The Poison of Mass Appeal

I'm one of those people that likes to dislike what everyone likes. Let me rephrase. Every now and then there are certain things that most people like. I tend to dislike them mostly because... everyone likes it. I know it's kind of backwards, but I'm not alone. It's really a common thing with people my age. This is especially so with music. Enter Ben Harper. When he became popular with his beachy, hippie style, I immediately began the disliking process. Some of his most popular songs include "Burn one down," and "Steal my kisses." The latter was so repetetive and had such mainstream success that I really began to loathe it. All of that changed yesterday. I went home to my parent's house this weekend for Easter. I spent some time across the street with their neighbor Joe. Joe is a music lover and musician who loves to try out new instruments. His most recent purchase was an acoustic lap slide guitar. I had never even seen one until yesterday. He said his inspiration for the purchase was the music of Ben Harper. He showed me a video of Ben playing a similar instrument and my opinion of him immediately changed. His mainstream success with repetitive songs about pot and women overshadowed his real talent. Joe gave me a Ben Harper album called "Both Sides of the Gun." I listened to the whole thing on my drive back to Auburn last night and really enjoyed it! Perhaps I shouldn't write people off so fast when they become popular with mediocre music. Sometimes, there's a true talent behind the mainstream junk.