That legendary jazz pianist I forced myself to love for years... finally admitted I don't get the hype

I spent 3 months last year listening to Thelonious Monk every day because everyone in music forums swore he was a genius, but last week at a dive bar in Chicago someone played his stuff and I just felt bored. Has anyone else pretended to love a dead artist just to fit in with a crowd?

3 comments

3 Comments

susan8120d ago

Got tired of pretending to love Bob Dylan for like two years because every guy I dated swore he was a lyrical genius. Finally admitted to myself his voice just grates on my ears and his songs all sound the same to me. Now I just tell people straight up that I don't get the hype and it feels way better than faking it.

ray_sullivan19d ago

Honestly, "his voice just grates on my ears" is exactly what my buddy Dave used to say. He went through this whole phase in college where he pretended to love Dylan because this girl he was into was obsessed with "Blonde on Blonde." Every time we'd hang out, he'd put on Dylan and just sit there nodding along, but I could tell he was miserable. Finally one night he got drunk and admitted that listening to Dylan felt like someone was dragging rusty nails down a chalkboard for him. He said the lyrics were fine but the actual singing made him want to rip his own ears off. Now he just tells people flat out that he respects Dylan's writing but can't stand his voice, and honestly nobody really cares as much as he thought they would.

tessa_carr16d ago

Ugh, I feel this so much. I actually read somewhere that Dylan himself said he never considered himself a great singer, more of a performer and a writer. But yeah, I had a coworker who was the same way. He would just nod along during band practice and finally one day he just snapped and was like "I hate this, his voice sounds like a dying cat with a cold." It was pretty funny. Your mileage may vary, but I think a lot of people just go along with it because they're afraid of looking like they don't get it. At the end of the day, music is just personal taste, not a test you can fail.