My niece sent to me an essay from the online version of the New York Times called, “It’s Not You, It’s Your Books” by Rachael Donadio. The article talks about how literary taste is a good shorthand for gauging compatibility. The article talks about the emergence of MySpace and Facebook and how a potential love interest can go online and delve into your literary tastes to get an idea of what kind of person you might be.
Can you gauge the depth of love by the quality of a person’s taste?
What about those who aren’t well read? What about bad musical taste? (Or no taste at all?)
Several years ago I was driving my girlfriend’s car, and she was the passenger. We were in the first month of dating – the “honeymoon period” of roses and sweet wine. She popped in a tape and out from the speakers came Celine Dion. She said with a straight face that Celine was her favorite artist. Period.
I honestly didn’t know how to respond. I thought about asking her if she knew any Cowboy Junkies, or Emmylou Harris, or possibly a softball pitch of Carole King. But Celine is so far off the mark I didn’t see the point. In my opinion, someone who props up Celine as their favorite isn’t even really trying. So much music is out there, decades of music, that makes Celine sound like musical poo. At that moment, I did think to myself, “this (relationship) might not go very well.”
It didn’t go well, but I am not sure that Celine had a lot to do with it. I have thought many times since about that situation, though. Could I love someone who loves Celine Dion? If Celine is out, where do I draw the line? Mariah Carey? Gwen Stefani?
My hope is if I do find a lover who loves Daughtry, she will at least be open to listening to something more eclectic. I do believe that most people, those who are open to new possibilities, will if not embrace at least accept music with more depth. In this I hope.
