Not long ago, i was sitting at work when suddenly there was music coming from the computer behind me. I was okay with that…

… But not for very long.

In case you haven’t picked up on this fact yet: I really like music. This basically means I’m okay with most everything. That’s not to be confused with the type who doesn’t really care about music and therefore likes it all. No, mine is the type who so enjoys and appreciates music that they find value and worth in sometimes the most unlikely songs.

Such a talent can only be pushed so far, however, and I find that more often than not it is my peers that manage to push my musical appreciation past reasonable limits.

This day, the musical onslaught started with somethings reminiscent of Evanescence with heavier influences of hardcore and whiny new-wave emo, but with a less talented lead singer. (That wasn’t so much of a compliment towards Evanescence as it was a dig at both bands, by the way.)

I sucked it up. I didn’t want to seem overly rude by putting on headphones. I’m a professional music-a-holic. I can deal with one teansie little song that I don’t care for, right?

Well, dealing with one undesirable song is a doable sacrifice. Of course it didn’t end there. The next song was by a different band, but the music still sounded like a horrible mix of shitty whiny new-wave emo and hardcore. The vocalists still made me want to punch them in the face.

But forward through the day I plodded, trying not to show my frustration with the stream of music I was cruelly being subjected to. I had no clue who any of the bands were, just that I thought unconsciousness would be preferable to listening to any of them anymore

And then…my coworker left the room. I quickly stole over to her computer. I had to know what garbage I was listening to!

Pandora was the facilitator of my doom. Very rarely have I cursed Pandora, but I fear that day was one of them.

The station in question? Paramore. The current band driving me to homicidal rages? Taking Back Sunday.

I shuddered, whimpered, pleaded to the musical gods for mercy, and crawled back to my desk.

No mercy was forthcoming. Before my coworker returned, Pandora vindictively sent a Yellowcard song my way. I think it was a sign that the musical gods were busy. Technology was in charge.

I’d almost like to say I sucked it up and dealt with it. Internally went to my musical happy place and made it through the next few hours without constant pain. But that would be a lie.

Rather, I spent a considerable amount of time internally debating whether or not putting on my headphones would be considered extremely rude. Then, I contemplated bashing my head off of the desk until unconsciousness had been reached, but Jacob suggested that perhaps it may be less rude to just break out the headphones.

When it was all over and done, I just ended up whining a lot.

Is there a moral to this story? Not really, although I do feel vindicated in my tastes. On a double blind test, I still hated whiny emo shit. No one can tell me I’m just hating it because I’m biased anymore.

I personally feel that fast music ought to be paired with fast lyrics. This is why I hate Paramore. It takes them 10 seconds to spit out one word while the music is rushing behind them. Either make fast music, or slow music. Ballad type vocals set to hardcore music will lead me to homicidal tendencies in 5 seconds flat.

If I were to think of a drink that matches the music I was hearing that fateful day, I would have to say either a very poorly mixed drink, or a horrible cup of coffee.

[/rant]