Music dominates our attention; Regardless of race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, cultural upbringing, gender identity, or any other diversifying factor, music makes its way to almost everyone’s ears. Some choose Taylor Swift and The Weeknd, while others dive into the past for The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. This spirit was captured when Tom Johnston, lead vocalist of The Doobie Brothers, put together the song “Listen to the music”. The chorus of the folky rock tune goes: “Woh-ho-oh, listen to the music” and repeats about 20 times. Johnston wrote the song because he thought “music would make everything better.” You get my point; So, music is for everyone; but, what’s the significance of me writing about it? Am I, Dylan Shobe, a man who doesn’t know what a b flat, e minor, or symbols on a sheet of music mean, going to be able to enlighten you on music? No. That’s why I’m addressing my credibility now to say that I am not a man of musical origin, but simply an enjoyer of what it has to offer to my ears. It’s important to me that I tell you I’m not a music buff or someone who thinks they’re more “cultured” than others when it comes to listening to music. 

 

An aside

This is in regard to the late Gen X’ers and boomers who tell youth they know nothing about the meaning, or are even aware of the existence of “real music” such as The Beatles, Queen, The Rolling Stones, and whatever other bands that “founded music.” Here’s something that’ll blow their mind: the internet is a thing. I’m sorry, but the “real music” they want to gatekeep from us is not only available, but we can enjoy it too and attempt to understand it, just as you do. You’re not any different or better just because you lived when the music was created. 

 

Everyone’s taste is different yet also personal to them. Two moments in my life proved the truth of each of those characteristics. The first was when I was in a car with a group of people I know, and I was randomly chosen to receive the aux cord in order to play music. Once handed the cord I scrambled through my actual music for a second or two and then ended up picking whatever seemed suited to the crowd. Then your enjoyment of the car ride practically vanishes because my mind was focused on not getting kicked off of aux privileges because my music taste is “trash.” Now that may not have happened to you personally, but I’m sure you can imagine it. That’s where I learned and realized that music taste differs from person to person. The question “what do you listen to?” provokes my other realization. Maybe I’m just shy, but almost every time I have tailored my responses to what they would think is normal or good. It wasn’t necessarily made up because sometimes I did actually listen to popular, universal artists, but usually it wasn’t my frequented artists. Music taste is about as personal to someone as something could be. At least in my opinion, it takes a certain person–usually someone you’re familiar with and have been familiar with for a very long time–to share your true music taste with. If those two situations didn’t help you whatsoever, you can think of the spotify wrapped, where every year they show you your most listened to artists, songs, and genres. Once people start to post theirs on instagram pages or stories, you can see that your taste is at least a good bit different than even your best friend’s. 

“Why can music be personal to someone?” Consider this: Music in a way is a form of self expression. So, if other forms of self expression could be your clothes, the way you talk, your friends, then why would you want to keep music private while those other forms are mainly made public? But also consider where we use music. Other than concerts, parties, gatherings, or car rides with others, we mostly are listening to music privately. If a majority, or some amount of time is allocated to entertain music privately, then we will have songs of preference that are chosen to be private versus what we would have picked when in a group setting. 

Putting aside all of my questions and insights, music is a beautiful thing. It’s diverse, expressive, personal and we’re all lucky to be experiencing it. There are very few things left in our world that manage to grab the attention and value of everyone. In a modern society that grows more and more polarized each day, music becomes this cultural whirlpool or tornado unapologetically shaping and captivating all of us.