OP
OP
Elvis Presley
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HOS, I like the cut of your jib...
Musicial elistist snobbery?
- Thread starter Elvis Presley
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
HeadsOnSticks
New Yorker
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Elvis Presley said:HOS, I like the cut of your jib...
Thanks. I take notes from you.
Stories for Boys
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
getting back to the topic at hand..........
i'm a musical snob but i consider it one of my vices...i'm proud that i listen to quality music--written, played, and sung by the same person/band--that has lyrics WORTH listening to...but sometimes i'm a bit rude to people who listen to shit...i can't help it...
music is about taste, but their's is bad...i just try to contain myself, but when my roomie busts out ***** and avril back to back...heads roll...
i'm a musical snob but i consider it one of my vices...i'm proud that i listen to quality music--written, played, and sung by the same person/band--that has lyrics WORTH listening to...but sometimes i'm a bit rude to people who listen to shit...i can't help it...
music is about taste, but their's is bad...i just try to contain myself, but when my roomie busts out ***** and avril back to back...heads roll...
IWasBored
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Stories for Boys said:
i am so sorry
popkidu2
War Child
Yeah Stories, I know what you mean. When I was a freshman in college I started hanging out with hardcore music snobs...you know, like the guys in High Fidelity? Seeing as I was a big U2 and Oasis fan, I took my share of crap. Trust me, U2 is not considered polite conversations in music snob land, maybe Boy thru War, but after that, no way.
Over the years I have walked the line between what I like and what I consider "good" music. There have been a few times I have not bought a CD because it wasn't considered good enough. Not very proud of that.
What is music? It is something that brings out emotion in the listener. The truth is, if the music you listen to makes you happy, then more power to you. Why do we music snobs rail against the likes of Britney Spears and Avril etc. More than likely because we feel threatened by them. They're flashy and popular and get a lot of attention. And they get this at the expense of bands that are really good. And that seems unfair to us.
Case and point. I love Samples. They're a band that has been screwed by the mainstream. They led the way for Dave Matthews, and then got left in the dust when Dave became huge. When you watch that as a fan, it pisses you off. And then you turn on the tv or the radio and hear people who haven't slaved away in the clubs, played every night until their fingers bled, lived in poverty just to tour the country, who instead just have good looks and the ability to sing, and you lash out at them because what you're really angry at is the fact that you like music that isn't popular. And so you rationalize this thought by making yourself believe that music that isn't popular is actually better, more pure.
I'm thinking of a lyric by Sherril Crowe..."If it makes you happy, why the hell is it so bad?" Maybe there's some truth to that.
I just bought the new Idlewild album (100 Broken Windows). Not bad, but I'm amazed at the kindof critical praise that this band is being given. The truth is it's just west coast sufer rock at it's heart. But it's got that Indi/Underground street cred. If they were hugely popular, I wonder what the attitude would be?
I'm not excusing myself. I do all the things that have been mentioned here as music snobbery. But sometimes, when I'm along driving in my car, I turn on the radio and listen to pop music, and I'm struck by how listenable much of it is. So for people that don't spend half their salaries on cd's, or spend hours and hours scowering the net for music, pop music is a pretty good thing to listen to. And if I had the choice between my kids spending time listening to pop music or hanging out getting in trouble, I'd pick the former.
I'll finish this off with a reminisce. My father is a huge music snob. As a child, I couldn't listen to anything besides classical, big band, and marching band type stuff. So I never got to hear popular music until the age of ten when I went away to prep school, bought a walkman, and listened to the radio at night, and made sure to listen to Rick Dee's top fourty every week. Yeah, I was listening to Belinda Carlisle et al. during that time. And my roommate? A HUGE U2 fan. Ironic. Maybe. Was my father right. No. Am I right. No. But my father's snobbery kept me from getting into music as a kid. I picked up a guitar at the age of 18. Had it not been for my father, I probably would've started playing before the age of ten. Who knows what may have happened, but my father's snobbery kept me from getting involved in music at an early age, and becoming passionate about it. And what that tells me is that nothing good can come from being a snob.
Remember, one day you're going to be an old fart, and your kids/grandkids/great grandkids are going to look at you and say, "Mom/Dad, I can't believe you're listening to CD's/mp3. And who IS U2? God that's awful."
What are you going to do? Tell them their full of shit? Destroy their love for music?
I hope I don't.
Over the years I have walked the line between what I like and what I consider "good" music. There have been a few times I have not bought a CD because it wasn't considered good enough. Not very proud of that.
What is music? It is something that brings out emotion in the listener. The truth is, if the music you listen to makes you happy, then more power to you. Why do we music snobs rail against the likes of Britney Spears and Avril etc. More than likely because we feel threatened by them. They're flashy and popular and get a lot of attention. And they get this at the expense of bands that are really good. And that seems unfair to us.
Case and point. I love Samples. They're a band that has been screwed by the mainstream. They led the way for Dave Matthews, and then got left in the dust when Dave became huge. When you watch that as a fan, it pisses you off. And then you turn on the tv or the radio and hear people who haven't slaved away in the clubs, played every night until their fingers bled, lived in poverty just to tour the country, who instead just have good looks and the ability to sing, and you lash out at them because what you're really angry at is the fact that you like music that isn't popular. And so you rationalize this thought by making yourself believe that music that isn't popular is actually better, more pure.
