The Difference

I was thinking today about how much music I have listened to over the span of my life. Some of those songs/albums/bands have become permanent fixtures that are still the bands I list when people ask for my favorite bands. Others have had their heyday, but in time I moved on. It essentially divides into four groups for me:

- Timeless Music - Those bands/albums/songs that never grow old to me, and are consistently in my shuffle (even after however many years I've been listening to them. Easily identifiable by the fact that I will still rush out to buy their new releases). Ex. Jimmy Eat World
- Filler Music - The music that fills my life and shuffle for a time, but then eventually dies out (bands that I even considered my favorite or will always think of fondly, but cease to put in my group of all-time favorite bands. Also identifiable by the fact that I won't rush out to buy their new releases). Ex. Pearl Jam
- Other Peoples' Music - This doesn't mean "bad." In fact, quite often it is quite good. Yet, I don't seem to make any effort to go get a copy of my own. I'll most often hear it driving in someone else's car or on the radio. Ex. Relient K
- Crap Music - Self-explanatory. Music that I just don't like. (The fact that I have it on my computer doesn't mean anything; I keep a decent amount of Crap Music on my compy for comedic value). Ex. Baja Men's - "Who Let the Dogs Out?"

The reason I was thinking of this, is that I hope for my music to be Timeless Music. Writing music is such a strange balance of letting it be natural (and in that sense, letting it create itself), while still demanding that it be the very best that you can do. All song-writers have their own process for this, so I'm sure that many would argue against everything I'm saying. I don't care. I am so grateful for the music that is Timeless Music. It is the music that inspires me to write my own. Filler Music is also inspiring to me, but in a different way. My vain hope (although I try to think of it as pure) is that my music would touch someone else the way that countless other songs have touched me.