My husband loves music. He’s a talented guitar player, and makes up killer songs for our kids.
But when it comes to music he buys and listens to, he has weird taste. The man had a Yanni CD when I met him. On his bookshelf there was a pile of technology and woodworking magazines, a roll of duct tape, a can of WD-40, and a bunch of crappy CD’s. It was going to end one of two ways:
- Really nice guy with questionable tatse in music and horrific home decorating skills.
- Serial killer.
I guess we can’t ever be 100% certain, but so far all signs point to #1.
The music thing, however, is still a bit of a problem. I took care of the Yanni CD as soon as Mark turned his back, and prayed that duct tape wasn’t reserved for girls with unwanted opinions on his music collection. In time, I learned that he and I do actually share some favorites, like Jackopierce and Guster, but when it comes to current music he’s pretty clueless.
In all fairness, I’m no audiophile. I have eclectic taste, with everything from ABBA to Eminem and Merle Haggard to Beastie Boys on my iPod. I don’t always keep up with the newest, hottest band. The SNL musical guests regularly befuddle me. But I am marginally more on top of things than Mark is.
This is what took place in our house last night. I should note that Mark is the King of the Non Sequitur, so if you feel like you have conversational whiplash, well, welcome to my world.
Mark: That kid’s name is Johnny.
Me: I’m sorry, what kid is this?
Mark: The one selling cookie dough.
{I’ve been reading books to P, and putting him to bed. I get the feeling I missed something.}
Me: Blank stare.
Mark: A neighborhood kid just came by, asking us to support his band fundraiser. So I bought a tub of cookie dough from him.
Me: That, there, would have been good information to start with.
Mark: Well, I thought I heard the word cookie in that song, and it reminded me. Or maybe they said nookie? Is this Sugarland we’re listening to?
Me: Uh, no. This is Nelly. And I’m not positive, but I don’t think there was mention of cookies or nookie.
Mark: Oh, cool.
{Silence while we finish cleaning up the dinner carnage. We’re listening to Pandora’s attempt at a mix for me, and I try to skip something from Simon & Garfunkel, only to be told I’ve hit my maximum number of skips for the hour. Soon, something more danceable/clean the kitchen-able comes on.}
Mark: Do you think Will and Jada are really getting a divorce?
Me: I don’t know, but I’ll be kind of sad if they do split up.
Mark: Me too. I’m not sure why, but I think I’ll be really sad.
Me: Why are we talking about this?
Mark: Isn’t this Will Smith we’re listening to?
Me: No, babe. We’re not getting jiggy or saying bienvenido a Miami. This is Justin Timberlake. We’re bringing Sexy Back.
Mark: Oh, I thought it was Will Smith.
{Silence for a minute, while I try in vain to explain to Pandora that my eclectic tastes do not extend to The Allman Brothers. I mute the music, because it still won’t let me skip.}
Mark: Now this is the story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down.
Me: And I’d like to take a minute so sit right there, I’ll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bellaire.
Mark: In West Philadelphia, born and raised
Together: On the playground is where I spent most of my days.
{We finish the the rest of the song while picking up Trio blocks and 85,000 toy cars. I’m not putting all the lyrics here, because I know you’re now finishing it yourself. Chillin’ out, maxin’, relaxin’ all cool…}
Maybe Mark’s a little clueless about musical artists. And Pandora might be kind of a pain in the behind sometimes. But I guess the moral of the story is this:
- Sometimes non-serial killers keep duct tape and WD-40 on their bookshelves.
- We may have our differences, but in the end, Mark and I are singing the same tune.
I wonder…
:: Do you and your spouse or partner have any big differences or were you truly a match made in heaven?
Lapsed homemaker. Looking to hire a full-time housekeeper who will work for the sheer joy of a job well done and free coffee. Interested parties, DM please. 
my husband and i are so completely opposite, that we fit together like puzzle pieces. some days the fit isn’t as good as other… but we are definitely the classic example of “opposites attract”. we’ve made it work for nearly 10 years now,
your conversation about the cookie dough salesboy sounds remarkably similar to a conversation between my husband and i, only the roles would be reversed.
