Music: family rivalry & rebelry

Maybe rivalry is the incorrect term to use.  We do not envy each others tastes.  My middle brother is the one who tries to get me into the music he likes and I know for sure sure that I will like it, because he knows my tastes, but I simply very rarely, listen to much he lends me and it just sits on the table until he reclaims it.  So it is not a rivalry really.

I find myself often thinking about this subject matter and therefore I felt it was time to elucidate some more about it in written form.  Do feel free to give feedback but it is not essential and I do not mind if I receive no replies whatsoever.  However, do bear with me here, as there are no questions to be answered, just some observations on my part.  If somehow else has experienced similar, then it would indeed be very pleasing to hear from you.

Anyhow, to the point of this web blog post.

Even though I have a quite varied music taste and I have music from many genres in my collection, I can still trace my musical lineage back to my parents music tastes.  I will fully acknowledge their tastes as influential on me, from the Rolling Stones and the British Blues boom, through to forays into more progressive music, such as The Moody Blues and Barclay James Harvest.  I can even remember the first full prog track I heard Yours is No Disgrace by Yes, from their The Yes Album.  However, I only ever heard it on a cassette tape and mostly whilst travelling on a car journey with noisy siblings.  It was also on a mix tape, rather than being on The Yes Album.

Anyhow, I digress from the above wittering and will now get to the point of this web blog post.

I find myself now still liking much of my parents music taste but I never delve into it and play anything in their collection.  The question I keep asking is, why?  A lot of what they listen to does not appeal to me (because their tastes have "matured") but much of I still can appreciate.  So why do I never take anything from their collection and play it?  I feel as if I am rebelling against them, or maybe it is some form of elitism.

As a slight aside, the same phenomenon happens in regards to my two elder siblings.  The eldest is a Pink Floyd and Mike Oldfield fan (as well as many others), yet I have had no desire to ever purchase music by either of them, even though I inherently do not dislike either artist.  Indeed, I actually enjoy much of Pink Floyd's music.  I have never even borrowed any of these albums.  Again, why?  Maybe there is some form of rivalry going on here, because I cannot really justify why this is the case.  Why do brothers and sisters, parents and uncles and aunts have such rivalries?  My siblings have good music tastes, yet we do not really share our music collections.

My middle older sibling has a closer taste in music to myself and generally prefers jazz and blues and really does not listen to much progressive rock.  His music tastes are lighter than my own.  Yet again, I like much of what I hear of his music, but when he brings albums round for me to listen to, I never really touch them, let alone play them.  I have lent some of my albums to him and he has listened to many of them, so this apparent "rivalry" is not reciprocal.

So in conclusion, I am therefore a bit confused at this apparent philosophical gesture on my part.  I am having difficulty understanding why I do not really share my families music tastes, when I actually do not mind most of it.  Will this attitude change when and if they go?  Will I suddenly have a craving to want to listen to their music?

Personally, I believe it is just because I try to be as individualistic as possible and this extends to my family as well.  I guess some inferiority complex dictates that I must be different to not only the majority of people (I am extending this not to just my music taste) but also to my family.

Comments are welcome.


Edited by James - May 05 2008 at 11:22