Familiarity drives musical preferences

Does the media brainwash our ears? Let's face it, listening to a commercial radio station for an hour is like a mix-CD played repeatedly. Songs are not popular because of an interesting structure or an astonishing vocalist; instead, only those with a chorus shoved into your face at least five times in two and a half minutes seem to garner mass attention. Why? Because it's impossible to forget a line you hear five times in a song that's played 10 times a day!

I find myself humming "Fergalicious" days after the party I attended played the song, simply because Fergie sings it so often. It's rather frustrating when my feet try to dance while my brain goes crazy at the attempts in spelling "delicious."

For those exclaiming, "I love Fergalicious," I challenge you to think about why. What about a song that includes the lyrics "I'll be laced with lacey" warrants your love? Is it the beat? Fergie dancing in the video?

Yes, it's a fun song that wiggles your bum, and it's great at parties because everyone knows it. Yet everyone knows it because it's ridiculously overplayed on commercial radio, not because it has any merit that catches genuine attention.

MTV only worsens the issue with top-40 countdowns. Why highlight songs that everyone already knows? Where's the joy in discovery or watching a favorite band climb to the top?

Interestingly enough, when a friend says she listens to "everything," she probably only knows what's on the top-40 countdown. I tend to smile sadly when I hear that answer and inquire, "Does that include opera, flamenco guitar, heavy metal, blues and avant-garde jazz?"

There is more music than what's on Star 94!

My point: A catchy hook does not automatically make a good song. Even the a-b-c song for learning the alphabet gets stuck in my head, but I don't hear anyone requesting it over and over again. People get so excited when a song they know comes on the radio or over speakers at a party, as if it hasn't been played millions of times before. I'm wishing for others to realize that this isn't a good reason to get excited.

There are hundreds of bands exploring new avenues of sounds never before combined, and they are not that hidden! Nightwish, a band from Finland, is playing at the Masquerade to a nearly sold out crowd on Saturday. They combine epic symphonies, opera, and heavy metal. Yes, you read that right. Symphonies and guitars.

But I'm not here to tell you what bands are awesome and which genres suck. I'm merely suggesting we decide music is great based on quality, not because we recognize it.

All hope isn't lost, thankfully. Here on campus, for example, WREK promotes a different listening experience-they even ensure you don't hear the same song 10 times a day! Maybe that's why the average Tech student doesn't listen to it. They don't recognize the music, so the automatic assumption is that it's crap. What a horrible, horrible shame.

I know I'm acting like an elitist snob. I am well aware that, overall, people don't care as much about music. It's background noise, funny lyrics, and a beat for dancing.

I, however, think it's art. I think it can perfectly express the depth of human emotion and deserves to be elevated to the same levels as literature and studio art.

When one listens to an exquisitely composed song-one that's actually written by the band members-the person establishes a connection with the band. The listener is sucked into an alternate world, one that sometimes eerily parallels his own. There is a sense of catharsis in hearing another build his experiences into a momentum that explodes in the finale of a great song.

How many couples have a song that showcases their relationship? Who doesn't have an album they turn to in times of need? Who can't identify with another person through music?

Perhaps people have lost sight of that in favor of familiarity with a catchy tune.

I don't expect masses of people to suddenly rediscover what makes music great. I only hope to point out that there is more to music than spelling "delicious" and "banana" in a song. There's love, pain, happiness, confusion, anger, strength and the fullness of humanity expressed in a guitar lead, a bass breakdown, a soaring vocalist, acoustic strumming and a rolling drumbeat.

For once, be a rebel. Take initiative and seek out music by bands you haven't heard before. Music fans are experiencing a renaissance with the advent of technology and the internet. More bands can afford to create music, and more fans have discovered ways to share it.

Take advantage of local sources, like WREK Radio and Under the Couch. Talk to your friends and find out what sounds make them tick. Find music that gives you chills.