Musical posing

I do it.

I admit.

I'm a musical poser.

I all too often succumb to the pressure, when surrounded by those who are more musically savvy than I, to attempt and scrounge up all conceivable musical knowledge I possess and try to impress by spouting off the most obscure and possibly edgy artists I can conjure, hoping at least one is indie enough or alternative enough to evoke a head nod or non-verbal grunt of approval.

Approval.

But, sadly, the danger in this game is that eventually you'll be caught. You will run out of obscure indie band references or ancient 80's bands, and the truth will slowly be revealed--that you don't really grasp all of the musical nuances being thrown around in the conversation, and your obscure band references shrink slowly into insignificance.

Eh. It could be worse.

We could try to avoid this game altogether, and admit right off the bat that we sometimes enjoy a horribly typical pop song simply because it's got a good beat and for no deeper musical reason than that.

That's not to say that the so-to-speak, musically obscure, don't possess a shred of musical knowledge or even appreciation, but we should attempt and release ourselves from this false pressure to impress or seek approval amongst the very ones who seek approval through their art.

It's ironic.

Let's be honest, it's all about approval.

Now, that's another conversation for another time...