I've had iTunes for awhile now, and although I'm pretty savvy about its nuances, I hadn't really thought about the magnitude of this program until just the other night.
I'm hanging out in my room, listening to "Mmmbop," when I click on the "Shared Music" button to see what other libraries I can browse through.
Technical note: iTunes has a feature that allows users on the iTunes network to share their music libraries with other people in their area. You probably know this, but just in case you didn't...
Looking at the names of all the people, I unexpectedly recognize the name of a guy I know -- one of those people you know but you don't really know. I feel pretty sneaky and sort of nosy, so I obviously upload his library and start browsing through his music -- 269 songs. Sad, my friend, I expected so much more from you. And then I saw Mariah Carey's "Music Box" album listed in his library.
I fell out of my chair laughing. This kid is not the type of guy who listens to Mariah Carey circa 1993. This is the kind of guy who drinks protein shakes, eats raw eggs, and bench presses 400 pounds.
A visual of him crooning "Hero" while doing bicep curls popped into my head.
My moment of joy was corrupted, though, when I realized that while I was laughing at his incredibly odd taste in music, other people could be having the very same reaction to mine.
I suddenly had one of those moments like in dreams when you feel very naked in public with no way to cover yourself. I am highly protective of my music. I love it all, but what do other people think of it?
I got to thinking that music is probably one of the most private, unique things a person has to offer. I base so much of my judgment of other people by their music taste. Not that I'm elitist and only talk to certain people based on song choice, but music says a lot about a person. I'm sure you've noticed that looking at someone's music is like discovering his or her personality all over again. For every song, album or techno remix, you want to know why they like it.
I always speculate about what's on someone's "Spring Break 2004" mix CD or why on earth the person still has Lou Vega's "Mambo No. 5" as a single. But the unlabeled CDs are the biggest mysteries to me: Why couldn't the person label it?! Was he in a hurry? Had he no Sharpie?! The "why?" question eats away at me until I have a chance to interrogate said person regarding his or her particular tastes.
But with CDs becoming obsolete, music libraries on file-sharing programs are becoming the new thing. Everyone is making various playlists: "Chill," "Favs," "Hooking up," you know, the usual. The organization of songs becomes almost as intriguing as the songs themselves.
Music is such a good way to get to know someone, because most people are passionate about the music they listen to. You're not very likely to hear someone complain about the music on his or her playlists unless you have a friend like I do who sneaks into your room and downloads the "Debbie Does Dallas" soundtrack while you're at class.
Some playlist selections are particularly comical. I love it when guys have Dixie Chicks songs or girls have all the Disney songs ("Under the Sea" being the most common or "Prince Ali" if you're Eric Cunningham). You just have to laugh at that.
Music can be the subject of endless hours of conversation. You and your friends can debate about it, sing to it, dance to it, lip-sync to it and put it on the Internet (Ozone's Dragostea Din Tei and the kid from New Jersey, for example), or you can reminisce about middle school dances when Sublime's "What I Got" came on and you screamed the curse words at the end of the "I can play the guitar" line at the top of your lungs.
Even if you don't necessarily like music very much, it still evokes some memory and emotion for you. At least one song must have meaning for you
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