Isn’t it strange how the best music is that which no one has ever heard of?

Today, I had a big argument with one of my friends. She bombarded me with names like Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift. Etcetera. In answer, I started belting out my favourite Indie artists.

I don’t know what is the cause of my vehement opposition to mainstream music. The instant someone else has heard of my favourite singers, I start to dislike their music. Maybe I believe that famous singers are only in it for the fame, not the music.

I suspect my upbringing is part of this. My family is devoutly classical, and I have always regarded pop singers with scorn. ’It’s not real music’, I would tell my friends in vain.

Perhaps I just have a deep ingrained fear of being normal. I have never been ordinary, for various reasons. Sometimes I’m too smart for people, too cultured. I love Shakespeare, and classical music. This is not a normal interest for people my age.

Sometimes I simply distance myself. I cannot stand the idea of liking the same thing as everyone else. I always have to be the odd one out, or I will work manically to make sure I am.

It has just struck me, typing now, how alone this has made me.

Being different and liking different things is something I would not give up for the world. It makes me enemies. It makes people think I’m weird, and make no friendly move towards me. Of course, if those people are so judgmental, then I’m better off without them.

…This has turned rapidly from an observation on the superior quality of unheard music to a personal stand for those who are unique. How did that happen?