Learning it the Hard Way
"Even if I know I shall never change the masses, never transform anything permanent, all I ask is that the good things also have their place, their refuge." - Richard Wagner
"Even if I know I shall never change the masses, never transform anything permanent, all I ask is that the good things also have their place, their refuge." - Richard Wagner
311 has been my favorite band since before I saw a boob for the first time. Now, I know that this may come off as a surprise, but that was a long time ago. I think I was 9 the first time I heard 311 on MTV (15 when I saw a boob, but whatevs.) 9 or 10, I don't remember. I know it was hot as balls outside, and it was a Monday. Why I remember that it was a Monday is beyond me, I just know that it was. It was probably 2 or 3 in the afternoon (given that we were inside watching MTV and not outside doing some senseless, boring chore) and it may have been raining, but I doubt it. They were undoubtedly preceded (or followed by) either "Doin' It" by L.L. Cool J, or "Killing Me Softly" by the Fugees.
The song was "Down," and it ruined my life.
When you're that age (you know, before titties,) everything new only ever seems "awesome." This song - rather, the video - at the time, was awesome. Now, there is nothing that is really cool about this video (five dudes dancing around and a fat guy floating) and there is nothing fantastic about the song. I just knew that I didn't want it to end, and when it did, I eagerly awaited the next time it would be on. If only Ozzie knew.
I ended up watching a lot of MTV that summer. Fortunately, MTV still played a lot of music back then, but unfortunately, they still played a lot of bad music. It took a while before I was able to see it again. Actually, it took so long that "Don't Stay Home" had a video, and I immediately liked it better than "Down." Not because it's necessarily better (which it is) but because it was different. I didn't know it yet - and I still don't, to an extent - but deciding that "Don't Stay Home" is better than "Down" would, on one hand, seem like an easy decision. On the other hand, it pretty much puts into perspective everything we do in life.
I spent all summer waiting to hear one song, and when I finally heard a different one (albeit by the same artist), I completely forgot about the former, and immediately sought after the latter. I learned the hard way that a) "Down" is a terrible song, and b) that sometimes it takes finding something better to realize that what you have is not really that great. I failed in hearing "Down" a hundred thousand times that summer (which was my goal,) but I was successful in obtaining an album I would listen to two hundred thousand times (no easy feat), and because of a song I liked merely because it was not the same shit as everything else I was listening to. And that band has been my unwavering favorite since. Success out of failure, amirite?
The crux of my conundrum is that, now when I listen to 311, I am listening to the same old shit. (This is not to say that in 1995, 311 was so far ahead of their time that when music caught up they would seem obsolete, because this is clearly not the case. Maybe in 1989 when they all had hair and REM was still popular, but not in the mid-90's.) It's not been a long time, but music has changed since then, I have changed since then, and 311 still pretty much sucks. I'm learning the hard way that I need to find a better band to know everything about.
No matter hard I try (or don't try), I don't think anyone will replace 311 as my favorite band. This is not altogether a bad thing, I guess. One day, a bunch of years down the road, my kids will ask what kind of music I like, and when I tell them, they will have no idea what I'm talking about. I'm sure of it, 311 is not timeless, and their time will one day end. The ebb and flow of my musical tastes strongly correlate with the ebb and flow of my life.
Right now, The Offspring's "Conspiracy of One" is blasting from my computer speakers, and I mean blasting. I can say without hesitation that, though I may enjoy this music (emphasis on may), I cannot fathom the Offspring ever becoming my favorite band. This is the problem: every band I ever listen to gets compared to 311. And because I listened to 311 for so long, no one ever comes close. Even if I actively want a band to be more enjoyable to me, they still come up short.
I went through all the stages. Before I discovered 311 ("Three Hundred and Eleven," as I called them for about two weeks) Nirvana was my favorite band, on account of the fact that I knew them by name and knew that one song. I started listening to Pink Floyd in my freshman year of college, but that seems like sort of a waste of time, having never watched The Wall while baked out of my mind. This was followed by my short stint as the world's "Worst Led Zeppelin Fan." You can't be a Zeppelin fan if the best part of "Stairway" is not the fact that "Misty Mountain Hop" comes on right after it. I delved into Metallica for some (retarded) reason, and actually liked St. Anger; one can only guess how long that lasted. When I became an alcoholic, I started listening to Rage, because that's what Luke always listened to. That dude's voice always drives me crazy, though. When I finally grew up and found out that the dudes in Muse aren't freaks, (thanks, Guitar Hero 3 for having Lars Umulet as the default avatar for "Knights of Cydonia,") I started listening to them. I still like them a lot, but The Resistance was quite the letdown. Nowadays it's Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures in a neck-in-neck tie with each other.
If there was a moral to this story, I'd say it right here. If I had a point, I'd say it plain.
