I had a few years of piano as a kid (befitting my family's lower middle class but aspiring to the middle class status), but my real musical talent is somehow asorbing the lyrics to a crazy, random variety of songs. I don't know when or how I learn the words, but I can usually sing along to just about any American music from the 1920s through the 1970s that comes my way--even if I don't remember ever hearing it before. I almost never know the artist or song title.

I'll admit, I do sometimes enjoy modern pop songs, or those from my youth, when I'm in the mood to dance and be joyful. My real preference, though, is old school country-western, nothing more recent than the 1980s, with runners-up in the blues, gospel, and some jazz (before it got all crazy).

-lp