Some of the most gripping sentences I read this week belong to David Byrne, over at 'Wired.' Byrne asks:
'What do we need music to do? How do we visit the land in our head and the place in our heart that music takes us to? Can I get a round-trip ticket?'
I have often been asked the following question: "How can one like Mozart and The Killers at the same time? How can one go to the opera one night and to a punk rock show the next?" I am of the opinion that one can and that one has, perhaps, a need to diversify and pursue different things simultaneously.
One of my travel playlists consists of the following audio files:
1) Verdi's Aida march
2) The Killers' 'Mr. Brightside' new remix as featured in their new project Sawdust
3) Pink's Who Knew?
4) Mandalay's Like Her
5) Beethoven's Piano Concerto #5 in E-Flat Major
6) Rihanna's Umbrella
7) Gianna Nannini's I Maschi
8) Mozart's Zauberfloete
So, when asked how I could possibly enjoy The Killers, Rihanna, and Beethoven with the same genuine enthusiasm, I provide an answer very much similar to that of David Byrne's from 'Wired':
No single model will work for everyone. There's room for all of us.
Some artists are the Coke and Pepsi of music, while others are the fine
wine — or the funky home-brewed moonshine. And that's fine. I like
Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man."
Sometimes a corporate soft drink is what you want — just not at the
expense of the other thing. In the recent past, it often seemed like
all or nothing, but maybe now we won't be forced to choose. Ultimately,
all these scenarios have to satisfy the same human urges.
There is, indeed, enough room for different things to coexist ever so beautifully and naturally. Beethoven gives me as much pleasure as Muse or The Killers or even various Italian pop. Just because my palate begs for a quotidian macchiato does not mean that it chooses to preclude the occasional soy latte.
Room for cream and sugar? Yes, please.
Room for Rihanna and OneRepublic?
Mais oui!
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