How do you not know that song? I thought you loved music?
Someone said this to me yesterday when referencing the song, which I had to Google, Moves Like Jagger.
Audiophiles reading this might wince at the mention of that song, or if you’re like me and had never heard it (now I wince as I listened), it will be met with a blank stare. And I say this not to be a music snob, it’s merely that I do not listen to radio outside of the stations here in Vancouver/Seattle or my own music collection. I don’t have cable, so I don’t watch a lot of television on networks either. Some may call this a bubble, but hey, it’s well insulated and I serve lots of tea.
I dislike statements or questions like the one posed to me; which is essentially saying because you’re a fan of something means you should know everything about that one thing. Same thing used to happen with me when I was a film student; How have you not seen that? I thought you studied film? What do you mean you don’t like so and so – it made Xillion dollars at the box office.
Hey, there is a lot of art out there and I’m a firm believer that it comes into your life when you’re ready for it. Also, if one spent their days just watching films or listening to music non-stop, it would actually make living your life a bit difficult and if you can’t do the latter it’s going to make your appreciation and understanding of all that art suffer.*
But it’s so popular, how do you not like it?
To me this is the difference between carrots and asparagus. I can never go back to just normal carrots when I’m cooking veggies. I’ve been ruined by the good stuff. I will add carrots, or dip them in hummus when I’m lazing on the couch on a Saturday afternoon, but I will never just steam carrots as a side when asparagus is out there.
This is how I feel about music and film.
Sometimes I wish I could watch a film without the lense of a film student, or listen to music without the ear of having been a lifelong fan of many different genres, it’s very hard to shut those voices off. They can be subdued in the right moment, to a whisper, and you know, sometimes they need to be. Yet, they are always crawling their way back up.
And man, do they hate carrots.
*My rationale for why I waited so long to watch Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.