A Musical Argument

I downloaded this Good Charlotte song, “Hold On”, because I heard it on the radio this afternoon during my bath and decided that I liked it. Stephen walked in on me listening to it and decided to give me his expert opinion:

“MTV is controlling your brain!”

“I don’t watch MTV.”

“That’s not the point. The point is… You’re just… You have… You’re such a poser!”

“What I am I posing as?”

“You pretend to be all in on the punk and emo scene and you buy this Von Dutch gear and you’re just not.”

“Stephen. What?”

“You’re just ridiculous. And then you see that MxPx is opening at the Simple Plan concert and you suddenly become their biggest fan.” (I bought tickets to see Simple Plan at the House of Blues to surprise my two cousins in Las Vegas — if they’re reading this, they better act surprised anyway!)

“Stephen, I bought the Simple Plan tickets to take our two little cousins to see them. I figured if I spent the money and MxPx was gonna be there, I’d listen to some of their shit before I went. No?”

“I’m going to write about this in my LiveJournal and all my friends are going to make fun of you.”

“Neat.”

“And you listen to Dashboard Confessional!”

“So do you!”

“Yeah, but…  You don’t even like it.”

“I wouldn’t listen to it if I didn’t like it.  You think I listen to music I don’t like in the privacy of my own room to give the impression that I want to be ‘all in on the punk and emo scene’?  You’re nuts.  You told me to listen to Dashboard Confessional.  You said I’d like them.  You loaned me the CD to put the songs on the computer!”

“Well, why’d you buy a Von Dutch hat?”

“Because Brian Conover has one.”

“That’s why?”

“No, you dumbass.  Because it’s pink, and I like it, and it’s cute.”

“Poser.”

“What does the trucker hat have to do with the song?”

“Poser.”

“Bite me.”

“Poser.”

“Get out.”

What seems to be the problem here? Do I need to pick one genre of music and be obesessed with it for the rest of my life? The best thing about MP3s is being able to download whatever songs I want. I can honestly say I listen to just about anything and everything. Am I a poser because I have a Kenny Chesney song on my computer and think cowboy hats are cute? Am I a poser because I listen to Israel Kamakawiwo’ole and enjoy eating pineapples? I must have multiple poser personalities…

Lisa DeNoia, author of Coastlined, blogging on and off since 2003. Jersey Girl in Virginia Beach. Entrepreneur, technology innovator, photographer, figure skater, traveler, sailor, avid lover of books. Guardian of Benny, also pictured above.

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