& I wash the windows outside

All joking aside, I have the most varied music taste in the world. If you look at my essential tracks (of the moment) on my mp3 player, one second will be Jay-Z, then Patsy Cline and after that my favorite remix of a Futureheads song. For me, genres aren't applicable to my enjoyment, nor is, surprisingly, how "mainstream" or "indie" a song is. I did groan when I finally heard Regina Spektor playing in the car, but it wasn't like everyone didn't know her already. To keep this from delving into a rant about musical selectivity and my annoyance with people referring to everything from the 70s-80s as "mullet rock" most ignorantly, I'll just say music is music to me and leave it at that. In my realm, elitists need not apply.

I've often sat and wondered what makes a song appealing to me and what can constitute a favorite or one of those tracks that I'll loop fifteen times in a row. A notable example of those tracks is "Hotel" by Broken Social Scene, which I'd never heard a few years ago. I downloaded at three a.m. one night and come seven, I was still looping it. There was something about it that when it was finished, I figuratively spun the record again, as quick as I could. When I do think about what makes a song appealing to me, it can change. Up-tempo? Down-tempo? Good lyrics? Out the window. A lot of my favorites are instrumental songs. A lot of my favorites have really goofy lyrics. Does it make me feel? Not really. Does it make me dance? Some could put me to sleep. I like different songs for different reasons at different times.

It's like trying to work out the logistics of ones thumbprint to try and unravel the mystery of taste. Which is why I don't like the idea of good and bad taste because, yeah, some songs? Bad from a technical view. Avril Lavigne (who I shamefully love, I'd like to say)? Bad. Terrible lyrics, trite beats, corporate unfeeling package designed to make 14-year-olds wearing Hot Topic hoodies stick up their middle fingers awkwardly. Does liking her make your taste bad? Does it make mine bad? Music can be fun. As long as you're not hailing her as the next messiah of punk rock, it's fine, in my opinion, to just listen to things. Not think about it. Just listen.

So what makes a song a favorite, a looped track, or inversely, makes a song hard to listen to or a bore for me?

I don't know. You could just as well ask me why I like music in general. And my silence as I try and form an answer that wouldn't take half our lives would stand as a reply itself. I simply don't know and what does it matter anyway? I should just shut my mouth and turn it up.