Winter in July

I think this happens every year. The weather enters a long, hot stretch and I lose all motivation. Rather than whine about stuff I’ll instead invoke a little cold and snow to break the monotony. Take it away, Piano Guys!

On another note, in poking around for this song and getting sidetracked to another (a Christmas song, in which one of the Piano Guys’ daughters sang a short solo), I noticed that for a particular video 293 people gave it a thumbs down out of close to 2.9 million views, while 38,000+ gave it a thumbs up. The comments section was lively, as expected, with most people thinking the girl was adorable, her voice angelic, etc. One person felt the girl ruined the song. Someone else asked why they felt that way.

A few observations:

– Some people couldn’t understand how 0.01% of viewers could bring themselves to dislike the video. Seriously? It’s impossible to conceive that one person in 10,000 might not like something? I’ll bet you’d find a higher percentage of people who don’t like chocolate!

– Kudos to the person who didn’t jump on the person who dared to run contrary to the trend, but instead asked for more detail. This is how we’ll solve problems, not by dog-piling.

– I don’t think it’s at all unfair to say what the commentor said. I can see arguments both for and against adding the girl at the end. It has little to do with the girl, but with the creative vision of the piece. I thought she was cute and her voice charming. I don’t think the piece would be any worse without her, and with as little a portion as she was given, I’m not sure she improved it significantly, either. But the Piano Guys are free to stick to their vision, and we’re free to like or dislike it. No one’s world was significantly impacted by the choice, really.

-That said, I’m always a bit amazed/dismayed at the number of people who feel the need to comment on things like this. I can understand people wanting to express their appreciation for a piece of music. But when people don’t like something do they really feel incomplete until they’ve registered that dislike? Is there anything wrong with not commenting and risking being thought neutral?

I can understand somewhat with news and opinion articles, political commentary, etc. There’s always that hope that you might convince someone to look at things differently. But music? Music is such a personal thing anyhow, what point is there in arguing over it? Do we really need to try and talk people out of being Doors fans or liking Justin Bieber? Does their enjoyment of a particular performer or song take anything away from us?

– Just a quick PSA: Freedom of Speech does not constitute obligation. It’s okay to remain silent.

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4 Responses to Winter in July

  1. No, I am OBLIGATED to share my wisdom with the world … and you SHOULD BE obligated to absorb it. 😉

  2. Robyn Taylor says:

    As usual, we seem to be on the same page. I was looking up some stuff yesterday and I was shocked at how much negativity and down right meanness that people felt they had to convey. I even found some stalking involved where this guy deliberately continued to bash something on someone else’s platform. I have found that so many people need their thoughts validated so they’ll say anything just to get a response. People don’t know how to be nice to each other and having anonymity via the internet makes people do things they wouldn’t have the guts to do to someone face to face.

    • Thom says:

      I know there are people for whom arguing, debating, and flame-wars are fun. But I confess I do not understand that mindset, nor feel it particularly helpful for humanity.

  3. “Don’t say anything if you can’t improve the silence”. (or something along those lines). Do negative comments really improve the silence? Sometimes silence is gold. 🙂

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