I was out walking my dog today and I started thinking about something. Have you ever known someone that memorizes ridiculous facts about something they like? My initial thought came from this strange re-obsession I have been having with the original Star Wars trilogy. I know this has nothing to do with music right now, but I am getting to that. What got me thinking was that I love the old vehicles and toys and what not and I remember being in either middle school or maybe a freshman in high school and there were a couple of guys talking about Star Wars. Thing is, there was 3 of them and they were all ripping on one of the guys, they were all friends, well they were all ripping on one of the guys because he could not tell them the engine type that the tie bombers used in Star Wars.
They were saying he was not a real fan because a real fan would know that stuff. Now the thing is, as a fellow nerd, I have no idea what the answer to that is. But, the thing is, people do things like this with anything they are interested in. Sports is the most obvious, people spend tons of time memorizing stats and records and give others shit for not knowing it. I can like something without not knowing every single detail. It does not make me any less of a fan.
The issue that seems to me that most people have is that they feel like they need prove that they like something by learning everything they can about it and then showing others that they are the superior fan.
I find out everything I can about bands and music and what not, not because I want to prove what my level of fandom is, but because I am interested. I want to know where a band came from, who their influences are, what other bands there are out there. Maybe they were all in bands before that I will love. Who knows? But I am not going to think someone is dumb for not knowing that. Honestly, I like sharing information about bands with other people. I think it is fun.
The Star Wars memory, about that guy getting shit on for not knowing some obscure fact, brought back a memory of a guy I work with. This guy gets really into music out of no where and then stops caring about it just as fast. The thing is, he likes to prove he is a "better" fan of a band by throwing random quotes out in a way that makes it almost impossible for anyone else to even figure out what he is saying. He likes to take the last work or 2 from one line and then the first word or 2 from the next. Typically from a verse and then a chorus. What it makes for is an extremely confusing word usage and changes the meaning of the song.
For example, I am going to use "bohemian rhapsody" by Queen, since everyone knows the words. Out of no where, he would probably say something like "a man put a gun" and send it in an instant message. The proceed to make fun of you for not knowing what song it is right off. But really, the line goes "mama, just killed a man, put a gun against his head..." which is a completely different meaning than what the lines he gave you were. Regardless of it being the same exact thing.
This is not only fucking irritating to someone that loves music, but it is just a petty, arrogant way of trying to show everyone how fucking smart you are. At the end of the day, it is the elitist assholes that go to shows and ruin things for everyone. They want to make sure that everyone knows how "into" a band they are that they cannot even enjoy a show or a good conversation about something because they are too busy trying to prove how much they know about a certain thing. They stand there and bitch about how a band plays a song live differently than they do on the album. These are the people that know the names of the wives of the band members, but they have never seen them live.
When it comes down to it, enjoying something has nothing to do with how much you know about it. My mom likes The Gaslight Anthem, but she knows nothing about them. Being about to appreciate something is not exclusive to having a fucking historical reference for it in your mind. It is people like this that deny themselves the fun of hearing something new because it does not fit into what they think they know and need to know in order to be a "fan." I have another friend that likes music as much as anyone I know. But he builds these frame of reference lists that he seems to think he needs to in order to prove how on top of things he is. On more than one occasion, we have talked about bands and I have given him a few I think he should check out. When he finally gets around to it, weeks later, he comes back to me and tells me he found these great bands I should check out. Now, sometimes I forget that someone else told me something. I admit it. But this seems almost like that same thing. That he is trying to prove something. Trying to prove he knows more than the next person.
You do not need to know every detail about something to enjoy it. How about you just go out and have fun. If knowing the stats and history is fun for you, hell yea for you. But, if you do, don't be a dick about it. You don't have anything to prove other than you are an asshole.
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