A month ago, I bought the album Lungs, by Florence and the Machine. This was a bit of a gamble, as I hadn’t heard much of it beforehand (not knowingly at least), and was mostly going by what one or two other people had said about it. And as it turned out, this was a good move. It’s a really good album.
Which is why it pains me to see it advertised on television, to hear excerpts from it used in one in five trailers on the BBC, and to know that it’s been a huge mainstream pop hit. Every time I am reminded that this is music that everybody knows and, apparently, likes, I cringe a little with embarrassment to think that I, too, like this music.
But what’s more embarrassing is the knowledge that this reaction is, ultimately, stupid. Why should it matter who else likes a record? It makes no more sense to dismiss a record because it is popular than it would to dismiss it because it isn’t. Ultimately, the only real test of a record is to listen to it, and whenever I do that (as, indeed, I am doing at this very moment) I am reminded that Lungs is a superb album.
The absurdity of this reaction is further emphasised that lots of the music I enjoy has enjoyed huge mainstream popularity in other eras. Of the 25 best-selling albums of all time, I own numbers 2, 3, 4, 11, 13, 23, and 24* (not to mention several more further down the list). So when it comes to anti-mainstream elitism, I don’t really have any credibility anyway.
But while I’m aware of all of this, it doesn’t stop that little cringe of embarrassment. It just means that I then I feel a second instant of embarrassment for having been embarrassed the first time.
*Back in Black, The Dark Side of the Moon, Bat Out of Hell, Rumours, Led Zeppelin’s 4th album, Born in the U.S.A. and Brothers in Arms
I only own three of those. On the other hand, I never make any claims of being especially anti-establishment – just musically eclectic
Normally, neither do I. That’s why it’s irritating to discover I’m more of a snob than I realised.
Well look on the bright side: either the cringe will wear off over the next few weeks now you’re aware of it or it won’t and then a career in writing elitist and pretentious music reviews will beckon. No downside as far as I can see.