Musical Chemistry

Hey, we’re crossing disciplines. It’s art AND science.
I have been thinking a lot about why people like what music, or not, and part of that is the mechanics of the attraction, but part of that is also what liking means.

For example, some of the pieces that I liked better on the Top 100 guitar list were by Buddy Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughn, and I would characterize them more as blues. I like blues, but I never really bring it up to for listening. Where I end up hearing it is at the Blues Festival, and live on a sunny day feels like the perfect way of enjoying blues to me. (I started going to the Blues Festival for zydeco, and that is something I actually have a CD for and play on occasion.)

Actually, it is similar with Duran Duran. I have watched and liked their videos, but somehow I never really listen to them. I do, however, attend their concerts when they come to town, and they put on great shows. I really love them, in that I appreciate their showmanship and I feel affection for them as people. That being said, I don’t own a single CD, and the only time I have brought up one of their videos recently was when I was thinking a character I was working on might dress like the girl in New Moon on Monday. (And I was remembering it wrong, and Jane dresses more like a Ramone.)

Some of this may be that I get plenty of exposure without seeking it out. Both of my younger sisters are huge Duran Duran fans, which is how I ended up at a concert in the first place. In addition, a friend I spent a lot of time with growing up was a huge fan. She is the reason I have seen A View to A Kill. Julie and Maria are the reason I have seen The Saint. (I may not have watched The Living Daylights without a-ha doing the theme song, so I’m not judging.) To some extent I am fine with that, because I do like them, but I don’t usually need them, and it was part of my ornery nature that whenever Danielle would have me pick something to play, I would either choose “Take It Easy” (which I love, from Andy’s solo efforts) or the theme song from The Neverending Story by Limahl (which she had because Nick Rhodes produced it.)

Actually, with my group of friends from junior high, we had a lot of crossover, but none of us had the same favorite bands. Karen leaned more towards the Cure and Dead or Alive, though she and Nicky both loved David Bowie, though that was more for his acting (the Monkees too), and Ericka was very into INXS, though she loved Charlie Sexton like I did, and I was really all about a-ha. (I don’t remember Ann being really into anyone, which makes me wonder if she wasn’t, or if I was just insensitive.)

We all respected each other’s tastes. Back then my only shared concert was with Nicky. We saw the Monkees, along with Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, the Grass Roots, Herman’s Hermits, and a baseball game. It was kind of a long lineup. Later on I saw Faith No More and Billy Idol with Ericka, and Karen and I have seen the Killers, Franz Ferdinand, and Gogol Bordello together, and we would be going to the Black Keys together if I were not going to be out of town. (Well, and I did not attend Duran Duran with Danielle, but she was there.)

Then and now I had different relationships with each of them, even though there were definitely times when we were functioning as a unit. I guess I have different relationships with different artists and different songs. Some are fine to be around, and some are like fingernails on a blackboard, and some I downright need.

One reason I can’t bring myself to really try computer dating is that I am really a love at first sight kind of person, and no, it’s not practical, but it’s how I roll.
Wondering if I was crazy once, I sat down and analyzed the times where it had happened. While in each case it was an instantaneous thing with no background information, both were artistic, and musicians actually (one more than the other). Both were very kind, also, though not particularly patient. When I had a similar attraction to someone else, though it never got as serious, well, I was not particularly surprised to find out that he was a drummer. Of course he was. I guess I had a type.

(Fine, they were also all tall, lanky, and brunette, with good hair and good biceps, but if you are a drummer or a guitar player the arms tend to get developed, and I do not respond that way to people who match the physical description but are not kind and creative.)

To some extent, I have a music type as well. I respond a lot to melody. That is probably why I tend not to like rap, grunge, and metal, where there is more of an emphasis on other things. I like there to be depth of emotion, but also that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. I suspect this is why I prefer how the anger as it comes out in punk than in metal. Punk is more humorous than metal. It is probably also why despite my appreciation for “Viva La Vida”, I am not a big Coldplay fan—they’re a little on the serious side too. Maybe that’s my problem with Bob Dylan. And U2! (And my preference for melody may explain why I like some punk bands more than others.)

I was discussing with a friend once that liking someone is more of a compliment than loving them. You’re supposed to love everyone, and when you are a good person it becomes more natural to love people more, so that might be the given. Liking is a gift. I don’t just feel a desire for your welfare—I enjoy spending time with you.

Songs can be like friends and people you know. You like some, and you need others. Some you outgrow, and some, no matter how long it's been, take you right back.

In other words, Alex Chilton is on the radio, and I’m in love with this song.