...but first; did I offend your ears?
All I want to hear right now is Aimee Mann.
I can’t stop listening to her. She’s an amazing musician and a heartbreaking songwriter (if you saw the movie Magnolia, you may remember her songs from the soundtrack). Her raw, honest songs are on a constant loop in my brain. When she advises, "wise up", I vow to change my ways. When she asks, "what's the matter with the truth, did I offend your ears?", I wonder how she read my mind. Ever had that feeling? When the music you’re listening to is exactly right for that moment in your life?
Music can stir us, move us, inspire us and heal us. It is at once shared and universal and intimately personal. It can create community and identity. And we often use it as shorthand to define others. C’mon, be honest; if someone tells you they’re counting the days until Creed reunites, or that they have a Clay Aiken tattoo, don’t you think about them differently? I’ve been guilty of it plenty of times, letting my perception of the music define the person listening to it. But the incredible thing about music is it's ability to defy our assumptions and challenge our beliefs. We may think the musical choices show us who a person is, but why someone likes a genre and how it makes them feel or think often reveals far more about them than a single glance at their playlist. And the way they found a particular sound—did they stumble upon it accidentally, did a friend introduce them, did they grow up with it?—tells you much more. Of course, to find that out you have to ask, there’s no shorthand.
But you know what? Screw shorthand. Nobody ever understood that mess anyway. Next time you ask someone what music they’re into, find out why they like that artist, or how they got into them. And allow music do what it does best: defy your assumptions, create community, and move you.
So how did I become an Aimee Mann fan? Through "The Great Lady of Soul", Bettye LaVette. In 2005, LaVette released "I've Got My Own Hell to Raise", a phenomenal album of songs by women songwriters. I fell hard for it, particularly her scorching version of "How Am I Different?". Once I pulled myself away from Bettye, I went in search of the original version and have been a Mann fan ever since. So thank you Bettye, wherever you are, I owe you one.
Melisa Resch
Editor-in-Chief
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