Question 5: Are you a “song“ lover or a “music” lover?

This question was a recent “Know Yourself Better” question from Episode 337 of Happier with Gretchen Rubin, the one podcast I (sort of) listen to. I’m behind on the podcast lately and I know why. It’s because I prefer quiet to noise of any kind. But I liked this “Know Yourself Better” question because it helped me see I can be a song lover even if I’m not a music lover.

We had a fun family dinner table discussion on this question earlier this week. It was no surprise to any of us that Bauer is the Official Music Lover in our family. He seeks out new music. He makes playlists. He sends me new songs to listen to that he thinks I will like. He gets up at 5:30 am on days that his favorite artists release new albums so he has time to listen to all the songs and read all the lyrics before having to go to school. He has music on all the time (unless he’s watching sports). He is our car DJ. He is our home DJ. When Bauer is not home, music probably isn’t playing.

I am a song lover - meaning I find a song I like and I listen to it over and over. I might be prompted to go seek out the artist to see if there are other songs I like by the same person but I also might not do that. I don’t have to have music on all the time, or hardly at all. I have a few artists I love, but I wouldn't say I’m a music lover. I am a quiet lover.

You all already know I love Taylor Swift.

I also like Mat Kearney and John Mayer, and in a proud music moment of my own, I figured out that two of their songs, “Grand Canyon” by Mat Kearney and “New Light” by John Mayer, sound the same. It was a fun discovery and even if you’re not a music person (like I’m not), you might think it’s neat if you listen to them back to back. I also really, really like country music and lately I have been listening to Chris Young, Morgan Wallen, Riley Green, Thomas Rhett, and Florida Georgia Line. For the record, Bauer’s favorite artist is Mat Kearney, but he also likes Ben Rector, Coldplay, One Republic, Surfaces, Maroon 5, The Script, Toby Mac, For King and Country, Morgan Wallen, and Andrew Belle.

Oh how I fell in love with that #1 song on Bauer’s playlist when it first came out. “I Don’t Really Care” about music but I do love some good song lyrics. My top seven songs at the moment are:

1. Sheesh! - Surfaces & Tai Verdes
2. What They’ll Say About Us - Finneas
3. Odds - Mat Kearney
4. Summer Jam - Jake Owen
5. Still - Seinabo Sey
6. The 90s - Finneas
7. 23 - Sam Hunt

For a while, I’ll play these endlessly. And then I’ll get tired of them and there will be new songs, and Bauer will be sure I know what they are. The best part of music (and books and quotes and poetry) is that the words never run out and the artist never dies.