Music snobs - a short rant

[PillO]

My cat seems to like the rocking chair, she sits by it often.
Regularly her tail gets squashed by the runners.
"Darn rocking chair !" she says.

The cat thinks the rocking chair is being gnarly towards cats and their tails, surely it's the fault of the chair.

Cool, a talking cat!

 

[43ManSquamish]

We are the folk song army
Every one of us cares
We all hate poverty, war, and injustice
Unlike the rest of you squares

There are innocuous folk songs, yeah
But we regard 'em with scorn
The folks who sing 'em have no social conscience
Why, they don't even care if Jimmy Crack Corn

– "The Folk Song Army" by Tom Lehrer

Exhibit A in the existence of folk song snobbery, circa the early 1960s. Go listen to the whole thing.

An ex-gf's mother was an opera snob, saying that opera was the only music worth listening to. I challenged her once, asking that in all of the decades since opera's heyday, we clever monkeys had never come up with any other kind of music as compelling, and her response was "no". I never challenged her again, since this was someone who had set their opinions in concrete (unlike the rest of us, eh?).

Opera isn't my jam, but if you like it, good for you. There are a few that I actually do like, such as Weill and Brecht's The Rise And Fall of the City of Mahagonny (probably not a true, traditional opera, but hey, gimme a break). Dismissing an entire genre and saying that no one should listen to it, and its inverse of saying that only one genre is worth listening to, is snobbery. If you like it, great. If you don't, leave it for those that like it.

There are bands and genres I'm not partial to, and when I was young(er) I would say "that band sucks!" even though they had a recording contract, sold albums, went on tour, sold out shows, and kept doing it. So they must be doing something right. It wasn't that they sucked, I just didn't like them. World of difference.

IMHO, the longtime friend sounds more like a music snob - dismissing anything not folk - than the OP, who, as he stated, used to like folk until LF overdid it. OP isn't dismissing all folk, just the "soapy slow protest" stuff LF is playing over and over.

First fix is to talk it out, the second is to not play with him any more. Then find some upbeat folk and get back in the groove.

 

[gln1955]

I'm curious as to what songs you are trying to inject into his folk gig. Are they at all appropriate for the situation?

I'll agree that dreary protest songs are not something I would listen to, much less play, since the 70's.

 

[mellowgerman]

All you can really do is talk to him about it. In the end though, it sounds like they are his non-paying gigs and therefore he really isn't obligated to play anything besides what he wants to play. If the only type of music that really does it for him is simple folk music, then I see nothing wrong with him playing nothing outside of that category.
Personally I only play music for enjoyment anymore. If people like it then that's good, but if they don't I couldn't care less because I still get my own fulfillment out of it. Trying to predict what any given audience will like and learning said music got old pretty quickly for me. I have my full-time job, so my music can be whatever I want it to be. On the other hand, many musicians enjoy playing a wide variety of music, which is fine too. Different strokes!

 

[Misfit Wookiee]

I think a lot of the previous posts calling out the OP for music snobbery were unjustified; I believe his intent was not to dash the entire genre of folk, but the limits of the friend's selection from the plethora of folk tunes available to play. A list of the songs would be helpful to illustrate this, if possible.

As to the whole music snobbery stuff... I firmly believe there exists only two types of music. Stuff you like, and stuff you don't like. My list is pretty eclectic, personally. Before my iPod crashed and wiped itself of its memory, a shuffle would have had anything from Bad Religion to America to Steely Dan to In Flames to Glassjaw to Iron Maiden to The Avalanches to Andy Gibb to DJ Shadow to... well, I made my point. I've always tried to make it a point to listen to anything three times all the way through before dismissing it, and I still wouldn't write off an entire genre. Hell, I had a few country songs on that bugger before it freaked, and country is definitely not my first choice musically. And I still argue that a turntable can be considered a musical instrument (please do NOT get an argument going in this thread if you disagree with me on this!)

If your friend is truly that closed-minded, I fear that playing out with him will be the musical equivalent of a toothache to you. The description you give intimates he'd be unwilling to change his set list to include things outside his musical wheelhouse because they're "beneath" him, whatever that means. Music is music, other genres can be just as effective at getting a political/informational point across as folk (have him read some of Bad Religion's lyrics if you have a chance), and life is too short to be playing with people you're not having fun with. Hang out with him, sure, but there's no law that says you need to play out with your friends if you're unhappy.

 

[Newer Dave]

Surely you can find something that satisfies his need for folk and your need for uptempo.

EDIT: And yes - there is a bass in it.

 

[rufus.K]

 

[Jeff Elkins]

Also, nice to see someone else from Appalachia representing here.

Hear, hear! There are a few of us...

 

[CalBuzz51]

Sounds like it’s a folk gig. No one’s a snob if it’s a folk gig and they show up and play folk music.

