How can I stop being a snobbish jerk about music?
The bullshit powerplay here isn’t “I need to listen to my music when driving”. That’s fine. The bullshit only occurs in combination the corollary: “…and I almost always get to drive”. I may have read it wrong, but didn’t the original poster indicate that the boyfriend does most of the driving because she has car/driving issues? Personally, I’m sympathetic to the “driver chooses the music” viewpoint, because long-distance driving is tedious enough in itself without also being forced to listen to music you dislike or find soporific. But why couldn’t the passenger just listen to his/her own music on headphones? If it’s a long trip, you could alternate listening to things you both like (NPR, as you mentioned) and listening privately to your own music. That way, you get a good dose of road-trip camraderie, but you also get some private time in your head with just the music and the scenery.
The music your bf likes does not stink. God knows what floats your boat, but you need to chill out on your ego. I am thinking that your taste runs more to what makes you look cool than what sounds good. I hope I am wrong, and well you haven’t had the courage to put forward what you like. Frankly, you need to step down off of your high horse and embrace music rather than ego. Sorry. I am with the bf here, even if I don’t really go for all those bands. Grow up.
Try some Remix/Mashup tunes like from Best of Bootie 2006 or Best of Bootie 2005 for a start. I dislike rap, but I have many remix/mashup tunes that mix the rap that I dislike with other music that I really enjoy. Somehow it makes everything more palatable. For sorta emo-ish that isn’t that bad and worth listening to, maybe “The Dresden Dolls”. He can have emo-ish music to relate to, and you can have something still enjoyable.
