouldn't anybody listen to it. I know we have that music in the circles that I run in.

For me, it generally falls into 2 categories. There's that angsty, man-hating, Lilith Fair sounding music from the 90s that no straight guy listened to. Then there was that late 90s and early 2000's pop led by Britney and Christina and the others that were in their late teens and early 20s at the time. It wasn't that we weren't into girls or anything. Heck, it was just the opposite. But the music that a lot of the women were producing at the time just seemed... Well it wasn't rock and roll, and we just weren't going to listen to it. It wasn't even until the Continuum album that any of us would listen to John Mayer. 

And now, 20 or 25 years after that music was coming out, we continue to to make fun of it and anybody that listens to it.

Starting 2 or 3 years ago, I made a playlist on Amazon that includes a bunch of the stuff that we make fun of. And I've discovered that some of it is really good! And, to take it a step further, I've played some of it on the sly to some of my buddies, and it's been kind of fun, when they make a comment about "that's a great song" to give them a wry grin and say "yeah that's your girl Britney Spears" and watch them die just a little bit inside.

And I'm still discovering some of that music. Just a couple of weeks ago, for the first time, I listened to Jagged Little Pill for the first time. I officially apologize for all the ridicule I've sent Alanis Morissette's way over the years. That is a great album! And it's well deserving of all the praise it got back when it came out in the 90s.

Were all those Lilith Fair ladies all the man-hating, angsty, girl-power women that we said they were back in 1999? I have no idea. What I do know, however, is that the music that they were making wasn't actually all that bad. To me, the music of Alanis Morissette, Sarah McLachlan, and Jewel will never be that of Collective Soul, but they were putting out some good stuff.

Some of the music like Genie in a Bottle will probably always remain on that Guilty Pleasures playlist, but some of it what's on there has slowly been getting added to some other playlists.

The question I've been asking myself the last few years is why I consider that music "guilty pleasure." Is it because of the perceived stigma that a straight guy shouldn't be listening to it? Is it because it's not really that good? Well, since I've been finding out that some of that music is good, it's begun to occur to me that the music that I don't consider good is still fun to listen to (that Pink Britney Aguilera school of music). I guess that means the answer is the first part...that perceived stigma.

Here's your takeaway for today. Go out and find some of that music that you always have said is bad for whatever reason. That reason might be that you actually listened but it didn't grab you. Or it might've been a bias against the music that originally kept you from listening. Pick it up now and listen to it with an open mind. If it's not good or if it's not fun to listen to, then file it back in the drawer to not pick up again. But with fresh ears, you might like it. Or it might make you tap your toe and shake your tailfeather. You never know. You just might find out that it's not as bad as you originally thought.

Share

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

Details

    Author

    Snarf is a wannabe musician who currently resides in the great state of Texas.  His wife is his favorite.  He believes chocolate milk made from milk that is anything less than whole milk is basically water and deserves to be dumped down the sink so nobody has to suffer through it.  He hates having to shop for clothes. But he has a thing for really cool bags, and, consequently, has more gig bags than guitars and a closet full of messenger bags and backpacks.  He still misses his dog who was taken by cancer 5 years ago.  Check out his Reverb shop and see if he has any gear he's trying to get rid of.  

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    May 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018

    Categories

    All
    50s Les Paul
    ABY Switch
    Acoustic
    Acoustikar
    Affordaboard
    American Design Experience
    Astronomy
    Axle Grease Delay
    Backpacks
    Back Packs
    BGU
    Bigsby
    Blues
    Blues Breaker
    Blues Guitar
    Blues Guitar Unleashed
    Boss
    Boss Pedals
    Caline
    Capo
    Cork Sniffer
    Creme Brulee
    CruzTools
    Dallas Guitar Show
    Danelectro
    Daypacks
    DIY Guitar
    Dumble Amps
    Effects Pedals
    EHX
    Electric Guitar
    Epiphone
    ES 335
    ES 339
    ES-339
    Fender
    Fender Stratocaster
    Filtertron
    Fort Richardson State Park
    Franken'Tron
    GarageTone
    Gator Gig Bags
    Gator Guitar Case
    Gibson
    Gig Bags
    Greasy Groove
    Gretsch
    Gretsch 5120
    Griff Hamlin
    Griff Hamlin's Blues Guitar Unleashed
    Guitar
    Guitar Cases
    Guitar MultiTool
    GuitarSetup
    Highway One
    Hiking
    Hiking Adventures
    Horseman
    Hwy 1
    Hybrid Guitar Case
    Ibanez Guitar Case
    Incase Gig Bags
    Inspired By Gibson
    Klon
    Klone
    KTR
    Lake Jacksboro
    Lakota Leathers
    Learning
    Les Paul
    Looper
    Mono Gig Bags
    Mooer
    Morning Star
    Multi Effects
    Mustang Floor
    Not Guitar Related
    NuX
    Outdoor Products
    OwnTheTone
    Parker Gig Bags
    Patio Gardening
    Pedalboard
    Pegasus
    Play What Makes You Happy
    Polyfoam Guitar Case
    Probag
    Probag Gig Bag
    Probag Gig Bags
    RC 20xl
    RC-20xl
    Reunion Blues Gig Bags
    Route 66
    Saddleback Leather
    Sonicake
    SoulFood
    Spinning Speaker
    Splattercaster
    Splatter Strat
    Strat
    Stratocaster
    TC Electronics
    Teton Sports
    Texas State Parks
    They're Not Investments
    Tone Bakery
    Tone Snobbery
    Tools
    Totally My Opinion
    Travelite Case
    Tru Arc Bridges
    Tru-Arc Bridges
    TrueTone
    TS9
    TU2 Tuner
    Tube Screamer
    Tumnus
    TwiggyBlues
    Valvetronix
    Visual Sound
    Wampler
    WhatsInYourGigBag
    YMMV

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Snarf.Rocks
  • About Snarf
    • Snarf's Gear
  • Snarf's Blog
  • Contact Snarf