Classically Minded

It seems I get angry a lot these days. Like, all the time. Frankly, I'm not sure why - it's been going on for a couple of weeks. One day I decided to try to combat some of the anger by listening to soothing music while I drive (instead of my usual audio diet of Death to the Harlots and Busta Capps, my go-to bands). So I rearranged my radio presets, and now I spend a lot of my commutes listening to "Classical 89." In so doing, I've learned a lot - mainly, that classical music doesn't make driving any less rage-inducing. But there have been other things, too.

• It's a lot easier to identify songs you like on classical music radio stations than on pop music stations. If I like a song on a pop station and try to look it up on the website later, I'm going to have a hard time picking out which of the songs I heard on the morning commute was the one that tickled my fancy-strings. Classical music, though, tends to play selections 15 to 20 minutes long - making whatever song I liked the only one I heard during the commute.
• I don't like horns. Never thought that'd be something I'd have an opinion on, but now it is. I've heard a few arrangements for horns only, and I just did not care for them at all.
• The 1812 Overture isn't just a popular melody played in the background of violent children's cartoons. It's actually a GENUINELY GOOD piece of music.
• Modest Mussorgsky (of Night on Bald Mountain fame) wrote another piece called Dance of the Persian Slaves, a piece which proves that, despite popular convention, Akon didn't invent the objectification of women in music.
• Classical music DJs are NOT VERY GOOD at their jobs. I've never heard so much stammering, stuttering, and otherwise botched lines from people whose job is to read stuff off paper.
• Is it just me, or can you actually hear the violinists breathe on classical recordings? Also, I bet that one guy who clapped before the piece ended bought the CD just so he could hear himself.
• I've found classical music to be really reliable - far more so than most other radio stations I listen to. I tend to surf music stations a lot - flipping from commercial to bad song to annoying morning show host back to commercial. With classical music, though, I can leave the radio on the station and enjoy most everything I hear on it.

You win, high school choir teacher. You win, my dad. Classical music is awesome.