Music is arguably one of the few constants in our lives. Throughout the years people come and go, jobs come and go, our ideals come and go. But despite all these things, it’s safe to say that music is here to stay, and even then, our tastes can change drastically. One minute you’re a teenager listening to Korn, the next minute you’re a 28-year-old adult thumbing through a Folk Punk playlist on Spotify (in no way is this circumstantial. Nope.). What does musical taste, and especially changing musical tastes, say about us? I don’t know but I’m going to try and tell you anyway, as best I can.
First off, let me give you some insight on my current musical tastes. I can’t necessarily pinpoint it at all times, but at the time being I am into metal. Well, let me be more specific. I’m into what can only be described as nihilistic, depressing, and overall a bleak and skewed vision of the world type of metal. Deathcore seems to be the main genre to deal with this type of ideology. I will be mainly focused on Thy Art is Murder and, for a recent release, The Browning’s “Isolation” album.
I find metal can be aggressive, yet fun. Bands can be goofy, yet really know how to get the adrenaline pumping. I’ve also found bands like As I Lay Dying (ironically, for multiple reasons) and Killswitch Engage like to have more positive and endearing lyrics about overcoming struggle and striving for becoming something better.
Currently, I’m not into that. I mean I still love that music, but it isn’t what my brain is looking to grab onto at the moment. In the dead heat of summer, and during one of the best times of my life I am looking to listen to only the darkest, and, more importantly, cynical forms of metal. My brain is cyclical in terms of what I want to hear. Months ago it was fun hip hop. It was Tech N9ne and whatever he has on his Strange Music label. Hell, sometimes it’s more poppy and upbeat, like the time I sat in a McDonald’s drive-thru listening to “Hotline Bling” at 3 a.m.(it was a very strange time for me).
So why do lyrics like “hatred unleashed upon the Earth drowning inside of you” and “I feel nothing inside of me/ I am, I am, empty, empty” become so appealing? Is this a reflection of some inner piece of me that truly hates everything and wants to be left to die alone? Damn, that got heavy fast. Anyone that knows me knows that I am far from aggressive, and yet everything I put into my ears is meant to get me to want to put a hole in the wall. Right now the only music that’ll satisfy my needs is what will make me feel like the world is going to hell. The other day I was taking a jog as I was listening to The Browning’s “Isolation” album, which is cover to cover a examination of how society, humanity, and the world has become something to be loathed. Maybe this is my subconscious telling me I want to hate everything. Maybe being connected to the internet and seeing only bad news in the media has warped me into wanting to listen to music about the deconstruction of humanity and it’s social constraints. Maybe I just like aggressive music and I’m overthinking it.
Music does seem to take its toll on my mood after awhile. I listen to certain Eminem songs when I’m really down. I listen to certain genres when I’m feeling like I need a breath of fresh air. Sometimes I want music that I can let my brainwaves go wild, so I’ll throw on the best TOOL album, Lateralus, which is not up for debate. Lately I’ve been worried that the nihilism would bleed into my everyday life and effect my mood more permanently. I don’t want my perception to be warped by the sounds of absolute hatred and the defeat of humanity. I want to see a future that’s less debilitating. And that’s where this really comes to a head.
Perhaps we think of music as a reflection of our inner-selves, and in a way there will always be truth in that. What interests us speaks to us in ways we sometimes can’t even understand. The art that we see our reflection in isn’t something we necessarily control, though we can try to find new types of art and interests that are outside our normal realm. That’s why I mentioned the Folk Punk playlist, I wanted to see what else I could hear that was more refreshing, if not completely new. I want to be spoken to by something else, while still clinging to the old reflections of art that have imprinted on my inner-self. But maybe art is just a channel for us to exercise these feelings and thoughts, or at least look at them and embrace them only for a little while. For example, I don’t think the world is as bad as Thy Art is Murder or the Browning seems to be portraying it, but there’s something exciting about staring into a dark abyss for an hour or two and just letting yourself fill with dread and rage and then come out of it. Let yourself feel something different so that you can know what it is like to feel it, then let it go. For me, anger used to come easily. Now, I don’t let it come. Exercising negativity can help us be happier in the end. I reflect on what I think is wrong about the world, only to see something else when I’m done.
thegarbagebin 