By The Way

“Standing in line to see the show tonight,
And there's a light on,
Heavy glow.
By the way I tried to say I'd be there,
Waiting for.
Dani the girl is singing songs to me,
Beneath the marquee,
Overload.”

By The Way – Red Hot Chili Peppers

I’ve written some rather big confessions on this blog, but this could be the most shocking.

I used to hate the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I hated their music, their style, their place in society and their chopping and changes of band members. I didn’t get them and I didn’t understand how they had become so famous. Despite numerous friends tying to get me into them, their songs made no sense to me. Five years ago I wouldn’t have a bite of the Chili’s.

Then I started to find over the years I was picking up on a song or two which I didn’t mind listening to. I liked The Zephyr Song and enjoyed the chorus bits to By The Way. Eventually Scar Tissue became a bit of a favourite, Snow (Hey Oh) gave me a reason to sing along, and Dani California and Californication grew on me more and more. It was a year or so ago when I succumbed to the Chili Peppers, bought one of their Greatest Hits albums. And then, a few weeks ago, I went to their concert (albeit on a free ticket) and sang along to the songs – and loved it when the crowd got in on the lyrics in Under The Bridge. Though most of their songs still make little sense to me, or hardly relate to things I know about – after all, I am not one to go by drugs under the bride, or ‘fly’ away on my zephyr, I have a lot more time and respect for the Chili’s.

I find it rather interesting how our music tastes change over the years. I have noticed many people have a ‘moment’ in their mid to late teens when they realise how good classic rock music and it becomes their new old favourite. Some people change genres all together; I know someone who spent their entire time as a teenage listening to the heaviest rock music and playing bass guitar, and then became a trance music DJ in their early twenties. It seems as we grow and mature in our lives our music choices reflect our changes, influenced by friends and family, and what we see in media and society. I have also found I have a lot more time for other genres nowadays. As a teenager, I was determined only to like that pop rock genre; now I can switch from Taylor Swift to fun. to Bon Jovi to the Lion King soundtrack in the space of about ten minutes. I still stick by my childhood bands for a bit of nostalgia now and again. After all, it’s getting the more out of the best of the music industry.