Does it take you long to 'get into' a song?

[Fax Mactor]

I suppose it depends what the song is, but it takes me ages (i mean ages, like 20-30 listens) to fully appreciate a song.

Most of the time when im listening to new songs on the radio, i'm thinking 'God, this is a right load of old shit' and then a few weeks i love it (A nod to 'Biology').

I really hated 'The Show' aswell, that took me months, from release to get into it.

[letuinmybackdoor]

Depends, when I first heard 'Better the devil you know' I nearly came! It was so obviously a MAJOR step up, and then when 'Rhythm of love' came out when I first heard 'What do I have to do' I was squealing like a baby! But 'Can't get you out of my head' didn't impress me when she played it live about 6 months before it was released, and it took about 5 or 6 plays til, whoosh, it hit me. A lot of Girls aloud tracks take a few spins to get into which is why I think the public don't respond as well as they should.

[AcerBen]

I usually love a song with 2 listens and then am bored of it after about 8! Which is quite frustrating when you have to shuffle through 300 songs on your iPod before you're satisfied.

[canuckfuck]

acerben said:

I usually love a song with 2 listens and then am bored of it after about 8! Which is quite frustrating when you have to shuffle through 300 songs on your iPod before you're satisfied.

Same here. Some songs though I never really tire of listening; 'Biology' is still fresh with me (what is it about that song I can't get enough of?)

2-3 times is my usual 'testing period'.

x

[popknark]

Most really amazing songs takes a few listens to 'get' for me. Recent examples: BWO - Temple of Love, Nelly Furtado - Maneater, Clea - I Surrender and Annie - The Crush. Songs that are good on the first listen mostly ends up being 'alright'.

[ttoby]

Some songs I love immediately, and that's just fine... but sometimes I just HATE songs (Promiscuous, Push the Button, What You Waiting For) and then suddenly I love them... I think it's usually just getting over the initial shock and letting yourself listen to it properly.

[hypnotic]

When i first buy a record i go through and pick my favorite songs and thats what i listen to daily then i will slowly listen to the other ones and enjoy them. Like Girls Aloud - Wild Horses, Waiting, Sugababes - Red Dress And most recently Marie Serhenoldt (sp) - Whole album.

[AcerBen]

It's heartbreaking when I do get obsessed with a song for weeks but then one day it will do absolutely nothing for me and once that happens it's never quite the same ever again.

[gavinh]

i HATED girls aloud's "biology" when i first heard it, but within a few days it became my favourite girls aloud song of all (and still is). but when i first heard "push the button" by the sugababes, i knew it was another big song by them. im definitely getting better at spotting a future favourite after one listen these days.

[jules100]

Embarassingly,i initially wrote off 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' as a bad b-side.How wrong can you possibly be....I usually know by the second listen wether i like something,but sometimes you just need to hear it in the right context.Gnarls Barkley 'Crazy' and Gwens 'What You Waiting For' did absolutely nothing for me for weeks after hearing them,and then i just 'got' them at some point.Im currently having to re-assess the last Goldfrapp album after being unimpressed with most of it for months and then hearing it recently and absolutely loving it.I hate being wrong.

[gavinh]

jules100 said:

Embarassingly,i initially wrote off 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' as a bad b-side.How wrong can you possibly be....I usually know by the second listen wether i like something,but sometimes you just need to hear it in the right context.

youre not the only one. i saw kylie perform "cant get you out of my head" on her tour she did for the light years album. she announced it as a new song that she'd just recorded, and although i liked it, i didnt think it was anything special. that version wasnt the same at all though, more like a demo version.
and lets not forget, the song was offered to sophie ellis bextor first and she turned it down.

[canuckfuck]

I initially thought 'Fever' was a bland 'okay-ish' pop album; I still do! (I'm more of a 'Light Years' boy myself).

[montygail]

It depends on the song, the artist and my head space when I hear it. There are some artists that I'm just going to fall in love with anything they release from the first note on. (Savage Garden..and then Darren Hayes). That factor that makes me love them is going to be there in anything they do. It's a connection with the artist...not the individual songs I think. (though that's there too) Then there are some artists that I feel I have to readjust to each time they release an album. (Kylie's recent albums). For the most part though..once I love a song I'll always love it. There are moments I'm not as into a song but over all..it doesn't change. I think I'm hard to please (but I bet a lot of people think that about themselves) when it comes to music. I don't fall for a song, album, artist easily.

I can't really think of a case where I really hated a song and then fell in love with it later.

[Josh]

Pretty much most of the albums I own I find it difficult to get into them. Unless I really like the artist then I'll have huge trouble playing an album and actually listening to it properly and getting into the non-singles.

On an individual song basis, usually it'll be about 5-10 listens before I decide whether I dislike a song or not. Though songs that don't instantly hit me seem to have more longevity. When I had my iPod in the past I used to spend ages shuffling through songs!

[Booers]

With me, sometimes if a song has been hyped up when I eventually hear it I am disappointed. It happened with Since U Been Gone, which I have only really started to appreciate in the last four or five months. It also happened with pretty much all of Rachel's Come And Get It album but I now love that.

