A friend of mine has claimed I lack the happy music gene. I have never questioned this but never thought this was a bad thing either. 20 miles into a marathon I am not particularly interested in listening to girl groups from the early 1960s or cheerful Broadway show tunes. Metallica and the latest Norwegian death metal sounds about right. When I go to concerts James Taylor or Carole King is of little interest but Judas Priest or Zeppelin definitely rocks. Pink Floyd is about right for any occasion.
But then Glee changed all that. I watched the show with my family, my daughter bought the discs and/or downloaded the music, and suddenly I am sped along the running to cheery mashups of Stop in the Name of Love and Free Your Mind or Living on a Prayer and Start Me Up. Redos of Journey songs are suddenly hot again. I hesitate to admit I have even enjoyed the Glee versions of Total Eclipse of the Heart, I'll Stand by You, and (shudder) I Dreamed a Dream (from les Miz).
What gives? Have I suddenly discovered a long dormant happy music gene? Have I developed one for the first time from environment factors (nurture not nature?). Even worse, what if it isn't the happy music gene afterall but the cheezy music gene? That would of course explain why so many of the greatest hits of the 70s were already on my iPod.
Love that show!
ReplyDeleteJust said to my daughter that they ought to do a Brecht/Weil episode of Glee. The response could have been paraphrased as, "you lack the happy music gene."
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