i'm filtering through my music collection, something which is overdue (so that iTunes doesn't play at random things that i don't really like anymore.) my tastes haven't changed that much recently, so there isn't much weeding, but of the stuff that gets weeded out, i'm surprised at how much of it is there because of other people.

now, nothing makes it in there without me putting it there. but for a surprising number of these songs which i'm now discovering i don't like, it's not so much that my tastes have changed as it is that i was enamored with a certain person, and they liked this band, and so a lot of it found its way into my collection.

i mean, that's a bit strong, but that's more or less the truth. like when i was dating eva, and she played this belle and sebastian song for me, which i really liked. our musical tastes weren't super-intersecting, so i was delighted to discover this, which put me on a belle and sebastian kick. that original song, which i really liked, has survived all culling, but some of those other songs it turns out i don't like so much anymore. not that i don't still like belle and sebastian -- i do -- but that like was certainly amplified by it finding a place in my life.

i guess that's true of everything: when you're dating someone, you tend to play up the aspects of your personality that fit well/that you have in common. it's just natural, and not an especially profound epiphany or anything. i guess this is where being a generalist comes in super handy. in theory anyway.

back to the weblog