If I discover something of my own accord I probably "get it" a bit quicker than if it's something that is hyped up or recommended to me.

[olly]

With me, especially with RnB and bass-heavy songs, I normally only really appreciate them after hearing them trollied off my tits in a club. Christina Milian's Say I, J-Lo's Get Right and DC's Lose My Breath didn't do much for me until I heard them clubbing.

[Jon]

acerben said:

It's heartbreaking when I do get obsessed with a song for weeks but then one day it will do absolutely nothing for me and once that happens it's never quite the same ever again.

YES. I did this with Sugababes' "Freak Like Me". Every play was like some kind of cyber-aural orgasm, until I just overdid it.

It took a while to hear it in the same way again, and it was never quite the same.

[azura]

olly said:

With me, especially with RnB and bass-heavy songs, I normally only really appreciate them after hearing them trollied off my tits in a club. Christina Milian's Say I, J-Lo's Get Right and DC's Lose My Breath didn't do much for me until I heard them clubbing.

It's like that with me and most dance tracks. I didn't like Stonebridge's Put 'Em High much until I heard it whilst I was clubbing. I suppose those sort of dance songs are made for clubbing rather than anywhere else though.

Believe it or not, I hated Girls Aloud's Love Machine at first, but I love it now. It took me about 4 months to get into it though.

[Katrien Verbeeck]

I think most of the Sugababes songs need to grow on me especially Ugly & Caught In A Moment. I wasn't keen on Can't Get You Out Of My Head, I was sure Victoria Beckham had number one in the bag, how wrong was I? I prefer Can't Get Blue Monday Out Of My Head.

[cantsinganotebutiwritethewords]

Much of kylie's music took some listening to when i first discovered her, i thought "fever" was boring, the problem was i didn't understand what she was tring to represent. but i fell in love with "light years" immediatley, i still remember the first time i listned to the album...happy days....

[sifr]

Anywhere between 0.03 seconds (Biology) and a few weeks (Push The Button).

Weirdest experience I've had in this area is The Go! Team album. My cousin gave it to me for Xmas and on first listen, it was "What the hell is this?!?". I literally couldn't understand some of what I was hearing. Then a few hours later I couldn't get some of the samples out of my head, and played it again. Since then, its been on frequent visits to my CD player.

On the other hand, I have still never managed to warm to "Can't Get You Out Of My Head". Something about it really disagrees with me - I much prefer "Come Into My World". Each to their own.

[Greg]

Some songs are instant. Hitting the spot on the first listen (and, in the cases given, are yet to fail to) - 'The Show', 'Hole In The Head', Do Somethin'

Some take a few listens before you realise the brilliance - 'Juicebox', 'SOS', 'No Tomorrow', 'Love Machine'

Some songs only need one listen, but it has to be a really good listen to pick up the bits a casual listen (or thirty) will miss out - 'Graffiti', 'LDN', 'Ride On A White Horse'

Some songs you can hate at first, or hear for ages and have general indifference towards, but one day, something will click and you'll understand it all and feel like a bit of fool for ever doubting it - 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head', 'Hung Up'

That's my two cents...

[bobrobnob]

booers said:

If I discover something of my own accord I probably "get it" a bit quicker than if it's something that is hyped up or recommended to me.

This i agree with. I had no idea about Hi-Tack -'Say Say Say' until i came across it on my own. From the first listen i knew it was a hit. I discovered infernal on my own and ive fallen in love with it. i wont fall in love with something only cause it gets praise from, for example - this site. Pet Shop Boys doesnt do it for me im afraid.

But some people bitch about songs and how they are great at first then totally dies on them after a few listens but thats probably because they have been listening to clips that have 'leaked' onto the internet. how many people can say they didnt actually listen to clips of Madonna - 'Hung up' months before its release?

If everybody waited for it to get its radio release then i think people may appreciate a song more, and get into it quicker. Like i heard Rihannas - Pon de Replay on the radio not knowing there were probably clip flying about the place on the net and i fell in love with it instantly. i couldnt wait for the release.

[sam2006]

I tend to either like songs or dislike them right away, betwen 2 or 3 listens and i've decided.

[taya]

Sometimes it takes me years to get songs.A month ago I totally fell in love with Can't get you out of my head. I love growers though because you tend to appreciate them more. I'm starting to like Biology but it's still not one of my faves! I loved Love Machine & Push the Button from the start. Usually it takes me a few listens to get into the full brilliance of the song.

[choice]

i can usually tell if ill like a song halfway through it because very rarely does a song have a real chord changeup, that already didn't present itself in the first half. and the ones that do are very few.

some songs you can tell your unsure about or there was something interesting but youre not too sure you like it, so you listen a couple times more and if my 'like' doesn't cement then i just move on.

however, theres are songs that are just so different and are so confusing on initial listen even though you can tell somethings there but it takes 5 or more just to like it...girls aloud -biology, stands out in my head for doing that. theres like a bunch of hooks and the main one doesn't even appear until halfway into the song.