The Impact of Regional Music Perception on Pop Culture Understanding
By Andy Lee
Sometimes you encounter moments that just make you question people’s frame of reference. I had one recently that left me utterly dumbfounded.
We were prepping for a surgery procedure, AC/DC’s classic anthem “You Shook Me All Night Long” was the song playing on Pandora at the time. But then my coworker chimed in:
“I used to hear this song all the time when I was here 20 years ago.”
I was confused, so I clarified – “You mean here at the hospital?”
But she insisted, “No, just living in Tennessee before.”
Wait…was she implying AC/DC was some regional Tennessee band?! Surely not. So I explained it was a worldwide smash hit across the entire planet.
Her response floored me: “Well actually, I never really heard it when I lived in California. I just heard a lot of Beach Boys there.”
I honestly struggled processing this bizarre rationale. How does someone function perceiving classic rock anthems as “regional music” restricted to state borders? It’s mind-boggling!
Trying to meet her halfway, I said “You do understand how Pandora works right? Well, and radio for that matter? You pick a genre like ‘Classic Rock’ and they’ll play the biggest hits.”
No use. She doubled down that AC/DC represented some underground Tennessee scene she narrowly escaped before soaking up only The Beach Boys in California.
I just stared in silence, in awe of the contextual divide separating our realities. In what universe does Back in Black NOT pump through every last nook and cranny?
Yet at the same time, it was kind of fascinating to encounter someone so oblivious to an iconic rock anthem that’s become ingrained in pop culture. It makes you realize how our individual experiences and perception of what’s “popular” or “ubiquitous” can differ vastly.
Rather than any absolute, shared understanding of cultural phenomenons, we all absorb and connect with music, movies, and entertainment through our own unique lenses and backgrounds. What seems like a monolithic presence to some simply doesn’t register on others’ radars at all.
We may think we’re all bouncing to the same mainstream beat, but in reality, each of us is grooving to our own distinct soundtrack – even if it means missing out on the hits everyone else is hearing. Our spheres don’t always overlap as much as we assume when it comes to pop culture.
Stay open-minded, keep acknowledging dissonant grooves! 🤘🎸
I was thinking about... 