Heart and Mind

Putting it Blunt-ly...

This blog entry is not about James Blunt.

I have to say that because if I just started out my dialogue—which would normally begin down there at paragraph four—without clarifying, you might think I was going to write about James Blunt and stop reading if you, like I, are not interested in him.

It's about a larger concept. James Blunt just part of an anecdote to start it off. So, let's begin...

One semi-recent day at work, my co-workers were trying to sell me on that James Blunt fellow. I told them he doesn't do much for me, which is entirely true. I don't particularly dislike him, but he bores me a bit and that's pretty much where it starts and ends for me.

One of my colleagues tried to explain part of why she thinks he is worthwhile by expressing an admirable-but-clichéd remark: "I like him because he actually writes his own songs." She meant he writes his stuff as opposed to all those teeny-pop-idol puppets and the "crooner with good producers and songwriters" crowd.

Of course, after she said this, I said something that I hated to say because I'm sure I came off as smug and self-righteous, but it had to be said:

"Well, yeah," I said. "And that's good, but that's pretty much every one I listen to. I don't listen to bands that don't write their own material."

I hated saying that, and know I sounded like such an arrogant dip-shit when I spewed forth those lines, but it was the truth. Pretty much. I mean, there are a few albums (and I only listen to full albums on my own time; no singles or compilations) that contain a bulk of songs written by outside writers, but those account for a very small percentage.

In short, what I was trying to get across was this notion:

"Yes, not writing your own songs may get you vetoed from becoming part of my collection, but simply because you DO write your own songs doesn't mean it's a trait so admirable that I will like you BECAUSE of it." Zillions of bands—including almost every group I've been—do their own original material.

Really since the Beatles set the standard in the 1960s for the "self-contained group" that doesn't rely on outside writers for material, everyone's been doing it.

Anyway, it makes me really think: what do these people think I'm listening to? Britney Spears? Don't they know that I don't give a damn about those kinds of performers?

They mustn't know that, I've concluded, because I'm always having people ask me things about my opinions on people like Christine Agulera. Shouldn't it go without say that I don't like her? If you know anything about me—even if you only know what I look like—shouldn't you kn ow that I'm not into her? That I'm way beyond the years where I even followed what was happening in contemporary music—even when the artist do have merit? I don't buy anything nor pay much attention to anything the current mainstream music shoves in our faces because the world of entertainment is SO much more vast than some executive programer, who sees you as a statistic whose brain can be programmed, would have you believe.

None of us are immune to occasionally knowing what's going on around us, entertainment-wise, but too many people are victim to the trends that other people decide is worth your listening time.

But, I digress. To sell me James Blunt on the grounds that he's not one of the Britney-types is just plain ridiculous. It should go without say that I don't give a damn about that stuff, but I guess I feel the need to say it, because I'm saying it right now.

I've kind of had this sort of outlook for a long time. As an example, here's a story...

Way back in my freshman year in college in 89/90, the New Kids on the Block were all the rage with the 11-year-olds. And, of course, I thought their brand of pre-packaged, boy-band dance-pop was horrendous. But I mostly didn't give a shit about them because they weren't worth wasting my energies on. But two of my friends were so worked up by their distaste for how much they "sucked" that they actually bought New Kids pins for their jackets and put the "ghostbusters" circle-with-the-line symbol through it. As in, "No New Kids" or "Anti-New Kids." I remember telling them, "Dudes! They're totally getting the better of you to get that kind of reaction! Yeah, I fuckin' hate 'em, but with me, that should go without say, and it should for you, too. You're frieken' 18-year-old guys, not 10-year-old girls."

To me, it was like grown men saying, "Diapers suck! I don't shit in *my* pants!" They're not designed for you, man, they're designed for a demographic much younger than you. And the same was true of the New Kids and the same is true of virtually everything you see on MTV. And, in my opinion, it certainly is true of the Britneys. Yeah, so James Blunt writes his own stuff. That's good. But if people started looking at what's out there beyond what popular culture lays at their feet, they'd see that a lot of other people do the same thing.

posted by Steve @ 9:35 PM