A:
I mean, look. If you find that your life circumstances are being sung about in pop songs, you gotta stop what you're doing. You have to. If you're listening to, you know, K- or W-Top 40 whatever, and you catch yourself thinking, "Man, that sounds like what I'm going through right now!" you gotta back out of whatever situation you're in, pronto.
B:
Does that apply to indie songs too?
A:
Heartfelt, earnest guitar indie, or ironic power-pop indie?
B:
Both.
A:
Neither.
B:
Uhh, ok. Well, I mean. Are you ok with recognizing yourself, or your situation in a book? Aren't you just being a snob with the pop-music thing?
A:
Well, it depends on the book.
B:
Hemingway.
A:
Sure, that's fine.
B:
Fitzgerald.
A:
Naturally.
B:
Crichton.
A:
Eeeehh.
B:
Yeah. "Life finds a way", bro. Are you man enough to ID with Jeff Goldblum?
A:
Well, look. There's a big difference here, about the actual goal of the piece of art or content, you know. Hemingway or Fitzgerald, they were clearly trying to say something. They were trying to figure themselves out, or figure the world out, and so I don't feel bad, you know, if I'm part of that journey for them or whatever. And, you know. With regards to music. If I hear an Elliott Smith song, or a Microphones song, or a Mountain Goats song, or Joanna Newsom, or any of those guys, I don't worry about recognizing myself there. I find value and comfort or at least interest there. They are clearly sincere people, sincerely working on things, and that's, you know. That's great. That's what we should all be doing.
B:
I agree that Lady GaGa or Kei$ha or whatever, they're not sincere in the same way Elliott Smith is. But I think you're giving them a hard time, man. I think you should take your insights, you know, and your self-assessments or -recognitions wherever you can get them. I think it's entirely possible that Lady GaGa could sort of back into something that has real, valuable resonance for someone at a particular point in their life.
A:
I guess. It's like the existential equivalent of Shaggy leaning against the candelabra that rotates around to reveal the secret passage.
B:
Yeah, exactly. You know, if you're looking for something, you're clearly better off with Daphe/Joanna or Fred/Elliott. The odds are clearly better that they're going to find the object/turn of phrase that unlocks the secret entrance/next stage of your life. But don't discount GaGa/Shaggy, they still have effectors, they still cause change.