Identification In Music
Well, it has to happen again. Your favourite self-proclaimed music critic has written yet another obscure Ph.D. music essay that no one gives a shit about. But you are reading this right now, are you not? Uh, okay. So what the hell is music identification?
Now go and sit in front of your television. If you are unfortunate enough to catch a glimpse of Fergie’s “London Bridge” on MTV, you will get what I mean. First, the song is hardly pleasant to the ears. It does not take a genious to figure out that the music is obviously ugly, if not vomit-inducing. The beats are slightly more beautiful than the sound of me farting on a microphone, but that is not saying much. Second, the song serves no meaningful purpose whatsoever. Even the cheesiest ballads on Earth, to name “My Heart Will Go On” among others, resonate with you if you happen to be one of the sensitive type of boys/girls who love watching tear-jerking soap operas. But the Fergie’s song does not even evoke any kinds of feeling/reaction, apart from the urge to mute the volume at instant speed. Third, the song is a far cry from originality. “London Bridge” is not a musical revolution combining fresh new ideas with sharp mass appeal. Nelly Furtado experiments on the weird commercial-pop spectrum long before the Black Eyed Peas became a household name and she did it much better than Fergie can even dream of. Inarguably, “London Bridge” is a horrible insult in the name of music. At best, it passes barely as a shamefully-admitted guilty pleasure. But wait a minute, the song is a smashing hit single. And Fergie the millionaire is laughing on her way to the bank as another thousand of fools download the aforementioned “London Bridge” on iTunes. For curiousity alone, I gave the song a proper listen for several times. And guess what, the more that I listen to it, the harder it is to get the annoying tunes out of my head. Not because I am starting to like the song, but rather because I have begun to identify the song.
If you are still confused, let me share a story. Looking back to 2002, when my music knowledge was still undeveloped, my top five favourite music acts were: Avril Lavigne, Bon Jovi, Shakira, Kylie Minogue, and, God forbid, Las Ketchup. If I have to re-analyze, it happened due to my premature identification with hits like “Everyday”, “Objection (Tango)”, “Come Into My World”, or “Asereje (The Ketchup Song)” (NOTE: I do not mention an Avril single since it has been proven that she survives the test of time.). Sure, some of the songs that I identified with back then are still worthy. But most of them, take Las Ketchup as an example, are disposable garbage shoveled down my throat through excessive/non-stop MTV airplays so I would be willing to spend my pocket money (that my parents have worked hard on) and trade them for the album “Hijas Del Tomate” that I never listened to again. Nowadays, I have somehow developed my music knowledge a little bit so not to be spoonfed by the greedy recording industry. But most casual listeners still have the mentality to prematurely identify (or misidentify) themselves with anyone they see on MTV, spending their hard-earned cash on various random records and never knowing whether they truly like their outputs or not. Years later, they would be listening to Jamie Lynn Spears’ debut album and they would forget “Asereje (The Ketchup Song)” just like how Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” faded away from their memories (who’s still listening to Last Ketchup in 2008, anyway?). We all know how varied people are. So they have Linkin Park for the pseudo-macho fraternities, Justin Timberlake for the screaming fangirls, James Blunt for the hypersensitive razor-cutting audiences, 50 Cent for the “cool” teens, et cetera. Just about anything from Fall Out Boy to Paris Hilton to Crazy Frog. Now you know how smart the record industry can be when they utilize their marketing strategy well, eh?
I can jump to the conclusion that “the broader our music knowledge is, the more our taste truly reflects our taste and not what is exposed to us”. If we look beyond what is offered, we will be rewarded with the real deal. Geez, I did not know what I was missing back then in 2002. Sure, I could have chosen to continue chewing on those bubblegums and buy another pack of bubblegums when they have became tasteless. But why not have tenderloin steak or spaghetti bolognese instead? They keep us really satisfied and full for a long time. The first time I listened to Tori Amos’ “Little Earthquakes” was years ago. Though I do not put it on consecutive repeats like I used to (say, six times a day), sometimes I play the album and I am still amazed with the musicality that she shows on that album. It goes to show that “Little Earthquakes” stands while “Hijas Del Tomate” is collecting dust on my drawer now.
PS. On this essay, I mention about my tendency to identify with the likes of Tori Amos, but that does not mean you have to go through the same way. Like I mentioned before, people have varied tastes. If your taste leans on heavy metal, you might find yourself at home with early Metallica or Led Zeppelin. If you are willing to try some mad experiments, you might head yourself to Pink Floyd or even Frank Zappa. The list goes on ad infinitum.