I absolutely adore that story! So flippin’ cute!!!
And yes, I’m now singing along with you.
We are a match made in heaven while also having blaring differences, but that’s what makes our marriage so wonderful–we have enough in common to have a viable future together and enough different to keep things spicy. : )
Oh, I love this post. I don’t know how many times we’ve started a conversation, I get confused due to the jibberish flying out of his mouth, and he THEN brings out the vital info that makes it all make sense. Sy cryptic, these men. And while our musical tastes have grown apart in the past few years, we have rapped MANY a ridiculous song together.
A serial killer? Hahaha!
Me and the hubs do listen to mostly the same thing…only because I make him listen to what I listen to. I’m magical like that…what does that mean? I don’t know. But I’m pretty sure I need to take more Tylenol for this fever.
What a great post! Sometimes I wonder where the heck my husband is coming from especially when he starts a conversation. It’s like I have to go back and connect the dots in his mind to catch up. But other than that, we are pretty much the same!
Now I’ve got The Fresh Prince of BelAir in my head! Not exactly the song that should be there considering I have a preschool meeting to go to tonight! HA!
Loved this!
My husband and I are the same way. I can’t stand his iPod and refuse to listen to it in the car. I scroll through all of his songs and then get frustrated and he’s all like “Babe… there are a TON of good songs on there!” And I’m all, “Sure, if you’re a dweeb maybe”. 🙂 All in love though 😉
But hey, he was a sheltered homeschooler who only broke away after high school so he has a lot of catching up to do. Plus, I think it’s funny that his music taste is so awful.
We are truly a match, but we have differences too. As far as music goes, his knowledge is considerably more extensive than mine, but we have a band that we both love so much. We’ve seen them in the double digits and actually flew to Canada to see them last year. Our connection to them is so strong. I love him more because he loves them so much. He loves me more because I understand why their lyrics mean so much to us.
Does this make sense? I should write about it sometime. But it’s hard to explain. Our relationship is so much more than this band, but it is significantly stronger because of the band.
Hard to explain.
That was SUCH a good ending to your post! I love your “moral” to the story 🙂
My husband and I – from the causal observer’s perspective – seem to be pretty alike (in fact 11 years ago, on our honeymoon cruise, someone asked if he was my brother!!?!) We both are type A, first born Libra’s. Of course we do have differences, but I feel like having differences are good! They help to complement each other 🙂
Unfortunately (or fortunately for us?) he is not a Yanni fan – LOL… Instead he has my kids dancing to Usher?!? REALLY?
Lol, now I’m definitely singing the Fresh Prince of Bellaire song in my head.
Pandora is strange that way isn’t it? My husband and I have overlapping musical taste. I’d like to think of it as a Venn Diagram. Except we hate each others music that doesn’t overlap (His: Heavy Metal / My: Pop)
That song will be stuck in my head the rest of the day.
But you know what? I’m okay with that.
Ha, I totally was singing the next part of the song. My husband is a native of the Land of Non-Sequitur himself, so I get it. He and I have our differences, but for the most part we overlaps taste in music, movies, and hobbies really well. So what if I don’t understand most of what he does as a software developer…
I love this. My husband and I are SO different but have become the same. Does that make any sense? We can always find fun in the mediocre of the day and I think that is what keeps our relationship so strong. Just like singing and picking up blocks.
Jackopierce! What a blast from the past 🙂 I still have all their CDs.
Laugh, laugh, because I used to base whether or not we’d go on a second date, from the music they kept in the car.
Seriously.
After seeing Planet P in my husband’s car, I’m surprised we married.
Now, I can enjoy me some Steve Miller Band or Neil Diamond, but I do believe that you can hear them wayyyy too many times.