# Loosing interest in music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 25, 2003, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249 "2003-06-25T07:15:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/21 "2003-06-26T06:12:35Z")
Good on **Mama Tiger**! I understand losing interest, but suspect it’s because so much music we hear is so unambitious, so conservative, so easy to outgrow. Georgian folk choirs. American shapenote. Tuvan throat singing. The Kronos Quartet. The World Saxophone Quartet. Thelonious Monk. Glenn Gould. Benny Goodman, the first rock star. Eric Dolphy. Jeri Southern. Papa Haydn. Brumel’s Earthquake Mass. It’s not just that many musical forms and artists are more interesting that most of what we’re forced to hear (e.g., whatever I was just forced to hear this evening in my favorite coffeehouse). It’s also that turning off the radio (the **essential** first step), and spending the next six months pulling music rather than letting it be pushed at you, will remind you what was so great about the music you loved in the first place. Really. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/22 "2003-06-26T11:19:12Z")
With all due respect to **Mama Tiger** and **E. Thorp** I am quite certain it isn’t the TYPE of music that is the problem. I used to like some types of music a lot, I like them a lot less now, and nothing else has taken its place. It’s me, not music. I have at least a passing familiarity with most types of music you guys mentioned, and they don’t do it for me. Oh, and I always hated jazz. ---
**Author:** ![Muldoon\_s\_Squishiness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Muldoon\_s\_Squishiness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muldoon_s_Squishiness)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/23 "2003-06-26T14:31:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Biotop \* > \*\* And like any good art, good music usually requires something from the listener. \*\* And what would that be? Besides listening to it? Music is a form of entertainment and entertainment, while not tailoring its appeal to the lowest common denominator, doesn’t tailor its appeal to the geniuses either, unless it is trying (and usually failing) to be _hip, shocking, cool, dangerous_, which can be better described as trite and boring. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/24 "2003-06-26T16:08:01Z")
Laughing Lagomorph, thanks for your reply. I think a poster above suggested that losing interest in music might also be a symptom of too much noise in life generally (for example, if one has moved from a small town to a big city, lives near a highway, etc.) or if one’s leisure time has been quite reduced since the music-loving days. Does either case apply to you? Just curious… I know I spend less **time** with music than I used to. I’m married and working full time…neither was the case 10 years ago. I also don’t drive much, so there goes music in the car. I don’t really miss the extra music-listening time, but I don’t think it means I’m losing interest, just developing other interests. Maybe I should rethink this, though. ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/25 "2003-06-26T18:25:55Z")
**Maureen** The Smiths are still together? I thought they broke up with Morrisey going his solo way. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/26 "2003-06-26T18:31:30Z")
Morrisey went by-by, but I had heard (Spin Mag) that they were planning on putting out some new tunes as recently as last year. Another good place to find good, modern independent stuff is [this handy dandy link](http://www.thewb.com/Music/Show/0,10944,%7C%7C156,00.html). The show almost always has something I like listening to, and they are big on promoting the bands. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/27 "2003-06-26T18:37:48Z")
I never thought I’d loose interest in music, but I guess I have. I got a cd burner a couple of months ago, and haven’t even tried it out yet. A year ago I thought I’d die if I didn’t get one. My portable cd player has a 1/2" of dust on it. The only time I hear the radio is when the alarm clock goes off. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/28 "2003-06-26T18:49:08Z")
You know, music is associated with portions of our brain that involve nonverbal creativity. Personally, I find that music, when I take the time to listen to it – and I don’t have as much time as I’d like to – fulfills some kind of need in me that I can’t really explain since it IS a nonverbal thing. I understand the noise pollution problems. Personally, I find that the television is by FAR the worst noise polluter in my life. Hubby comes home and bam, the TV is on. If it’s me at home by myself, it’s almost never on. I really don’t want or need that kind of babbling background noise. But I don’t consider music to be noise pollution. For me, it’s a form of taking back my enjoyment of listening. If you aren’t interested in listening to music any more, are you also giving up other creative areas of your life? I find that they’re tied hand-in-hand for me. I listen to music more when I’m feeling more creative. Are you giving up on that whole side of your brain? That’s a shame; creativity is part of being human. I admit music isn’t for everyone. But even tone-deaf hubby loves live music. He can’t tell a right note from a wrong note, but he loves the energy of it, and actually has a good ear for technical things. So it can be enjoyed on many different levels. But in his case, it’s almost exclusively the live performance that he enjoys. Don’t abandon your creative self. Even if it’s not music that ends up being one of your creative outlets. It’s too easy to forget the important parts of what really make us human. