I admit it. I'm not that into music. I mean, if you peek at my Facebook page & look under "Arts & Entertainment," I have 17 artists listed under "Music." This may seem like a decent amount but when you compare it to the 35 writers under "Books," (I just entered the names of writers because if I were to list books, the Facebook server might crash from overload), and the 50 entries for "Movies," it's easy to discern where my true interests lie.
It's not that I have anything against music. I do have an ipod with plenty of music on it & I listen to it when I'm getting ready in the morning, driving around, cleaning my room, etc. (This is, of course, only when I'm not listening to a book on tape. (not to be confused with the band Book on Tape) I've got quite the collection of books on tape & quite enjoy listening to them). Some of the music I listen to for nostalgia's sake (Blink 182, Jimmy Eat World, Green Day, Brand New, Death Cab for Cutie, Taking Back Sunday). Some of it I listen to cause it's fun (Barenaked Ladies, Flogging Molly, Regina Spektor, Lady Gaga). But for the majority of my music tastes, I listen to music that blends beautiful and/or tragic lyrics with a devastating, honest, and/or raw voice singing them. My type of music has to be real. The lyrics have to reveal some sort of truth & emotion. If the song is about heartache, the words sung & the voice singing them have to make me understand & feel his or her heartache. Raw, honest, and devastating. The music that accompanies the lyrics is only a minor detail in my mind.
I could go on & on about the reasons I like my very few bands and list various examples of lyrics (and I probably will someday in a later post. I have one in the works but it's not done yet. Stay Tuned). But recently I have discovered I am woefully ignorant when it comes to music at large. Last night I went & saw my friends' band play. They're called John-Ross Boyce & His Troubles. My friend John-Ross is the singer & lead guitarist, while my other friend, Dave Newlin, plays the drums. There are three other guys in the group, James Barlow on bass, Ryan Moore on guitar, and Tom Perry on piano/keyboard. John-Ross describes their music as "gutter country." It's very gritty/folksy/bluesy-esque. (See, this is a perfect example of how my complete lack of broader music knowledge leaves me unable to even properly describe a specific sound. So here's what I'm going to do: click on this handy-dandy link & listen to John-Ross & His Troubles. My favorite song is "The World Needs Ditchdiggers Too" but that's just John-Ross doing some acoustic stuff. My next favorite is probably "No Doctors, No Priests" then " Holy Sabbath Impending." Last night they played a song called "Old Crow" that was delightful. I'm sad it's not on their page...). I had a blast listening to them. I had heard bit of their stuff before & was delighted by the sound & the lyrics. It is a perfect example of what I mean by blend of beautifully tragic lyrics with a devastatingly raw voice singing them. And it's not that all of their songs are tragic & devastating in a sad, depressing kind of way. Most of them are quite fun to listen to. It's that their devastating because they are so honest & real that it speaks to the individual on such a personal level that it can only be described as tragic & devastating.
After their show, J.R. came & sat next to a group of us (consisting of a girl named Olivia, Eliza, & another one whose name escapes me. Eliza is dating James, I think Olivia is dating Ryan (no guarantees, just a hunch) and Girl #3 is an ex of J.R.'s but on good terms. I had briefly met all of them before back in January(?) when it was Newlin's birthday. This was my second time "meeting" them but whatever). J.R., Olivia, Eliza, & Girl #3 started talking about music, a common subject with J.R. and I was struck, not for the first time, how they might have been speaking a different language. They were discussing genres of music that I had never heard of (such as Sledgehammer Metal(???)) and dropping names of groups left & right so fast I couldn't even keep any of them in my head long enough to process it before another one came out. I had nothing to contribute to the conversation so I just sat & thought my own private thoughts (again, this happens a LOT when I hang out with J.R.).
In those private musings, I realized something. If the topic of conversation were to be something I actually know something about, like films by the Coen brothers, American literature, Russian literature, the auteurism of films by Quentin Tarantino, then I could make a substantial contribution to the conversation. I used to be so bothered that I could never add anything to these conversations, but last night it made sense. Movies & Literature, they're my main point of interest & I am a freaking near-expert on them. My friends, they know music, a LOT about music. Just because I'm woefully ignorant about that particular topic doesn't mean I'm woefully ignorant about everything in the world.
So I've reached a conclusion: I either need to learn more about music, or make more friends who care more about literature & movies.
Love you.
Mean it.
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