Oh Baby, You KNOW What I Like!

This was the tag line of a wonderful song from the early days of rock and roll by a performer who called himself, The Big Bopper.  It was called Chantilly Lace.  In the song, the Big Bopper (Jay Perry Richardson) describes in this baritone voice how his young girlfriend walks and talks and dresses and how much her girlish mannerisms please him and make him act silly.  The lyrics are really wild.  He says, “Ain’t nothin’ in the world like a big-eyed girl to make me act so funny, make me spend my money, make me feel real loose, like a long-neck goose, like a girl.  Oh baby, that’s what I like!”

AUDIO VERSION

I had never heard of chantilly lace but it certainly seemed to turn this guy on.  It makes you wonder why people like what they like.  My brother often uses this latin expression from ancient times, de gustibus non est disputandum. It means, “in matters of taste there is no accounting.”  After all these years, isn’t that the truth and isn’t it a wonderful thing?

Did you ever find someone to be especially attractive to you and, for the life of you, you can’t figure out why?  Maybe they weren’t good-looking in the classical sense (symmetry of features, clear skin, etc.) but you still found them very attractive.  Conversely, have you ever seen the finalists in a beauty pageant and not found any of them to be particularly attractive? The good news is, we don’t have to account for why we like something or dislike it.  It’s just a matter of taste and doesn’t have to meet someone else’s standards.

Here’s another interesting thing; knowing what you like is a big part of knowing who you are.  If you share what you like with others, you’re letting others get to know you.  It also let’s them know how to please you should they ever feel so inclined.  They might get you what you like one day. Don’t worry whether what you like isn’t what others might like.  As long as you don’t assert that what you like is right or better than what others like, no one will have a problem with learning what your tastes are.  Identifying what you like and expressing that to others has another benefit.  It makes you feel happy.  That’s one of the reasons why I like the Big Bopper’s song.  It makes me smile.  He so unabashedly KNEW what he liked and he didn’t mind repeating it three times in the song!

I’d love to hear what you like and any comments you might want to make about today’s blogpost.

The audio version of today’s blogpost has a clip from the Big Bopper’s hit single, Chantilly Lace.  I hope you enjoy it.  His original clips are on YouTube.com.  You can learn more about The Big Bopper by searching for his name on Google.com.  You’ll see that he’s inextricably linked to a major player in the history of rock and roll, Buddy Holly.

I’ll be back with you soon.

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