Switched Keys

Forbidden Music

I've been questioned about my musical tastes on many occasions. Although I am well past 40, I enjoy much of the music of more recent generations.  One person earlier in the year was quite surprised that I liked listening to Saliva's "Click, Click, Boom." A quiet, serious person, apparently is not allowed to listen to heavy metal and hard rock. Others have said that they (the band) are too young for me.

It's simple to me. While everyone else from my generation hung on to the early rock bands, and similar styles, I grew with the music. As new bands formed and new music was put out, I acquired a taste for much of it. A musical life is somewhat limited (boring) if it doesn't make room for some variety.

That may also explain other phenomenon that have plagued my generation. I often hear about parents my age say that they need their kids to help them with computers. Yet, I was one of the persons that purchased a computer and started using it when they first came out. That was about the same time that "other" kids started using computers.

Similarly, I started becoming interested in business subjects while I was still working, essentially as a skilled laborer. People don't tend to grow with society. They tend to settle with what they're in when they are in their twenties. Just because we graduate from high school, or college, doesn't mean the learning and growing should stop. If we are to enjoy the best in life, we should become lifetime learners.

For me, one of the benefits of being a lifetime learner is that it fits into my new career prospects. Like other professionals, accountants are required to keep abreast of changes in the industry in order to provide professional services to clients. Growth just makes a lot of sense. But, back to music...

Earplugs

I do enjoy music, but I'm not one of those people that wear earplugs while walking the Rose Rudman trail, or working out at Premier Fitness. I also like people and don't want to close them out. Earplugs seem to say, "Don't bother me; I'm listening to MY music." I'm not saying that is what people think, but that's what I think when I'm not open to other's interaction. We should never be so wrapped up in ourselves that we forget that we are part of the human community. God put us here to enjoy friendship and fellowship, and to be lights to those that need it. That's hard to do without interaction. But, back to music again...

Studious listening

One of the times I listen to music the most is while I'm studying. To that I've often heard the question, "How can you concentrate when you are listening to music?" A couple of explanations come to mind. When you are listening to music that is so familiar to you that you don't have to think about what is being sung, you won't be as likely to be as distracted. That's not where I fall, though, since a human voice begs for my interaction.

A better explanation for myself is that, I can't hear the words that clearly, so I'm hearing primarily the music. That may explain why I listen to what I listen to.When the instruments are louder than the vocals, as is the case with most rock and alternative, I'm not being forced to mentally interact. Of course, I also minimize the need to interact by listening to genres like French alternative and pop; artists like Autour de Lucie and . True, I know some French, but not enough to be distracted by it.

Au revoir