Why do you listen to the music you listen to?

Why do you listen to the music you listen to?

  • Knowledge

    Votes: 4 44.4%

  • Friendship

    Votes: 2 22.2%

  • Religion

    Votes: 2 22.2%

  • Joy

    Votes: 6 66.7%

  • Comfort

    Votes: 6 66.7%

  • Love

    Votes: 2 22.2%

  • Other

    Votes: 4 44.4%
  • Total voters
    9
P

polishdog90

New member
Hey all,

I'm curious why people listen to the styles of music they listen to. Is it because your friends introduced your favorite band? Is it because you play an instrument and you like listening to styles that highlight that instrument? Do certain songs touch your heart where others don't? Basically, why do you prefer one style of music over another?

For the response, put the genre you primarily listen to or some artists/songs you like and why you like them in the categories of knowledge, friendship, religion, joy, comfort, love, and other.

For me, a lot of my favorite songs are pop songs from the 1960's with rich vocal harmonies. I listen to them primarily for joy. I can't help but smile when I hear the Beach Boys. But this also leads to comfort. If I'm feeling down and want to raise my mood I will take comfort in those same songs.
 
I grew up as a pastors kid so I listened to alot of Petra, DC Talk, etc. growing up. However, at around 7th grade I started developing my own tastes and listened to either alot of pop/punk and acoustic music (which are kinda polar opposites, but whatever). Now days, I still have a place for pop/punk and alternative music like The Rocket Summer, All Time Low, Cartel, and The Early November. I also listen to alot of acoustic music like Damien Rice and DMB.

That is just a very select few of what I currently listen to (or at least what some of what my go-to styles are)
 
I like what I like. I don't listen to just one style of music. There are some styles that I won't listen to (rap, modern country) but my taste in music is pretty eclectic.
 
Track Rat said:
I like what I like. I don't listen to just one style of music. There are some styles that I won't listen to (rap, modern country) but my taste in music is pretty eclectic.
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My thoughts as well. Over time I have tended to gravitate away from the 'chainsaw guitars' of my youth!
 
I always go back to the music of my teens...no matter what I "produce" or what fad im into at any period of time..

If Im honest, although the music is simplistic and pretty dumb, its the most important and consistent thing in my life...it wasnt from a particularly happy period, pretty nasty teenage years, but I never bore of it...it puts me in a better place anytime I listen to it and goes beyond just a cheerful listening experience, it changes my frame of mind instantly

watch out if i hear it after a few beers, dancing ensues regardless of where I am


music is weird
 
kcearl said:
I always go back to the music of my teens...no matter what I "produce" or what fad im into at any period of time..
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I am the EXACT same way. Sure, I am not old by any means, I am nearing 28. But I grew up on pop punk (Blink 182, The Starting Line, and pretty much anything else on the late Drive Thru Records label). It is VERY simplistic, but it is what I love. However, I do find myself getting and listening to more and more 90's hit radio music....I guess nostalgia is not all that bad.
 
Greg_L said:
Most people do. That's why old people play old music and young people play young music.
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exactly...you cant fight it, you can appreciate other things, and even forget about it for a while but its always there...Im just glad it wasnt disco, that would be fucked

phriq said:
I am the EXACT same way. Sure, I am not old by any means, I am nearing 28. But I grew up on pop punk (Blink 182, The Starting Line, and pretty much anything else on the late Drive Thru Records label). It is VERY simplistic, but it is what I love. However, I do find myself getting and listening to more and more 90's hit radio music....I guess nostalgia is not all that bad.
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yup...at 44 there are periods of time when I completely forgot about it for a few year but bam, it always comes back lol

strange thing is is no one I really know as friends is really into it but after hearing me play it so often there always a track or two they like :)

nostalgia is a funny one...I ignored most of the modern music when I was young but now I can go back to it and enjoy it (other than the Jam, they've always been there or thereabouts)
 
polishdog90 said:
Why do you listen to the music you listen to?
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Well, it's to do with this biological process that takes place when waves travel through the air and are picked up by the ears.........

Armistice said:
"Because I like it"
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Regardless of any philosophical reason, this is the bottom line. Personally, I don't listen to any particular genre, particularly. It's easier to say what I don't listen to {Ragga and C&W}.

Greg_L said:
Because I like it.
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That said though, it's not always that simple. I know and have known people who listen to particular genres of music because peer wise or culture wise that is what is expected or demanded by the back door.

