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Home » I’m just a prole at heart

I’m just a prole at heart

The New Neo Posted on by

On a thread about the Steinman/Meatloaf song “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” commenter “mkent” wrote:

Neo: Honestly, I’m a bit astonished to see you go down this path, what with your reputation for your love of the ballet and other forms of high art. I’ve been told I have an eclectic taste in music, but going from ballet to disco to Jim Steinman is way out there — in a good way.

Ah, but I’ve always had exceptionally eclectic tastes, and not just in music. I like some reality TV, I must confess. One of my favorite movies is “Midnight Run,” a film which may have set some sort of record for the number of times the F-word is used. As a kid, I was a huge – and I mean huge – roller derby fan, knowing the names of entire teams and even the birthdays of some of my favorite skaters. I went to a live roller derby show at about the age of eight, escorted by the kindly housekeeper. That event was a very big deal for me, although I was disappointed that the armory (that’s where it was held) was so loaded with cigarette smoke from the crowd that I could barely see the action. And one of my childhood dreams was to become a hairdresser, although my parents made it clear that would not be acceptable.

I suppose my love for the Bee Gees might fit somewhere into all of that. Very déclassé, although it’s getting a bit more acceptable lately because their music is having a sort of renaissance as a result of the HBO documentary about them.

But I couldn’t care less what my tastes “say” about me and I never did, even when young. I liked what I liked, and I was neither good at dissembling nor inclined to do it. I never felt that running with the crowd was worth it and I’ve always been terrible at acting differently than I feel.

That latter characteristic has sometimes created problems in my personal relationships, although I’ve become better at tact as I’ve gotten older.

How about you?

Comments

I’m just a prole at heart — 38 Comments

  1. Good for you! I’ve always “liked what I like,” too. This got me in a bit of trouble during the disco years when junior high Martel loved some of the disco songs and everyone else was burning their Saturday Night Fever records. I’ve always thought that my like for certain 70s-80s schlock was pure nostalgia but compared to the utterly derivative, bland and interchangeable crap on the radio now (agedcrankyMartel! But my little high school/early college nephews back my opinion) it was really good, and authentic and interesting even if it wasn’t “high art” and had embarrassing lyrics, rhyme scheme, melody, etc.

  4. As a kid I loved comic books, science fiction and monster movies. I wasn’t going to give them up because my teachers looked down on them.

    It was later with poetry and art, where I had difficulty. These were confusing new fields which didn’t come naturally to me and there were plenty of snooty people who took pleasure in putting down others’ tastes.

    Poetry posed an additional problem because I was trying to write poems and I felt a constant pressure to make my poems like much of the modern poetry I read, i.e. complicated and coded. It was a real fight to like what I liked and write what I liked.

    It was worth it. You have to start where you are and find your way. You can learn from others, but ultimately it comes down to you. You must learn to trust yourself and you must work at it.

    I didn’t get past the amateur stage as a poet, but I did learn enough poetry to handle debates with name poets, who imagined themselves to be popes of poetry.

    These experiences also gave me the confidence to flip my politics from left to right and stand my ground.

  5. Teenage Cat liked Bach, Buxtehude, Broadway musicals (Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, Meredith Willson, the usual oldies but goodies), bowling with the family, and baseball (another family thing). Added Gilbert and Sullivan and the late ’60s folk singer brigade in college. Senior Cat still likes them all, but had to give up bowling (arthritis)– and hopes that maybe, just maybe, this year the Phillies will come through.

  6. “eclectic tastes” – that what I have always said to people who express surprise that I like something but also like something that seems the opposite of it.

    Going forward I think I will follow you, Neo, and add the word “exceptionally” so that I will tell people that I have “exceptionally eclectic tastes.” That does have a nice ring to it.

  7. Because I work for a large French pharmaceutical company, my business trips have taken me to some of the finest restaurants in Paris. Haute cuisine to be sure, but I also love microwave burritos.

  9. Well, I never.

    It is kind of a nice treat to discover that an individual is more complex than early impressions suggested.

    Philosophically, I suggest that it takes an atmosphere of freedom for individual complexity to thrive.

