The Stigma of Soft Rock

July 6, 2007

When I think ‘Soft Rock,’ I am immediately thrown backwards fifteen years to the dentist’s office my brother and I frequented far too often for cleanings, cavities, teeth pullings, and orthodontia  work. Always, there was the local soft rock station playing softly through the speakers, which did nothing to ease the pain involved in the visit, but only made the whole experience that much worse.

So, you can imagine my dismay when one of the best radio stations I can find in Princeton calls itself ’soft rock’ and has that disturbing, overly melodic little soft rock jingle to go with its name. I would like to posit that this station has, in fact, incorrectly labeled themselves and are not a soft rock station. They play artists like Matchbox 20, Tracy Chapman, James Taylor, and others of my favorites. While I acknowledge that their choices tend toward folk - I do not think folk is the same as soft rock and am offended and shamed by their correlation on this station.

Shamed to the point that I hid the preset in the middle of the others and never leave this station on the radio when I get out of the car for fear someone will be with me the next time I get in and hear their pathetic soft rock jingle and think a little less of me.

But, I leave the preset there, and when the pop stations that come in are all playing the same song, which they’ve played repeatedly for the entire month we’ve been here, I switch over to this ‘other’ station and enjoy some quality music for awhile.

I just want to say - it’s not me, I don’t like soft rock; it’s them, they’ve made a mistake. I am not old enough for my favorite songs to be soft rock ones. I protest.

Posted in uncategorized by Sarah