I can’t even pretend that I have been following music this year. One of the drawbacks of choice is I find myself listening to the same customized list or specialty stations and so miss out on hearing what’s going on. I think I’ve always considered hearing new pop music as a little bit like listening to the top-of-the-hour-type headlines on radio and TV: It’s important to listen to largely because it is what everyone else is hearing. It’s American culture.
I wonder how much that is changing though now, as we change our habits and do customize our lives with filters –whether it be news or music — and unprecedented comforts.
This is just a long way of expressing my surprise that James Taylor is on the new Grammy nominations list for Wichita Lineman. Now there’s a song I know! But I had no idea there was a Taylor version.