Track Rat said:
I like what I like.....but my taste in music is pretty eclectic.
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I've noticed this about myself for the best part of 40 years - I pick up anything from anyone. But very rarely would people pick stuff up from me. I picked up a love of classical from my Dad, the Seekers, a bit of Jim Reeves and 60s pop from my Mum, the Bay City Rollers and {after a fashion} disco from my younger sister, 70s pop from my older sister, a bit of rap from my little brother and the kids I used to work with, soul from my Uncle's ex girlfriend, jazz from my mate who drums for me etc......picked up lots from loads of sources as well as all the sounds and styles I discovered on my lonesome. Sometimes, I'd listen to a record just because I liked the cover art or found the line up interesting.
There are also bands/artists that I "should" like because of their ethos, line up, era and drugs of choice. But I can't stand them. Traffic are a good example of that.

kcearl said:
I always go back to the music of my teens...no matter what I "produce" or what fad im into at any period of time..
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Very rarely have I really ever been into something then gotten to dislike it. When I look at my music collection, it is more than well represented by stuff I listened to in every decade I've been alive. There was a period at the start of this century when I wanted to collect as many old singles as I could remember then stick them onto a CD. Sometimes, I'd cast my mind back to when I was 4 or 5. I'd think about a specific memory and it would evoke a song. I distinctly remember "Red balloon" {Dave Clak 5} and "My name's Jack" {Manfred Mann} coming to my memory that way. I remembered a journey to my Uncle's place when I was 5. I remembered the horses there and being a bit scared of them. That memory sparked "Red balloon".
But that's not why I listen to that or any other song. I'm not interested in re~living the past. Though many songs may remind or evoke past events {some much more strongly than others}, I like because.........I like them !
 
grimtraveller said:
That said though, it's not always that simple. I know and have known people who listen to particular genres of music because peer wise or culture wise that is what is expected or demanded by the back door.
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Those people are dumb. I was friends with a black dude in high school that liked punk rock. He was regularly chastised by his brutha brethren for not liking rap. The Dr Dre crowd didn't know Bad Brains are black dudes too.
 
Greg_L said:
Those people are dumb. I was friends with a black dude in high school that liked punk rock. He was regularly chastised by his brutha brethren for not liking rap. The Dr Dre crowd didn't know Bad Brains are black dudes too.
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I agree, but tons of those people exist. An old mate of mine back in the day was telling me how he really got into reggae. His two brothers were heavy drug dealers and he told me that as he was getting into ganja, he was round at one of the brother's and some of his brother's heavy mates were there. There was about 12 years between them which, when he was 17 was obviously a big deal. Anyway, the big brother and all the heavy dreads are there, smoking and nodding to Matumbi or whoever and my mate is trying to impress all these big men, when his brother turns to him and says, very loudly "So, are you still listening to David Bowie......?". This, in 1981. He told me he was never so embarrassed in his life. After that, he only listened to reggae, soul or that embryonic British funk. Although when we used to get stoned, I did turn him onto "Echoes" by Pink Floyd. He always loved "Echoes".
I used to get the same thing. Still do. Just as the city I was living in at the time was going disco mad, I discovered and loved Pink Floyd, the Stones, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep and a host of heavy rockers that 32 years on I still listen to. Black guys just aren't supposed to listen to music by whites !
Ironically, Many of the early rappers were really into 70s heavy rock. Some of the 'hood brothers thought Aerosmith were called Toys in the attic.
 
Greg_L said:
Those people are dumb. I was friends with a black dude in high school that liked punk rock. He was regularly chastised by his brutha brethren for not liking rap. The Dr Dre crowd didn't know Bad Brains are black dudes too.
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Agreed, I had a friend who was half black and half white and was a huge pop/punk fan. And based on the cultural combination you think he would be expected to listen to rap made with taiko drum and a koto. But he fought the man and liked punk!
 
grimtraveller said:
That said though, it's not always that simple. I know and have known people who listen to particular genres of music because peer wise or culture wise that is what is expected or demanded by the back door.
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I was with a friend the other day. She's one of the people who likes what culture demands. Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne, etc. She takes my ipod and says, "wow you have shitty music." :eek::wtf: She didn't even know who ANY of the artists/bands were on my ipod except The Beatles. It's very sad. Because she's around people that listen to the same thing, it makes her think that her music is best... And I find it funny that anyone thinks some music is better than others for that matter...
 
i guess the things i like about music haven't really changed in a good 30 years or so. and, as time goes by, those things are increasingly characteristic of a different era of music. i still listen to and like alot of stuff i listened to as a teenager and when i was in my 20s. but i'm always getting turned on to stuff i never heard, and learning about newer bands that have similar aesthetics (but fewer and fewer all the time) which is important for me because my ears always want to be surprised. i can't just listen to the same songs for 20 years, though i never stop liking them.
 
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