 

[Newer Dave]

You could just use it as an opportunity to refine your technique and your ear for slow songs and minimalist bass lines. That way you can still hang out with your friend, still get something out of playing and you don't have to take it too seriously.

And sometimes the bass can add a lot to a song with just a few well timed notes. It's kind of fun to do that. The audience don't really notice that you're there but if you weren't.....

 

[pcake]

I play at church with a longtime friend who sometimes asks me to acompany him on other gigs. While I enjoy playing with him, I am really tired of his constant choice of songs. He will only do soapy slow protest type Folk songs and basically nothing upbeat. He thinks anything that is not Folk music is not worthy and is lowbrow. I know many people find songs in the same genre to sound the same, but the folk songs in question here get to sound like a stuck record; just the same thing over and over. There is almost no variety. When I suggest an upbeat song he will grudingly agree to one song, then right back to the snoozey stuff.

These are not paying gigs, and I also play in a Bluegrass band so maybe I will start to have other plans on the occasions when he asks me to play with him. Ironically, I used to really like Folk music, but the stuff he picks gets old fast.

Thump on,

One_Dude

did your friend say that anything not folk is "not worthy and is lowbrow" or is that your interpretation of what he said about it?

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

I think a lot of the previous posts calling out the OP for music snobbery were unjustified; I believe his intent was not to dash the entire genre of folk, but the limits of the friend's selection from the plethora of folk tunes available to play. A list of the songs would be helpful to illustrate this, if possible.

As to the whole music snobbery stuff... I firmly believe there exists only two types of music. Stuff you like, and stuff you don't like. My list is pretty eclectic, personally. Before my iPod crashed and wiped itself of its memory, a shuffle would have had anything from Bad Religion to America to Steely Dan to In Flames to Glassjaw to Iron Maiden to The Avalanches to Andy Gibb to DJ Shadow to... well, I made my point. I've always tried to make it a point to listen to anything three times all the way through before dismissing it, and I still wouldn't write off an entire genre. Hell, I had a few country songs on that bugger before it freaked, and country is definitely not my first choice musically. And I still argue that a turntable can be considered a musical instrument (please do NOT get an argument going in this thread if you disagree with me on this!)

If your friend is truly that closed-minded, I fear that playing out with him will be the musical equivalent of a toothache to you. The description you give intimates he'd be unwilling to change his set list to include things outside his musical wheelhouse because they're "beneath" him, whatever that means. Music is music, other genres can be just as effective at getting a political/informational point across as folk (have him read some of Bad Religion's lyrics if you have a chance), and life is too short to be playing with people you're not having fun with. Hang out with him, sure, but there's no law that says you need to play out with your friends if you're unhappy.

The way I read those posts were that they were calling out the OP for being a snob while calling someone else a snob. YMMV.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

I am a Folk Snob. I won't listen to post-Josh Tillman Fleet Foxes.

Now I know two guys.

 

[Newer Dave]

The way I read those posts were that they were calling out the OP for being a snob while calling someone else a snob. YMMV.

It it helps, I didn't care. I replied because I'm bored and sometimes I like to be an interfering busybody.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

It it helps, I didn't care. I replied because I'm bored and sometimes I like to be an interfering busybody.

Bandwidth hog.

 

[red_rhino]

I think a lot of the previous posts calling out the OP for music snobbery were unjustified; I believe his intent was not to dash the entire genre of folk, but the limits of the friend's selection from the plethora of folk tunes available to play.

+1

It seems as if two issues are being conflated in this entire thread: 1) music snobbery, 2) boring song choices.

Snobbery exists in players of all music genres. I most often encounter it in jazz, but I've run into it in rock, blues, country, etc. Liking music you like is not the same as disliking music or the musicians who play it because it is "unworthy".

There are boring song choices all music genres. Sometimes it's because we've played them once too often (e.g. if I play Satin Doll one more time, ever, you're going to be reading about me in tomorrow's news), and sometimes they're just plain bad.

Knowing one's self is a good thing, but is the OP's friend a snob? Seems he might be. But his questionable song choices say more about his muse than an entire music genre.

 

[Mediocrity Man]

I mix my musical projects so I don't always have to play the same genera.

Let's face it. As much as I like CCR and Led Zeppelin, even classic rock gets old after a while.

 

[Acoop]

I say, no fun, no way, no matter what it pays. ... Been there and the damage it does can last forever. ... I know cats who did big bands for big dough and when it was over they hung it up. ... I'd say, "say goodbye" to this guy, before, his 'view of music' rubs off on you.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

I dunno. There's folk music, and then there's...folk music.

 

[bassdude51]

Arguing music genres is like an opinionated discussion about what's the best flavor of ice cream or which is the prettiest color or something.

Everybody has an opinion. Nobody is right and nobody is wrong.