What's in your CD case?

There's an old saying that goes "You can learn a lot about a person based on what kind of music they listen to." Well, I think that statement is only half-true... I mean if you were to look at my taste in music, you'd probably conjure up a mental image of a long-haired head-banger wearing a cowboy hat and face paint. OK, maybe not the cowboy hat - that's just to please Mommy B.

Besides, people's taste in music changes constantly. I'm a perfect example of this notion. Back in the day I was a (Joker's) card-carrying, face-painting, knew-every-word-to-every-song-on-every-album fan of the Insane Clown Posse. Don't judge, I was in high school and had barely hit puberty at the time. I used to listen to all their music (none of which was on the radio) and paint my face to look like KISS (for all you older folks) when going to their concerts. And I've got the photos to prove it...

However, I haven't listened to one of their albums in years. It's not that I don't enjoy the music any more, but more so that my tastes have changed. I'd much rather listen to Jimmy Buffett sing about boat drinks on a beach than listen to Violent J (that's his real name) rap about sipping Faygo on a back porch in Detroit. The ICP CD's that I own have slowly made their way to the back of my CD case as more current artists begin to fill the front.

I'm a big fan of downloading music I like (for free) and burning a CD that contains a whole bunch of different artists. The concept of listening to 80 minutes of the same band is just plain boring for our ADD generation. That being the case, you would probably have a hard time figuring out what kind of person I am by looking in my CD case - because they are all just blank CD's with numbers on them.

There is, however, one thing that you could tell - that I'm a parent. I've had to demote all my good friends back a few pages to make room for someone else. My good pals Breaking Benjamin, Disturbed, Five Finger Death Punch and Insane Clown Posse had to take a back seat to the Top 50 Singalong Songs collection that Mommy B and I received as a gift for Alli. No more face paint (unless it's for Alli at Halloween), no more head banging, no more loud screaming into the microphone... but you better believe the wheels on the bus go round and round, all through the town.

So maybe you can tell a lot about a person by what type of music they listen to. While I might not enjoy listening to Old McDonald and his farm every time Alli is in the car, I'm sure she appreciates it... or will someday.