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| Music to kill for | Music to kill for |
| (1 day later) | |
| For some people music is far from pleasant, says Laurie Taylor in his weekly column for the Magazine. | |
| It must be the best part of 20 years since Sarah made her extraordinary declaration but I can still recall every detail of the scene. | It must be the best part of 20 years since Sarah made her extraordinary declaration but I can still recall every detail of the scene. |
| We'd all finished dinner round at Robert and Sarah's and as usual had moved from the table and seated ourselves in comfortable chairs. And then, as usual, Robert had gone over to his stereo system and, as he always did, asked if we had any preferences. Did anyone want some Beatles? Some Miles Davis? Some Dylan? | We'd all finished dinner round at Robert and Sarah's and as usual had moved from the table and seated ourselves in comfortable chairs. And then, as usual, Robert had gone over to his stereo system and, as he always did, asked if we had any preferences. Did anyone want some Beatles? Some Miles Davis? Some Dylan? |
| As usual we expressed our strong preferences in the mildest terms. "I wouldn't mind some Dylan," said John who absolutely adored Dylan. | |
| "What Beatles have you got?" said Jennie who would have happily listened to replays of Love Me Do for the rest of the evening. FIND OUT MORE Hear Laurie Taylor's Thinking Allowed on Radio 4 at 1600 on Wednesday 7 January href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/thinkingallowed/">Or download the podcast here | |
| "What about, Miles?" I said, as though I'd carefully weighed up the merits of the alternatives. | |
| I'd been to quite enough dinner parties round at Robert and Sarah's to recognise the ritual nature of this scene. I even knew that we are all unlikely to hear any of our expressed choices. Robert invariably used our disagreement as an opportunity to play something of his own choice. He was particularly taken, I remember, with the alto solo on Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street. | I'd been to quite enough dinner parties round at Robert and Sarah's to recognise the ritual nature of this scene. I even knew that we are all unlikely to hear any of our expressed choices. Robert invariably used our disagreement as an opportunity to play something of his own choice. He was particularly taken, I remember, with the alto solo on Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street. |
| But on this occasion the ritual was shattered by a simple question from Jennie. "Robert," she said. "Why don't you ever ask Sarah what she wants to hear? She is your wife." | But on this occasion the ritual was shattered by a simple question from Jennie. "Robert," she said. "Why don't you ever ask Sarah what she wants to hear? She is your wife." |
| John joined in. "Yes, what do you fancy, Sarah?" Her silence was provocative. I put in my pennyworth. "Come on, Sarah. Beatles? Miles? Dylan?" | John joined in. "Yes, what do you fancy, Sarah?" Her silence was provocative. I put in my pennyworth. "Come on, Sarah. Beatles? Miles? Dylan?" |
| It was at this moment that I noticed the effect of these questions upon Robert. He was already crouched down shuffling CDs on the carpet but now he'd positively curled himself into a ball like a little child pretending to be invisible. | It was at this moment that I noticed the effect of these questions upon Robert. He was already crouched down shuffling CDs on the carpet but now he'd positively curled himself into a ball like a little child pretending to be invisible. |
| What nerve had we all accidentally touched? What was the reason for Sarah's continued silence, for her husband's evident discomfort? | What nerve had we all accidentally touched? What was the reason for Sarah's continued silence, for her husband's evident discomfort? |
| "Go on, Sarah. You may as well say it," murmured Robert from the depths of the living room carpet. | |
| Sarah sat up very straight. "The truth is," she said, "that I can't stand music. Any sort of music." | |
| Assailed by music | Assailed by music |
| "So don't go through a catalogue like Robert always used to do before he married me. Don't try me out on Beethoven or Mozart or grand opera or folk or jazz or rock or Latin American. I don't like any of it. I'd be happiest in a world where music had never been invented." | "So don't go through a catalogue like Robert always used to do before he married me. Don't try me out on Beethoven or Mozart or grand opera or folk or jazz or rock or Latin American. I don't like any of it. I'd be happiest in a world where music had never been invented." |
| It's a long time since I saw Sarah but I often think of her when I'm being assailed by music in lifts or in cafes or airport lounges. | It's a long time since I saw Sarah but I often think of her when I'm being assailed by music in lifts or in cafes or airport lounges. |
| I think of her on taxi rides when the driver is listening to back-to-back pop songs. I think of her on trains when all I can hear is the tinny electric throb coming from my fellow passenger's iPod. | I think of her on taxi rides when the driver is listening to back-to-back pop songs. I think of her on trains when all I can hear is the tinny electric throb coming from my fellow passenger's iPod. |
