On the verge of becoming Kathleen Turner Overdrive…

While reading the recently published list of the 50 worst songs ever, I repeatedly found myself thinking, “Hey, I like that song!” (I won’t even tell you how many, or which, of those albums I own.) Alas, some people are born with an innate sense of which songs suck and which don’t, and some people just aren’t. I have no discernable musical taste. Big portions of High Fidelity passed over my head in blank incomprehension. I’m a complete sucker for any song with a catchy hook; without cultural pressure or the intervention of thoughtful friends I’d probably cheerfully buy any Britney Spears or Backstreet Boys or John Mayer or Avril Lavigne album that came out.

Thankfully, my friends have fed me a healthy diet of classic rock, geeky alternative, bluegrass and Celtic music: Led Zepplin, Bruce Springsteen, the Grateful Dead, Ben Folds, Barenaked Ladies, XTC, Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, the Chieftains… I discovered the sheer joy of NickeI Creek all by myself. I’m learning to be more critical of songs that are just too catchy for their own good (for example, I think the members of Outkast should be apprehended and brought to justice for the crimes they have committed against our airwaves). Yes, I think I may be on the road to recovery.

But if you ever come to visit, don’t look at my CD shelf, okay?