Things I Learned by Liking Pop Music

If you knew anything about me in high school and most of college, you'll know that I despised pop music. Or more importantly, any kind of music that other people had heard of. I used to pride myself on listening to bands nobody had even heard of. I was a total music snob. Then, I would introduce my friends to a band and we'd share some sort of inside musical friendship since we were the only two people we knew who listened to that band. At least, that was the way I dreamed it would turn out if my friends had actually become fans the music I shared with them.

I understand that it's important to have a little uniqueness in your repertoire - something that you enjoy because it's music that you really resonate with, and it really doesn't matter if other people like it or not. That's kind of how I feel about the band Downhere. Other people tend to like them, but not enough to buy their CDs. I pre-order every one of their albums. But I've changed now, because I haven't filled my entire collection with bands nobody has heard of.

So, here are my arguments for opening up and just smelling the roses of pop music:

High school dances were boring because I "hated" the music

Back when I started high school (a decade ago...whoah), I used to go to dances with the hopes of making purple with one of the five girls I was interested in at any given moment. This never happened because it turns out that God plays a cruel joke on high school boys when they turn 14, and they lose all confidence in themselves*. So, apart from the one time I had a "girlfriend" at a high school dance, I spent the entire time whining about the crappy music. Secretly I just didn't like it because I didn't know it and everyone else did. While I was standing in the corner wishing that corner was darker and filled with any combination of the 5 or so girls I was gunning for at the time, my friends were having fun without me, singing along with songs I had never heard before and dancing the dance to that song that you would know after having watched the music video on MTV 37 times (this was back when MTV still played music videos!).

Basically, I just didn't like dances because I didn't know the music. The music was actually fun and entertaining, but I didn't like it because everyone was having more fun than me.

*I no longer fault God for this, because it was for my own good.
Steps

I didn't listen to any of those pop groups like Backstreet Boys, N*Sync, O-town, 98 Degrees, or whatever the heck else is equivalent to them...in America. I supplemented by finding similar groups that nobody had heard of because they were from other countries. Yes, for a while I listened to Steps - the result of Britain's version of "Making the Band". Admittedly, I liked it because I thought the female singers were attractive, and I was jealous of the male singers. Plus I was into all that drama stuff and I had just seen Mamma Mia! and Steps did an ABBA medley.

I realize how ridiculous this is. I hated American pop music, but I secretly enjoyed the exact same music because other people didn't listen to it and it wasn't overplayed.

Relevance

Maybe this is a cop-out reason, but I work with highschoolers. Now that I'm more open to popular musical stylings, 2 hour car rides to King City are not just tolerable, but fun! Sure, the song is about brushing your teeth with a bottle of Jack, and it probably doesn't teach good messages to high school girls (or boys, I guess), but it's common ground on which to start a relationship.

I learned that in order to build bridges in this world, you need to accept things that other people may deem important if you want to have meaningful relationships with them. I found that the more frivolous things I rejected in life, the more people I rejected with them. Now, the more things I accept, whether they're meaningful or not, the more people I can identify with and build friendships with. Common ground starts relationships, so why reject things people like and miss out on potential relationships?

As Paul says in 1 Cor 9:24b - "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some."

What defines you that you hold onto, even if it might alienate people?