| I think of her when I read court cases of how someone was driven to assault and even murder by the noise of their neighbour's stereo. | I think of her when I read court cases of how someone was driven to assault and even murder by the noise of their neighbour's stereo. |
| I even think of her when I read that one of the most favoured forms of torture at Guantanamo Bay was the repetitive playing at full volume of Eminem and Christina Aguilera. | I even think of her when I read that one of the most favoured forms of torture at Guantanamo Bay was the repetitive playing at full volume of Eminem and Christina Aguilera. |
| Below is a selection of your comments. | |
| Music is usually imposed on us from outside and is mostly just annoying. I finally came out of the closet and stopped going to gigs and concerts because I don't like being pinned down and subjected to someone else's racket to the exclusion of all else. It's always too loud, which I find physically painful, and usually not very interesting. Give me lovely silence any day. Music has nostalgia value; in the same way as smells or patterns help us to identify strongly with a previous time in our lives, music can 'take us back' but that's it really. Like children wanting to hear the same story over and over again, we flock to music venues and I'm baffled as to why. Remember the drum solos of the 1970s? What on earth was that all about? Music looks enjoyable to make when everyone is involved, but it's no fun at all being a passive recipient. Carol Lee, Stockton-on-Tees, UK | |
| We all dislike different things. I, for one have a very very strong distaste for the sound of other people eating. Regardless of mouth open or closed. I hate it, it makes me nasty, waspish and cruel. Why should disliking music be any worse?Sarah, Doncaster, UK | |
| I empathise with Sarah, although it is true to say music in the right place and right time is tolerable. Why do people assume that everyone wants to "listen" to background music? If it is just in the background then why bother with it at all? My darling husband - please take note.Jill Brock, Grays, Essex | |
| What would cause such an extreme reaction to something that the majority of humankind - regardless of age, race or culture - loves beyond measure? Is it a neurological condition or a product of a traumatic experience that made Sarah feel that way? Making music (with instruments of voice) is, after all, something that we have done, as a species, for millennia. Eleanor Cramphorn, Howden, UK | |
| I have also disliked music for over 50 years. There are two sorts of music - offensive and innocuous. Innocuous music can be blanked out. According to researchers into amusia (the technical name for the condition) 4% of the population is amusic. Research into amusia has concentrated on the mechanical aspect. I can hear perfectly and distinguish changes of pitch and tone. I can recognise tunes, but I don't process them to create a sense of enjoyment. The psychological and sociological aspects of amusia have not been considered at all. An awful lot of people are faking an appreciation of some sort of music. What effect does this duplicity have on their lives?Martin Price, Dinas Powys, Vale of Glamorgan | |
| Sorry, but someone who can't stand any kind of music has no soul. None at all, whatsoever. Music is the language of the soul - who cannot fail to respond to at least one tiny phrase somewhere, sometime?Nona | |
| I suffer from what Nick Hornby called "Music Rage" in his book Long Way Down. While I like a lot of music - "anything good" - from almost any genre, and have some passions, some music drives me to distraction. These day's it's mostly the commercial mainstream and "urban" music, but when I find myself forced to hear it I am gripped with a real, seething anger and hatred. I console myself with the thought that hating some music so much is the price I pay for being so passionate about other kinds. However, if I were tortured with Eminem and Christina Aguilera I would refuse to be held responsible for my actions.Ian, London, UK | |
| I was an avid music fan in my teens, 20s and 30s listening to Western as well as Indian classical stuff - OK, I will admit I did like some oldies from Bollywood too. In the last 6/7 years, I have drifted away from music completely and can't stand it most of the time. It's a struggle as I do want to enjoy music and reminisce of the times when I could. Is there a reason for it? Is it common? Farid Khan, London | |
| Poor woman, she must have felt like she was constantly under aural assault.Sarah, Birmingham, UK | |
| How very said for Sarah. Perhaps she hasn't yet experienced the kind of music that would make her feel good. Everyone has a positive response to some sort of music, although I would venture to suggest that she would be better off listening to something light but classical...Fq, London, UK | |
| Sadly, this seems to be an affliction that affects many women, not just Sarah. I don't think I have ever met a woman who feels passionately about any genre of music other than the current popular (i.e. whatever is in the charts at the moment) music, or singalong songs from musicals. Maybe Robert should have tried some Abba...Robert, Cardiff, UK |
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