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/29 "2003-06-26T19:28:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BogieBlanca \* > \*\*And what would that be? > > Besides listening to it? > > Music is a form of entertainment and entertainment, while not tailoring its appeal to the lowest common denominator, doesn’t tailor its appeal to the geniuses either, unless it is trying (and usually failing) to be _hip, shocking, cool, dangerous_, which can be better described as trite and boring. \*\* Music is a form of entertainment, but that’s not always solely its purpose. After all, paintings are not solely made to brighten up the room, literature not solely tell a story, and poetry not solely to impress the pretty girl. They can do these things, and do them well. But to see art only in a narrow context means necessarily to miss that which is outside the context. I agree with you that most music intended to be “hip, shocking, cool, and dangerous” generally is “trite and boring”. That applies to other art fields as well. This stuff doesn’t appeal to geniuses, the general public, or much anyone else. Such art may make a momentary splash, but it fades away soon and is forgotten. Wannabe art for wannabe geniuses. What a listener can bring to music, it seems to me, is a discerning ear. Our OP seems uninterested in modern music. Perhaps he is unchallenged by it. I wonder why? Perhaps most of today’s music is the same old crap in new packages sung by this month’s over-hyped teen idols or foul-mouthed bad boys. Or worse, its the been-around-forever artists stuck in their same tired old molds. So the first thing our hero does is seek out alternatives. Sometimes the alternatives are hard to understand outside of their historical, musical, cultural, political, or literary contexts. The listener who first encounters these materials may not be prepared simply to listen and completely appreciate the music. How can they be? But is it worth the time to investigate, relisten, wrestle with, and respond to this music? Often yes. The rewards can be great. This doesn’t mean one has to be a genius to appreciate good music anymore than one has to be a genius to appreciate Picasso over Thomas Kinkade. Good art rewards persistence, patience, and open-mindedness. ---
**Author:** ![mamm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@mamm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamm)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/30 "2003-06-26T19:33:56Z")
Almost out of high school? Well, you are a little late, but there is still time to “discover” Pink Floyd, Deep Purple & Led Zeppelin. Go NOW buy or download “The Dark Side Of The Moon” (by PF), “Machine Head” (by DP) and any of the first four LZ albums. Listen to them and come back here to tell us that your mind has opened and you have discovered that you’re in love with music. Pop, rap and trance? Pleeeeease… FTR: criminalcatalog, bass drum falls on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4. And it’s not a rock invention. 1 and 3 were forte, 2 and 4 were piano since the middle age. ---
**Author:** ![criminalcatalog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@criminalcatalog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/criminalcatalog)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/31 "2003-06-26T23:30:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mamm \* > \*\*FTR: criminalcatalog, bass drum falls on 1 and 3, snare on 2 > and 4. And it’s not a rock invention. 1 and 3 were forte, 2 and 4 were piano since the middle age. \*\* I’m only insinuating that this pattern, while certainly functional, is also very overused. To a point that makes it the standard of music in relative styles and genres. Listen to the first track on the Aphex Twin - I Care Because You Do album. It’s in 4/4, but it’s also wickedly twisted, in a timing sense. It’s an example of the standard for timing that, sadly, too many musicians don’t care to explore. Timing. Texture. Manipulation of sound. All things that beg for diversity in music. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/32 "2003-06-27T01:13:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by E. Thorp \* > \*\*Laughing Lagomorph, thanks for your reply. I think a poster above suggested that losing interest in music might also be a symptom of too much noise in life generally (for example, if one has moved from a small town to a big city, lives near a highway, etc.) or if one’s leisure time has been quite reduced since the music-loving days. Does either case apply to you? Just curious… > > I know I spend less **time** with music than I used to. I’m married and working full time…neither was the case 10 years ago. I also don’t drive much, so there goes music in the car. > > I don’t really miss the extra music-listening time, but I don’t think it means I’m losing interest, just developing other interests. Maybe I should rethink this, though. \*\* It’s true that I have less time to listen to music than I did 10 years ago…I too am married, with a kid and a longer commute than I had back then. But that really isn’t the ONLY reason. I could make time for music if it were more important to me, it just isn’t as important to me anymore. Luckily the “increased ambient noise” hypothesis doesn’t seem to apply to me, it is quite quiet where we are. I do have more distractions in my life than I used to. And I apply my artistic side to such things as cooking and beermaking (and gardening, lately). I have also been getting much more into my birdwatching hobby, which gives me a lot of pleasure, and incidentally includes learning to identify birds by their songs. ---
**Author:** ![Govindha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5fc32e/32.png) [@Govindha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Govindha)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/33 "2003-06-27T01:14:27Z")
I haven’t lost interest in music. I’m sorry but those of you that have, well, you stink… I don’t go through phases like"I listen to only punk, or rock, or rap"…blah, blah, blah…I don’t understand why people do that to themselves after their late teens. It’s silly. I still listen to punk, hardcore(since mid 80’s) oldies, classical, jazz, name it, if it’s musical and I enjoy the sound I love it. I suggest justturning the radio on to a local jazz station or classical and listening to it when you can. Something will grab you and hopefully reinterest you. NPR frequently inteviews great bands(check the website). Try the bad plus(they do a great cover of teen spirit and an aphex twin track)… I admit, I think hip hop is way to popular and bland now(with the exception in mind)and I don’t see the mass appeal. I was beside a couple of crackers the other day and they hand all the head bobbing and hand gestures down(I know anyone can feel it, it just looks dumb) and all I could do was laugh. Ihd the urge to turn up some bach as loud as I could and start conducting(I have sleeved arms and am in my late twenties so that would look sort of odd to some) but i just drove my min-van away. Give up the materialistic way of life, that is good, but one can still learn and enoy life while including music. Hey Kriss, you are on your way to Krsna Counciousness. Are you interested in the spiritual life? Either way, that is a great way to be. Learn to be empty and enjoy life without chasing every product that is pushed and without believing everything the media tells you. I guess you are on the right track, music or not… ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/34 "2003-06-27T02:00:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Govindha \* > \*\*I haven’t lost interest in music. I’m sorry but those of you that have, well, you stink… > \*\* …hooookay… ---