    Wouldn’t we be so much better as a society if CRT adherents, and their counterparts, would acknowledge that common aspect of human nature? Alas!

  11. Good taste is acquired, taught. My mother made (we did not volunteer!) us learn an instrument and in the process learn music. She had a monaural speaker (no stereo then) set up to waft Mozart up the stairwell as we read in bed before lights out.

    We had just one radio in those days. On saturday nights I would take it to the bedroom, drape the antenna, and see what was out there. Well, 600 miles away was clear-channel WWVA, which is how I discovered Bluegrass, with instant love that has stayed with me, just as much as Mozart, Bach and Beethoven.

    Mind, Bluegrass had only been classified as a musical entity for a few years then, Bill Monroe’s tenor and his mandolin (yes!) leading the way: “Blue moon of Kentucky, keep on shinin’….”

  12. When I was in college 40 years ago, I would play albums non-stop, with a sequence like: Led Zeppelin, then Barry Manilow, Black Sabbath and then the Eagles. I liked pretty much everything.

  13. Started out a prole. Flirted with delusions of being otherwise. Back to being a confirmed prole and intend to remain that way.

  14. I love classical Azerbaijani Music and Folk Songs (from my home country), Choral Singing of the Cossacks, Gregorian Chant, Baroque Music, Classical Opera, Christmas Songs, Country Ballads, Baroque Pop, Folk Pop of 60`s&70`s, Demis Roussos, Mireille Mathieu, Joe Dassin, Boney M, BEE GEES Complete Collection 🙂

  15. Prole: a member of the working class; a worker. Well, I’m certainly a prole.

    Working was always a big part of my youth. Sold newspapers, dug ditches, peeled logs, was a gofer in a lumber yard, worked on White Pine Blister Rust control, cleaned houses, waited tables, and other sundry jobs. That was all before I graduated from college. When I went to work as an oil geologist, I thought I was in Heaven. Outdoors, getting paid to use what I learned in college. What a deal. I stumbled into Naval aviation quite by accident and that became my work Again, what a deal!

    Music was from a radio or juke box. Never was able to make any myself. My taste is eclectic – Sinatra, Como, Nat King Cole, Doris Day, the Beatles, the Carpenters, John Denver, Neal Diamond, etc. Don’t care much for rock and definitely not for what is being produced these days.

    Doing things outdoors like trout fishing, rock climbing, back packing, and skiing have been my hobbies. Too old and decrepit for any of that today, but the memories are still solid and would not trade them for anything.

    I’ve always been a conservative by inclination. No one in my family was political except my maternal grandfather. He was conservative and maybe I inherited his ideas without realizing it. During the 60s chaos and anti-American movement I examined my beliefs more closely and did not change my mind. Communism/Marxism has always been a cruel lie and back in the 60s it became ever more clear to me.

    My tastes are simple. I want comfortable shoes and a good bed because I’m in one or the other all the time. My clothing is plain and well-worn. As a pilot I wore a uniform to work for 38 years. I owned one suit for funerals and weddings. My uniform is now khaki pants and a polo shirt in summer and heavy sweater shirt in winter. I still have one suit for funerals (of which there are far too many these days) and weddings. (of which there are far too few these days.)

    My work now is maintaining our home. I spent the morning cleaning out a clogged drain. I mow the grass, weed our garden area, make sure the sprinkler system is operating properly, shovel our drive in winter, and other such odd jobs as arise. Still trying to be a prole because work is good for the soul. 🙂

  18. Eclectic tastes: I studied classical piano in my youth and developed a deep love for classical music, and later opera. But I kept my love of classic rock, folk/hillbilly rock, r&b, etc., though mainly from the 60s. Growing up in Detroit I have a special feeling for Motown. I attended the same high school as Diana Ross, and one of the Four Tops’ daughters was a classmate in Junior High. There was a documentary on Motown and Berry Gordy (Hitsville: The Making of Motown) that I happened to catch on TV a couple months ago and it was mesmerizing. Such a classic American story. At the same time, I have almost zero interest in any pop music from the last 30 years. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, I didn’t leave popular music, it left me.

