I know what I like

“I’m fascinated by the contortions we get ourselves into when trying to justify and validate the simple pleasure we get from the music. if we like something we apparently have to find a way to prove it is more worth our while than the things we like this.” David Hepworth – Nothing is Real

I’ve been enjoying reading Nothing is Real by David Hepworth – a collection of music thoughts and essays.

In one of them he discusses the perceived ‘difference’ between Pop and Rock music – noting that at some point there started being a perception that Pop was less ‘real’. The image of the tortured artist/rocker suffering for their craft, and bearing their soul started being percieved as more valid because it was real, and not manufactured.

Hepworth pushes back against this idea in a number of ways – making the point that there is no reason to have to justify our taste/preference as more important, smarter or more valid.

We can like what we like – and others can like what they like.

I like this idea – it is freeing. It opens you up to hearing new things. It lets you listen for more than the style, or genre of a song.