**Author:** ![Monza305](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Monza305](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monza305)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/35 "2003-06-27T02:53:44Z")
I’ve been listening to music since I fixed an old record player, and found a bunch of old, mostly r&b & disco 45s around 1983 (6th grade). Went through the pop phase, then quickly got into the rock-n-roll. My favorite time is still the alternative/grunge era. Then I got married, had a kid, and got introduced to sports talk radio. I didn’t hear as much new music on the radio, and I didn’t have as much $$$ to spend on cds. I started spending almost no time listening to music like I used to. I used to be the guy who was up on all things musical, now sometimes I feel like a grumpy old man. The urge to listen to music might come back, it did for me. I’ve bought more cds the past few months than I have in the last 3 years. Talk radio has gotten boring to me, the urge to rock is back! I just had to find some new stuff to listen to. I still like to listen to good songs really, really loud! That’s kinda hard with a 3 year old. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/36 "2003-06-27T03:00:21Z")
Things change, you included. I sort of lost interest. After high school, where I’d picked up a taste for a variety of rock flavors, I tried to make a go of having a career playing music. I played drums for 25 years, in a variety of bands, mostly R&B, rock and blues, but some others (pop cover, Mexican, C&W, etc.) as well. And in the late '80s I formed a music production company with an entertaiment lawyer I knew. Just a few short years later, about 12-13 years ago, I quit playing, and I quit listening. My car radio went to either the news station or the classical station. By the mid-'90s I’d become amazingly ignorant of the music scene for somebody with my history. That’s about when I started going to the symphony from time to time. I liked it. Creatively, I was just beginning to hit my stride in my line of work (exploration geophysics), and I paid little conscious attention to the, by then solely, classical music in my life. A little while back, I started listening to about an hour or so of metal on Sunday afternoons, in the car. That’s about how long it takes for the local metal station to turn over their playlist. Then it was back to classical. Recently, I bought a car. While it had no bearing on my purchase, it came with a 6 CD-changer. Just a few weeks ago, after having the car a few months, I suddenly got a hankering to hear the Allman Brothers _In Memory of Elizabeth Reed_ and, sure enough, found it at the local CD emporium. Within a day or two, my desire to once more hear _White Rabbit_ and _Somebody to Love_ had me back at the store. Whoa! Then I found a 13th Floor Elevators compilation. By now I’ve filled out the CD magazine. My last two acquisitions are albums by groups named Creed and Staind. I have no idea where these guys rank in the eyes of the masses, but I like’em. Things change, you included. ---
**Author:** ![Pixelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ad7895/32.png) [@Pixelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixelle)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/37 "2003-06-27T04:47:17Z")
**Kriss** even though I’ve been crazy about music all my life and would find it difficult to live without, I don’t think you’re insane at all for losing interest in it. We often get bombarded with music in life, and a lot of it is argueably second rate. There’s also a lot of cultural and peer pressure to like certain genres of music, especially if you’re young. Sadly, people even judge whether another person is worth knowing based on what kind of music they listen to. So I don’t doubt that you have lost friends over not wanting to listen to it. But rather than being insane for losing interest, I think you’re probably just in the fortunate position of seeing music more objectively now. It sounds to me like you’re just refining your taste and developing your interests in other things which is healthy. And to those of you discussing the worth of Trance, you’re missing the point of it IMO. Trance is not really made to be intellectualized about, it’s just music for fun. It’s made to be listened to on the dancefloor where there’s lights and lazers and other people having a good time. 🙂 Sure it’s formula sometimes but I don’t think there’s a music genre left that isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![mamm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@mamm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamm)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/38 "2003-06-27T14:31:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by criminalcatalog \* > **…this pattern, while certainly functional, is also very overused…** Agreed 100%! ---
**Author:** ![criminalcatalog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@criminalcatalog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/criminalcatalog)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/39 "2003-06-27T18:13:26Z")
There is **one important factor** to keep in mind whenever you question your interest in music. No matter how much you’ve already heard, there’s **always** some song/artist out there that you weren’t even aware of, and it’s something that you would **love to hear**. All you have to do is find it. ---
**Author:** ![Govindha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5fc32e/32.png) [@Govindha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Govindha)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249/40 "2003-06-29T01:10:39Z")
Laughing Lagamorph, why don’t you just piss off? hooookay…? schmuck… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-interest-in-music/184249.md?page=3)