  20. For some reason, rock and its variants never interested me. I like this song and that song in pretty much any other field, from C&W to baroque and renaissance. From time to time there are arrangements of old hits from the Thirties as “easy listening” which I like. Liked folk when it told a story, not so much just a guitar arrangement of a so-so piece.
    But I can’t say I’m in love with any particular genre, although I might hit renaissance or baroque on youtube to see what marvel I might find.
    From time to time–not so often–in the presence of the pretentious, I may exhibit prole interests until I get a sniff. Then I wax eloquent about “Mille regretz”, or “Flow My Tears”, as if I’d missed the superiority. Kind of fun but perhaps I’ll pay some dues in the next life.

  21. It’s kind always been funny to me how having simple tastes can be viewed as such a negative by some people.

    I was in a relationship with someone for a long time that seemed to only like exotic things whether they be food or music or whatever and I don’t mind those things but I also like a turkey sandwich or Fleetwood Mac or some other ‘mainstream’ band but for some people they just can’t handle that.

    Some people seem to define themselves by being hip or edgy but I never cared about that stuff.

  22. Ballet, roller derby, Steve Goodman, the BeeGees, I love that you are so eclectic Neo. I never did understand the rules to roller derby. Back in those pre-internet days, there was no one to explain it to me.

    Not all to my taste. I love the classical music for proles, that is, the soundtrack to the old Warner Brothers cartoons, usually not the entire symphony and certainly never the whole opera. Likewise I love straightforward jazz (Take Five) but not those pieces that seem to be attempts to show off the virtuosity of the performer rather than please the human ear. I love rock, soul, the blues, bebop, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, U2, REM, Laura Daiglesh, Zach Williams, Neil Diamond, Don MacLean, Toby Keith, Garth Brooks, Warren Zevon, etc. I’m not sure how you would classify my musical taste. Bob Dylan’s eclectic mix of blue grass, folk, rock and roll, and lyrics that draw metaphors from classical allusions to B movie motifs in the same songs are wonderful enough that I can even tolerate his singing voice. I love that the song-writers get to be stars these days, but I miss the brilliance of Gene Pitney and Ben E. King.

    My boss once asked people in a meeting their favorite movies as an ice breaker. I had to cite two, Miracle on 34th St. and The Fifth Element. He found that unusual, but I consider them 2 perfect movies. The best writers are curious about almost everything. As Maude said, “I love people! They’re my species!” Bonus points if you know that line from the movie I took my wife to on our first date. If I meet someone who sincerely loves something I don’t, I try to understand what they see in it, so I might love it too. (Emphasis on sincerely, no interest in poseurs.)

  23. Neo – Your self-awareness and self-confidence are both off the charts, but quietly so. The ability to speak out and say “I like this” about something – anything – simply because you actually do like it and before you ever ponder what others may think about it, is rare. Rare because acute self-awareness and deep self-confidence so seldom travel together. You likely don’t realize it, but you are very cool.

  24. My favorite movies….. Hamburger Hill. Like Saving Private Ryan but not so cheerful. And The Thirteenth Warrior.
    So sue me.

  25. If it’s good, I like it.
    Doesn’t matter if it’s Sly and the Family Stone or Shostakovich.

  26. Iggy, Andrés, Merle, Hank, Lou, Frank, Ella, Rickie Lee, (Joey Johnny DeeDee Tommy Marky), Leonard, Johnny (Burnette), Nico, Waylon, Billie, Bob (Wills and Dylan), Gil-Scott, Amy, Chet, Greg and Dwayne, David (Bowie Byrne Mason Jones) We contain multitudes. Ain’t life grand?

  28. I am a conservative but I love Rock Music and its variants, Broadway, Baseball, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, visiting the Smithsonian Museums in Washington D.C., Civil War History, Steve McQueen films, and old episodes of Westerns on nostalgia TV stations such as Gunsmoke.

