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I changed the CDs in my car today. It has a 6 disk changer (no MP3 playing capability, no external player port) and I haven't changed the contents of that changer for at least 6 months. Since I always listen to the music from those disks when I drive, you can see that I have been listening to the same songs over and over again. The previous set of disks was in the changer for pretty much as long. OK, the disks in question are assembled from a broader range of albums in my possession so they reflect more than just 6 artists, but it does mean that my music tastes have almost completely ossified. I'm not sure when it happened because it came on so slowly. At some point, I went from embracing the new to being very resistant to it. Much more so than my tastes in other areas. I know it happens to most people as they grow older but I don't really want to be like that.
Note the "almost" back there. Every so often, something sneaks through my taste barriers and gets added to my mental playlist. You would have to assume that anything that does get through is pretty damn good. But what happens when a cover version gets through? As far as I can tell the vast majority of people are firmly imprinted on the first version of a song that they hear. Whenever they hear another artist perform a favoured song, they find it difficult to accept it. Sometimes this can work around the "wrong" way where the person hears the cover before the original - they still become attached to the first one they hear - i.e. the cover.
I offer these thoughts because before changing the music in the car today, I put together a collection of covers that I like. Some I had heard before the original, and some are not as good (to me) as the original, but I was pleasantly surprised that over recent years there have been a few versions that have supplanted the originals in my affections. The trigger for all this musing was because of Across the Universe by Fiona Apple. Although Letters to Cleo's I want you to want me and My Way by Sid Vicious contributed in no small way to the thoughts as well.
I wonder if it is significant that a high proportion of these usurpers come from movie soundtracks.
Note the "almost" back there. Every so often, something sneaks through my taste barriers and gets added to my mental playlist. You would have to assume that anything that does get through is pretty damn good. But what happens when a cover version gets through? As far as I can tell the vast majority of people are firmly imprinted on the first version of a song that they hear. Whenever they hear another artist perform a favoured song, they find it difficult to accept it. Sometimes this can work around the "wrong" way where the person hears the cover before the original - they still become attached to the first one they hear - i.e. the cover.
I offer these thoughts because before changing the music in the car today, I put together a collection of covers that I like. Some I had heard before the original, and some are not as good (to me) as the original, but I was pleasantly surprised that over recent years there have been a few versions that have supplanted the originals in my affections. The trigger for all this musing was because of Across the Universe by Fiona Apple. Although Letters to Cleo's I want you to want me and My Way by Sid Vicious contributed in no small way to the thoughts as well.
I wonder if it is significant that a high proportion of these usurpers come from movie soundtracks.