Do You Define Yourself By What Music You Listen Too ?

[Conor]

I think people tend to latch on to things that they admire greatly and by associating themselves with the object of their admiration (such as saying you are a fan) we somehow feel a part of the success .
I think the same thing happens also in the sporting world . People pick a soccer or football team and sort of latch on to the success and so feel part of it .
I can remember as a teenager being so defensive about the particular rock group or football team i supported .
I would wait for the next album with anticipation and felt proud as a "fan" if it turned out to be a good one .
Dont get me wrong i do like music but i dont define myself anymore as a fan of any particular group .
I think it is fine to like the group of your choice and to listen to their music but some young people take it to the point of following the lifestyles of their rock gurus .
from a christian point of view it is true to say that nobody i know has been changed or reformed for the good because of listening to rock music and following that lifestyle (that is from my own perspective) , however there have been many people who have died from drug overdoses trying to emulate their idols .

 

[Western Deity]

Not really.

 

[Sketcher]

Not that extreme, no. If I am going to emulate a band, I would find a good, Christian band to emulate. Like No Innocent Victim.

 

[KenobiKid]

No. I thought that most people grew up and stopped that after high school?

 

[All4one]

I think most people do describe themself through their interests, music, and especially the words they speak.
If this were not so then why do so many drive around with windows down blasting music. I do this myself in a mild sense with Third Day and Newboys because I want people to hear what I like.
In the same way we tend to talk about what we like. In some cases our wives and children but more then anything Christ. You can tell how much you have given to Christ and how much you love Him by the time you spend talking and thinking about Him.
Some music seems deceptive to me though. We like the beat but allow the lyrics to role in also. In a pole many people say they listen to M&M for the beat but when asked to sing some of the lyrics can quote usually atleast some or most of the song. What we listen to has a great impact on who we are. In order to "transform and renew" our mind we have to start by transforming what we watch on t.v., what we listen to on the radio, who we talk to on the phone, and what kind of books we read. These are just a few things but music can be deceptive if we are not careful. It sometimes causes people to become more deeply involved in woship to God but I have also seen it cause fights and violence.

In Love
All4one

 

[DJ_Ghost]

Hmm interesting question. I think my answer would have to be yes and no. I certainly do not go to the extreme you describe, but one look at my post and there I have “Trad Goth” right out there for all to see. Certainly I define myself as a Goth in certain circumstances, but I also define myself as a Social Scientists, a Christian, a Criminologist, a Liberal Democrat, a small business man, a gamer, and a DJ (In no particular order). I do not define myself as any one of those to the exclusion of all others, nor do I think that they come close to defining me as a whole.

However nor am I averse to being labelled the way many people are. It really does not bother me greatly. Other people most commonly define me as a Goth, because its the most obvious part of my identity. They can see me in black leather trousers with hair to my waste and a Sisters of Mercy T-Shirt and it immediately identifies me as a Goth. They can not however tell from looking at me that I am a Criminologist, or a gamer or a writer. So I do not mind when people describe me as “the Goth from down the road”, because although it does not come close to defining me as a whole, it is the part of who I am they can most easily identify.

Ghost

 

[oldrooster]

No...

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

Im gonna have to go with Oldrooster on this one.... No

 

[absolutely_lost_86]

no not really

 

[KenobiKid]

No...

I haven't talked to you in weeks and that's the exact kind of reply I was hoping to see from you tonight!

 

[oldrooster]

I haven't talked to you in weeks and that's the exact kind of reply I was hoping to see from you tonight!

Thanks kindly....

 

[DJ_Ghost]

Hmm. You guys are all making me feel realy verbose!

Ghost

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

Hey DJ Ghost!! Havent seen you in awhile

 

[Im_A]

i listen to music that feels what i feel, whether chrisitan or not. the music doesn't define me, but the music i chose to listen to, resembles my complete personality, or at least as close i can.

 

[fortyfourbreaks]

sadly yes

 

[oldrooster]

I listen to way too many kinds of music to fall into one nitch.....

 

[DJ_Ghost]

Hey DJ Ghost!! Havent seen you in awhile

Hi there SOTF. I have not been around quite as much. I have had ISP problems which mean I have gone from unlimited net acess to just 150 hours a month, and since my wife runs our clothing business on the net I have had to be very carefull with our net time.

Its a long story, but basicaly it boils down to AOL (my old ISP) and Telco (Who used to provide my telephone service) had a big falling out and their agreement over interent service broke down so that AOL no longer provide unlimited net acess to those of us ussing Telco. Now they only provide a 30 hour a month service to telco users! Obviously we couldn't run the business on 30 hours a month, we spend longer than that checking emails.

Still as of 2 days ago my ISP and my telephone company are both British Telecom so I now get 150 hours a month which is still a struggle but its better than 30 hours.

The trials of tribulations of living in the midle of nowhere eh. Apparently its going to be months before broadband is available here. Presumably all the local wildlife and farm animals put in some kind of objection to the planning permision!

Anyway, its good to hear from you again, how was camp?

Ghost

 

[gig]

<not sure if the focus here is instruments with lyrics, or just lyrics, or just instruments >

for me...

Music is relational. I define IT by choosing what to buy, what to listen to at any given moment (excepting public environs). It defines ME by affecting my mood, my perspective ... whether secular or christian lyrics (can someone define the line between secular and sacred anyway, in the realm of music? If a "secular" song makes you think about God, is it also sacred? or accidently sacred?). Music sans lyrics sometimes defines me more than music with lyrics. so ... i guess ... "symbiotic" would be my best attempt at defining ... the defining dimension ... of music/listener define-er-ing...

 

[ps139]

In one respect I do, in that my favorite music is about beauty, and peacefulness, and I try to bring that into the world. That is what I like, and I search for music that expresses that. So, my soul and the music it listens to have a close connection.

However, if you look at it a different way, its a big NO. My favorite band is Phish, who until they ended 21 years of touring a few weeks ago, were followed around like the Grateful Dead by fans living amidst a huge cloud of pot smoke. I do not wear patchouli oil, I'm not into psychedelic drugs, I don't have "white-man's dreadlocks," and I guess I stick out in the crowd at a Phish show in that I'm usually clean shaven with a crew cut and a button down shirt. Some of the fans are so into the hippie thing, but I'm really not. And many of them would probably define themselves as Phish fans before anything else. So in that respect, no.

 

[~SHINE~]

I don't define myself by music, but you can use a lot of the music I like to help define me. Explanation: why would I choose to listen to a certain music if I didn't like it? And the fact that I like it says something about me. There's something in the lyrics or the instruments that attracts me to that particular song, band, style, etc. I listen to mostly Christian rock music. I don't define myself by Christian rock--that's silly. But if you didn't know a thing about me until you found out that I listen to Christian music, you'd find some other things. For one, you could make a pretty safe guess that I'm a Christian (I am). Stuff like that. The lyrics of my favorite songs also seem to be things that I can relate to in my life.