  29. Eclectic defines me. I love music, all kinds of music. I love Bach, Mozart, Gregorian Chant. I also love The Great American Songbook and more Classic Rock than I can list (Beatles, Beach Boys, Bee Gees, Iron Maiden, Cheap Trick, Rush, Creedence Clearwater Revival to name a few). I love mysteries and with mainstream fiction getting increasingly whiny and woke, I have my favorite mystery writers who have not sold out (C.J. Box). I’ve always loved good old-fashioned monster movies and couldn’t wait to see Godzilla vs Kong. I have over 200 DVDs of mostly classic movies that keep me entertained since most TV isn’t that good anymore. As for art – I love Baroque the best but like music, too many to list.
    I also love baseball and hope that they ditch that woke commissioner they have now and get someone who loves the game.

  30. Oh, I left out that at UC Riverside, we had a carillon in our central bell tower, and, one Sunday morning, Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring was followed by Eleanor Rigby from 160 feet high in the open square. Transcendent!

  31. My favorite movies? The Bridges At Toko Ri, Caine Mutiny, The Mountain (Spencer Tracy and Robert Wagner), The Quiet Man, and all the Sean Connery Bond movies.

  32. “Birds of a feather…” – Geoffrey
    Indeed.

    The best part of Neo’s Salon is that everyone brings different viewpoints and preferences, yet there is a commonality of interest that keeps the group anchored, and the discussion enriches us all.

    “These experiences also gave me the confidence to flip my politics from left to right and stand my ground.” – huxley

    Courage is a muscle; it must be exercised to function properly.

  33. Well, 600 miles away was clear-channel WWVA, which is how I discovered Bluegrass, with instant love that has stayed with me, just as much as Mozart, Bach and Beethoven.

    Cicero:

    Bluegrass was how I found my way into country music!

    Gillian Welch is one of my heroes too. She was a UC Santa Cruz chick playing in a psychedelic surf group, then she heard the Stanley Brothers:
    ____________________________________________________

    Gillian Welch, a third-time festival performer, was raised in Los Angeles on Velvet Underground and punk records, but later had an epiphany: “I was at college and had just moved in with a DJ who had an old-time-bluegrass show. One Sunday morning I was in the bathroom, on my knees, cleaning the bathtub, and he put on “The Legendary Stanley Brothers Vol. 1.” The first song came on and I just stood up and I kind of walked into the other room as if I was in a tractor beam and stood there in front of the stereo. It was just as powerful as the electric stuff, and it was songs I’d grown up singing. All of a sudden I’d found my music.”
    ____________________________________________________

    You might like Gillian. Start from the first album, “Revival.” Or just listen to “Orphan Girl.”

    –“Orphan Girl – Gillian Welch”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dhOIc_xaSk

    She was adopted by a couple who ended up doing the music for the “Carol Burnett Show.”

  34. Courage is a muscle; it must be exercised to function properly.

    AesopFan:

    Thanks!

    Perhaps I make too big a deal of it, but when I went into poetry at the age of 20, I was also forging a new identity, as one must at that age. Poetry wasn’t something I could pick and choose, but a world I had to understand and make a place for myself within. Like any subculture you don’t just show up as a poet and everyone welcomes you.

    You have to fight for it.

  35. Richard Aubrey,

    The 13th Warrior is a very underrated movie, in my opinion.

    Ever read the Crichton book its based on? I’m a fan of the book too.

  36. I’m skeptical of the link between eclectic tastes and being a prole, but I certainly have eclectic tastes. Everything from baroque and classical to The Bee Gees, although I had not thought about the latter until Neo’s earlier post.

    And I admit I don’t have Bee Gees playing in the background unless Neo posts a link to them.

  38. Fractal. It’s on my bucket list. Has been for a long time. BTW, I read “Children of Ash and Elm” by Price, an archaeologist. It’s a history of the Vikings and the fact that the author is an archaeologist makes an interesting difference. How things were done, what was necessary materially to do them, etc. But there is a horrid, detailed description of a funeral of a big shot. And in the movie, as we see a woman standing on a long ship about to be burned, Omar Sharif says, “It is the old way. You will not see this again.”
    Given what was necessary to equip the Viking efforts, such as ships and crew–unbelievable amounts of wool (the land was a “sheepscape”) and straight oaks forty feet tall taking sixty years to grow, I wonder if some of the time and space looked like ante bellum South.
    Highly recommended.

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