You hurt me with that remark.

Did I mention that I cried?

Go get yourself Mudhoney's first record and call me in the morning, son.

Lulz at both of you who think music was invented in 1950. The innovation you seek in music is not where you are looking.

I'm sorry, Mr. or Ms. smarty-pants, but I'm not here arguing that the noise in my record collection is the best music ever, nor the most innovative. The people who made it probably wouldn't, either. I'm not a musician, know nothing about music theory, and listen to the albums I like. You know, the ones that bring me pleasure and happiness.

Also, I did say "apotheosis of rock," and not of music in general. So shut your word hole, okay?

Mudhoney was pretty good in that Chris Farley movie.

So your argument boils down to "Stop liking what I don't like!"

All music is is organized sound. That's all. You may like or dislike whatever you wish, just like you may like or dislike whatever food or art you wish. However, that doesn't prevent you from studying it carefully so that you can appreciate it more. Learning an instrument isn't difficult. Nor is learning music theory or music history. And, it's fun, AND it gives you a better appreciation for the art form in general.

It never ceases to amaze me when I see otherwise smart people listen to music at a 3rd grade level.

My comment was not meant to be a comprehensive rebuttal to the works of Stephen Morrissey. It was, and remains, a slightly catty personal opinion. Perhaps that came across in the tone? Or perhaps you're sort of a hard-on.

Compared to orchestral musicians -- and I've known a few; my mother used to work for an orchestra -- I listen to music at a third grade level. And that's fine. I do it to relax, because it gives me pleasure, because it allows me to collect something, because my music has come to mean something personal to me. It's a space in my life where I don't have to make serious judgments: a hobby, if you like.

I'd like to think that I save my serious thoughts for other things. For example, I try to write once in a while, though without much success. I think that this division of things is fine. People who insist on being highbrows about everything can be really tiresome. Everyone needs someplace in their life where they can just breathe, you know? Popular music happens to be mine.