Turning Points

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Everyone's music taste changes and evolves over time. Do you have an album or song that was a 'turning point' for you, musically? Perhaps you've had two or three turning points, or found that the combined power of a handful of songs made you think differently about a whole genre?

Are musical turning points always in the form of "OMG!" revelations? Were yours gradual or sudden?

Comments

[mcatzilut.livejournal.com]

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" taught me to like music, and probably taught me to obsess over pop culture. I wrote a paper about this for a course once, about how the song recreated my social anxiety - and I'd never had a piece of artwork recreate me so perfectly. It was eye-opening. That one worked like a one-punch knockout.

An example of the reverse would be Joni Mitchell's Circle Game. I heard that song in so many different contexts over so many years of my life (from 2nd grade through today) that it changed meaning as I changed. I got the chance to grow up with the song, so the ways it has affected me have been subtle and gradual.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I wrote an essay about Nevermind for my A-level General Studies exam! Absolute rubbish, every word. Got an 'A'.

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

I wrote about the works of Madonna in A-Level General Studies and got an 'A' too.

[koganbot]

Let's see, wrote a term paper about the Dolls for Intellectual And Cultural History Of The United States, sophomore year; and my Senior Essay was entitled "Kicks" based on the Lou Reed song.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

I wrote the lyrics to something angsty by Skunk Anansie (can't remember what exactly) on my Maths GCSE paper in French. I got a B. I suspect I lose this game.