Throughout my life I have always listened to music. Whether it’s for fun, getting
pumped for a game, doing homework, or working out, I listen to music a lot. Over the
years, my musical taste has evolved depending on how old I was.
However, my dad would be the one who would give me my introductions. Now, I
know what my lifelong taste in music would be.

As a kid, my dad always played songs that I liked, but yet I would not know who it
was playing. My dad liked to play songs from a band called Pearl Jam. He played songs such
as “Even Flow,” “Rearviewmirror,” “Black,” “The Fixer,” “Release,” and, “Nothingman.” Naturally, I
grew a liking for this band and eventually loved it. In my eighth-grade summer, I went to go see the
band at Fenway Park in Boston and it was my favorite concert. Almost all the songs I
listened to previously were played. One of the best things was they played The Who’s “Baba O’
Riley.”

As middle school went on, I began listening to different bands and artists. I still
enjoyed Pearl Jam, but I wanted to open my horizons to something new. I found this
genre of rock and I really liked it for some time. This genre was called
alternative/grunge. I discovered bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, Smashing
Pumpkins, and Audioslave. I especially liked songs from Nirvana and Soundgarden. Of

course, when I listened to Nirvana I loved “Smells Like Teen Spirit” because that was the
most popular. I grew to like their other songs, however. These songs were “Heart
Shaped Box,” “The Man Who Sold the World,” “Lithium,” “Come As You Are,” “All Apologies,”
and “In Bloom.” Bands like Soundgarden and Audioslave were played to get pumped up
for baseball games I was to play. Some of these songs are “Spoonman,” “Black Hole Sun,”
“Show Me How to Live,” “Fell on Black Days,” and “Like A Stone.”

Going into high school, I began listening to rock groups in the 2000’s. I began to
love listening to the Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, My Chemical
Romance, Linkin Park, All American Rejects, Sum 41, Blink-182, and Weezer. Many of
these bands I still listen to currently. What I like about this music is the lyrics and rapid
playing guitar. I loved Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Green Day. My
introduction to 2000’s rock was Green Day. Songs like “Basket Case,” “American Idiot,”
“When I Come Around,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” and “Nuclear Family” became my
anthems. After Green Day, I began listening to similar bands with great songs. These
bands are Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Songs such as “Monkey Wrench,” “My
Hero,” “Everlong,” “Walk,” “Best of You,” and “Run” became car jams on the way to
baseball games. Lastly, Red Hot Chili Peppers was music for the summer. The sound of
“Under the Bridge,” “Otherside,” “Can’t Stop,” “Scar Tissue,” “Soul to Squeeze,” and “Dosed”
would be rampantly heard throughout the house.

As high school went on, I began listening to the lyrics and applying them to my
life. For example, “Dosed” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers became a song I listened to to
help deal with the passing of my grandmother. Another song, “Just Breathe,” by Pearl
Jam helped me cope with the situation as well. Some of the lines in the song are as follows:

“As I look upon your face
Everything you gave
And nothing you would take
Nothing you would take
Everything you gave”

This line meant a great deal to me because of how loving and caring my
grandmother was. She was the type that would do anything for her family, and she did.
However, these songs not only applied to my grandmother, but my grandfather also.
Recently, we lost my grandfather, or “Pop Pop” as I always called him as a kid, and the
music helped ease the pain a considerable amount.

I now know that I have forged my lifelong musical taste and I’m proud
of it. My dad gave me a start on what I liked and as I grew older, I found my own style of
music. As time went on, I began to find my niche, and it is a part of my life
now. I listen to music when working out, doing homework, and even if I need to vent my
emotions. I believe that with certain songs, lasting memories get attached to
them. I know I will never forget the long car rides to and from baseball tournaments in
the summer jamming out to music.