There was once a band called Hanson. You may remember it. Actually, they’re still around, but instead of long-haired, pre-pubescent boys, they’re now far less famous young men. Still one of my all-time favorite musical groups. Hey, I’ve shared a lot of embarrassing stuff in this public forum. But anyone who knows me already knows this most embarrassing of facts, so no real revelations here. Just a deep, deep love for the brothers Hanson and a slightly shame-faced Liz.

At the height of their fame, Hanson went on SNL as a musical guest. The folks at SNL were kind enough to include the three fellas in a sketch, which mercilessly ridiculed their most popular tune, “MmmBop.” It took place in an elevator, which if memory serves, was stuck between floors. The brothers Hanson, among a few other people, were stuck on an elevator which was, conveniently, playing “Mmmbop” on an endless loop. The scene jumped in time… forward an hour, everyone was still humming along, happy-go-lucky. Three hours later, the other passengers on the stuck elevator were conversing amongst themselves, attempting to ignore the music. Isaac Hanson was starting to break. An hour later, Taylor Hanson started pulling his beautiful hair out. Zach started acting like a freakin’ crazy person another couple of hours after that.

The point I’m trying to make here is that even the catchiest songs can be unbelievably irritating upon continuous repetition. Honestly, I’ve never tested my threshold for tolerating popular music on repeat more than one or two times over. Recently, I’ve started enjoying the musical stylings of one Miss Miley Cyrus. Please, friends, forgive my sucky taste in music. I know, I know. I should be doing one of two things: 1) listening to what I enjoy and pretending I’ve never heard any of it when questioned about my favorite artists or 2) owning my taste in pop music and acknowledging it proudly. I have no desire to be dishonest about my taste, but I also can’t help but to feel a deep sense of shame for appreciating popular music. It’s weird. But whatever. For right now, I’m owning my enjoyment of Miley. “Party in the USA” makes me dance. It’s just a fun song. I won’t even comment on how much fun I have when I hear “See You Again.” Awe. Some.

Now, if you’re cool, you undoubtedly have no idea what I’m talking about. Which is fine. I think you’ll still appreciate the story that the three previous paragraphs were building up to.

I was in Atlanta for my job. I’m not certain what the radio stations in the area are all about, but with a basically busted CD player and a puny little iPod Shuffle, I was stuck with that. I scanned a few times and landed on 94.1, who was playing “Party” to my extreme delight. I was on my way to an appointment and that’s a fabulous song to get pumped up with.

Well, I soon found out that Miley is headed to Atlanta for a concert sometime in the next month, and by way of advertisement/a ticket giveaway contest, the station was playing “Party” regularly every half hour. “Sweet!” I thought. “This is going to keep me inspired to keep rockin’ the appointments all day long!”

Um. Not so sweet, by the end of day two. I won’t say that I can’t stand “Party in the USA” because let’s be honest, I’ll get over it soon enough and be back to full enjoyment of the song, but there came a point where I actually changed the station during the song’s intro. It was Miley Overload. I was shocked by the vehemence of my reaction, considering how much I generally enjoy the singing and dancing along. But I just spend way too much time in my car to deal with overloading on any one song. Variety, please! Everything in Moderation! Even Miley 🙂