Everyone goes through stages in their life, and even something as arbitrary as musical taste is always something we look back on, sometimes fondly, other times not so much. No matter how hard I try, even if I find a better band, 311 will always be my favorite band. Or, at least, that's the way I will remember this stage of my life in the future. I've seen a lot of boobs since that first time (and they've all been fantastic, thank you, ladies.) Some I remember more fondly than others, and some have been difficult to get over. They all have a place in my past, and, somehow, they will all be worth it in the future.
I don''t know what the future holds, but I do know that it's going to be difficult to move on from 311, no matter how easy they might make it for me.
The song was "Down," and it ruined my life.
When you're that age (you know, before titties,) everything new only ever seems "awesome." This song - rather, the video - at the time, was awesome. Now, there is nothing that is really cool about this video (five dudes dancing around and a fat guy floating) and there is nothing fantastic about the song. I just knew that I didn't want it to end, and when it did, I eagerly awaited the next time it would be on. If only Ozzie knew.
I ended up watching a lot of MTV that summer. Fortunately, MTV still played a lot of music back then, but unfortunately, they still played a lot of bad music. It took a while before I was able to see it again. Actually, it took so long that "Don't Stay Home" had a video, and I immediately liked it better than "Down." Not because it's necessarily better (which it is) but because it was different. I didn't know it yet - and I still don't, to an extent - but deciding that "Don't Stay Home" is better than "Down" would, on one hand, seem like an easy decision. On the other hand, it pretty much puts into perspective everything we do in life.
I spent all summer waiting to hear one song, and when I finally heard a different one (albeit by the same artist), I completely forgot about the former, and immediately sought after the latter. I learned the hard way that a) "Down" is a terrible song, and b) that sometimes it takes finding something better to realize that what you have is not really that great. I failed in hearing "Down" a hundred thousand times that summer (which was my goal,) but I was successful in obtaining an album I would listen to two hundred thousand times (no easy feat), and because of a song I liked merely because it was not the same shit as everything else I was listening to. And that band has been my unwavering favorite since. Success out of failure, amirite?
The crux of my conundrum is that, now when I listen to 311, I am listening to the same old shit. (This is not to say that in 1995, 311 was so far ahead of their time that when music caught up they would seem obsolete, because this is clearly not the case. Maybe in 1989 when they all had hair and REM was still popular, but not in the mid-90's.) It's not been a long time, but music has changed since then, I have changed since then, and 311 still pretty much sucks. I'm learning the hard way that I need to find a better band to know everything about.
No matter hard I try (or don't try), I don't think anyone will replace 311 as my favorite band. This is not altogether a bad thing, I guess. One day, a bunch of years down the road, my kids will ask what kind of music I like, and when I tell them, they will have no idea what I'm talking about. I'm sure of it, 311 is not timeless, and their time will one day end. The ebb and flow of my musical tastes strongly correlate with the ebb and flow of my life.
Right now, The Offspring's "Conspiracy of One" is blasting from my computer speakers, and I mean blasting. I can say without hesitation that, though I may enjoy this music (emphasis on may), I cannot fathom the Offspring ever becoming my favorite band. This is the problem: every band I ever listen to gets compared to 311. And because I listened to 311 for so long, no one ever comes close. Even if I actively want a band to be more enjoyable to me, they still come up short.
I went through all the stages. Before I discovered 311 ("Three Hundred and Eleven," as I called them for about two weeks) Nirvana was my favorite band, on account of the fact that I knew them by name and knew that one song. I started listening to Pink Floyd in my freshman year of college, but that seems like sort of a waste of time, having never watched The Wall while baked out of my mind. This was followed by my short stint as the world's "Worst Led Zeppelin Fan." You can't be a Zeppelin fan if the best part of "Stairway" is not the fact that "Misty Mountain Hop" comes on right after it. I delved into Metallica for some (retarded) reason, and actually liked St. Anger; one can only guess how long that lasted. When I became an alcoholic, I started listening to Rage, because that's what Luke always listened to. That dude's voice always drives me crazy, though. When I finally grew up and found out that the dudes in Muse aren't freaks, (thanks, Guitar Hero 3 for having Lars Umulet as the default avatar for "Knights of Cydonia,") I started listening to them. I still like them a lot, but The Resistance was quite the letdown. Nowadays it's Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures in a neck-in-neck tie with each other.
If there was a moral to this story, I'd say it right here. If I had a point, I'd say it plain.
Everyone goes through stages in their life, and even something as arbitrary as musical taste is always something we look back on, sometimes fondly, other times not so much. No matter how hard I try, even if I find a better band, 311 will always be my favorite band. Or, at least, that's the way I will remember this stage of my life in the future. I've seen a lot of boobs since that first time (and they've all been fantastic, thank you, ladies.) Some I remember more fondly than others, and some have been difficult to get over. They all have a place in my past, and, somehow, they will all be worth it in the future.
I don''t know what the future holds, but I do know that it's going to be difficult to move on from 311, no matter how easy they might make it for me.
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