Tunnel Vision

C:/run/rant.exe

This is going to sound really preachy and give the impression that I have a superiority complex in some respect, but this message is going out to all you kids out there who are stuck in a musical genre just to fit into your group of friends.

I grew up like most of you listening to the music that my friends listen to. After all, that's just the way society works; you are attracted to people that have similar interests to you. But when it gets to the point where you're listening music just for the sake of going along with some arbitrary status quo that your group of friends have set for themselves, it just doesn't make any sense.

For example, if your group of friends enjoy the hardcore scene and are into bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Opeth, and Kill All Squirrels (okay I made that last one up), all power to you if you actually enjoy it. I am asking you to actually think about it though: do you actually enjoy this kind of music, or are you listening to it so you can fit in with your friends?

Admittedly, I caught myself doing something similar to this in high school. In order for me to fit in more with my group of friends, I found myself listening to a lot of alternative punk rock bands (if that's even the correct label for the genre) that I didn't necessarily like at the time (and have subsequently deleted from my library). Now, I'm finding that I am basing my musical tastes on what I actually like, rather than what I think other people will think of me if I listen to them. That's why I can get away with a play-list that includes Natalie Cole, The Blood Brothers, Public Enemy, and Pete Murray. This is the part where I was worried about sounding like an elitist; by no means am I saying you should listen to these bands because I like them, I am just saying that I've diversified my musical tastes because I've opened up somewhat.

Obviously, if you don't like a kind of music, no one is forcing you to listen to it. Just don't judge a book by its cover, or in this case, an album by its CD jacket sleeve. I guess my whole point of this is to just try and be open minded about music and not let yourself get into a sort of tunnel vision where you'll only listen to one kind of music and look down on other music that might not be in your group (seriously, give Justin a chance, you might actually find yourself dancing to his stuff).

/end rant.exe