Paradise By The Dashboard Light…Blech.
I used to work in the kitchen of a popular bar during my early teenage years. On the weekends, the bar would open up its miniscule dance floor and all the university kids would pile in to booze it up and dance the night away. All night long the DJ would be playing all the popular hits, driving the crowd into a frenzy. To the signal the end of the evening, the DJ would play the song "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" by Meatloaf. This basically let the crowd know that this was the last song of the night and that the bar was eventually going to close. I remember hearing this marathon of a song for the first time and thinking to myself, "Wow what a cool song this is and boy is it ever long!" After a year of scrubbing pots and pans and hearing this song night after night, my love for this song eventually transformed itself into an all-consuming hatred for it. To this day I cannot get through the first ten seconds of this song without wincing. I would sooner stab myself in the eye with a sharp stick than have to listen to that song ever again.

The entire album, "Back In Black" by AC/DC. Don't ever need to hear it again. "Jump", by Van Halen. My ears will begin to bleed. "Old Time Rock & Roll", by Bob Seger. I'd rather hammer a rusty nail into my foot. "Fight for Your Right", by the Beastie Boys. The pain! Ohhh the pain! The list goes on and on. At one point, I use to really enjoy these songs or albums. Well, maybe not "Old Time Rock & Roll", I've always hated that song. But now, after years and years of hearing these songs over and over again, my love has turned to hate.

Where did the love go? At what point did my brain suddenly decide, "Hey remember that song you used to love? Well now you don't." I think the problem can be attributed to a few things.

Over saturation - You've heard that damn song one too many times.

Realization - You realize that the song pretty much stunk to begin with.

Transformation - After years of maturing & growing, "Wake Me Up Before You
Go-Go" is not as socially relevant to you now as it was when you
were 14.

I think music is a lot like fashion sense. When you look at old pictures of yourself and laugh about the outrageous clothes you used to wear, way back then. But at the time that picture was being taken I'm sure you didn't give yourself a second thought about how you looked. Because at that time, it made sense. Music works the same way. When you're an angry, young teenager dissatisfied with your place in life, the Slipknot sound may be an appealing musical choice at that time. 20 years later when you're driving back home from a long day at the bank and a Slipknot song comes on the radio. You may remember the song but the emotional attachment will not be as strong as it was 20 years ago. Our musical tastes are defined by who we are at that moment. Now if you'll excuse I have a bunch of New Kid's On The Block cassettes I have to dispose of.

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