I'm thinking of a lyric by Sherril Crowe..."If it makes you happy, why the hell is it so bad?" Maybe there's some truth to that.
I just bought the new Idlewild album (100 Broken Windows). Not bad, but I'm amazed at the kindof critical praise that this band is being given. The truth is it's just west coast sufer rock at it's heart. But it's got that Indi/Underground street cred. If they were hugely popular, I wonder what the attitude would be?
I'm not excusing myself. I do all the things that have been mentioned here as music snobbery. But sometimes, when I'm along driving in my car, I turn on the radio and listen to pop music, and I'm struck by how listenable much of it is. So for people that don't spend half their salaries on cd's, or spend hours and hours scowering the net for music, pop music is a pretty good thing to listen to. And if I had the choice between my kids spending time listening to pop music or hanging out getting in trouble, I'd pick the former.
I'll finish this off with a reminisce. My father is a huge music snob. As a child, I couldn't listen to anything besides classical, big band, and marching band type stuff. So I never got to hear popular music until the age of ten when I went away to prep school, bought a walkman, and listened to the radio at night, and made sure to listen to Rick Dee's top fourty every week. Yeah, I was listening to Belinda Carlisle et al. during that time. And my roommate? A HUGE U2 fan. Ironic. Maybe. Was my father right. No. Am I right. No. But my father's snobbery kept me from getting into music as a kid. I picked up a guitar at the age of 18. Had it not been for my father, I probably would've started playing before the age of ten. Who knows what may have happened, but my father's snobbery kept me from getting involved in music at an early age, and becoming passionate about it. And what that tells me is that nothing good can come from being a snob.
Remember, one day you're going to be an old fart, and your kids/grandkids/great grandkids are going to look at you and say, "Mom/Dad, I can't believe you're listening to CD's/mp3. And who IS U2? God that's awful."
What are you going to do? Tell them their full of shit? Destroy their love for music?
I hope I don't.
popkidu2
War Child
I just thought of something else. I have a fraternity brother who was my roommate in college. The guy bought more indie/underground music than anyone I know. His favorite band was Bad Religion. But this guy also bought popular music (well, not Britney Spears, but popular rock music). He could appreciate a lot of different types of music. Popular/not popular, it didn't matter to him. I think there's something to be said for that.
IWasBored
Blue Crack Supplier
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popkidu2 said:
sounds like a cool guy
samples! i forgot about them!
Flying FuManchu
New Yorker
Lot of music followers indie rock, avante gard, etc. (non-mainstream) would label U2 as garbage and go wild about bands/ people like GBV, Pat Methany, Buckethead, Diamanda Galas, Bad Brains, ec... That kind of music snobbery bugs me. Name dropping and bashing of the mainstream. But then its not any different in U2 land with some U2 fan. But I guess if it gets you off, more power to you, huh.
I love mainstream music and appeciate it. I don't reject my owning Tiffany records or love of Michael Jackson stuff. When I was in junior high, I thought Roxette was the shiznit. I think in 1997-98 when the Spice Girls, Hanson, BSB came out.... they were a breath of fresh on radio/ tv compared to the stale alt rock the industry put out. I don't hate on the music. Its the industry that sux though.
I love mainstream music and appeciate it. I don't reject my owning Tiffany records or love of Michael Jackson stuff. When I was in junior high, I thought Roxette was the shiznit. I think in 1997-98 when the Spice Girls, Hanson, BSB came out.... they were a breath of fresh on radio/ tv compared to the stale alt rock the industry put out. I don't hate on the music. Its the industry that sux though.
Flying FuManchu
New Yorker
It all comes down to one's personal taste. A person can piss on a Matchbox 20 song as being crap but the best argument/answer that most people tend to come up with is ",It just stinks."
I laugh, sometimes when people deconstruct songs they hate in order to bash them because the same standards would crush that person's favorite music. Musical snobbery sucks.
Yet for some reason I can't help being drawn to these people and listen into their bashings.
I laugh, sometimes when people deconstruct songs they hate in order to bash them because the same standards would crush that person's favorite music. Musical snobbery sucks.
Yet for some reason I can't help being drawn to these people and listen into their bashings.
Popmartijn
Blue Crack Supplier
Popkidu2,
I could quote your two post because they are so. I won't do it though as they are just a bit above this post. I totally agree with you on this. It's what you like, not what others tell you to like.
C ya!
Marty
I could quote your two post because they are so
. I won't do it though as they are just a bit above this post. I totally agree with you on this. It's what you like, not what others tell you to like.C ya!
Marty
meegannie
Blue Crack Addict
popkidu2 said:
LarryMullen's POPAngel
Blue Crack Distributor
isn't the new album "The Remote Part"? 
Hallelujah Here She Comes
Rock n' Roll Doggie
LarryMullen's_POPAngel said:isn't the new album "The Remote Part"?
yeah...and west coast surfer rock?...meh?
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