ashamed of myself

I have too high expectations of my music taste.
First, a confession: I had never heard the Justin Bieber song "Baby" until today. I watched this (below).

I have to say, I love this guy's swagger while playing the recorder to a song originally performed by a 12 year old. But it's hard to fully appreciate this kind of cover unless you know the original, so I found this (below) in the "Related Videos"


I expected to dislike it. I don't know why. I like other Justin Bieber songs. I always expect not to like songs by Miley Cyrus, and then I listen to them, and then they get stuck in my head. Same for Demi Lovato, such that I think her songs have some kind of subconscious messaging telling me to do bad things (such as listen to Demi Lovato).
But I found this video completely adorable.

First of all, do all 8th-grade-dates take place in bowling alleys? It reminded me of the "Say OK" music video that I was in love with at the end of 9th grade (That's right, my musical sophistication started early)


And the dynamic between the poor heartbroken kid and Ludacris is adorable. It should be an advertisement for Big Brother/Big Sister. I've never seen Ludacris as cute as he is here, talking about his first love when he was 13 (Starbucks references! So culturally relevant!). And then he gives Justin Bieber a headlock! I kind of want to give both of them a hug.
And then there's a dance-off! Between the boys and the girls! Right there in the bowling alley! It all reminds me of West Side Story.
The words are so sweet too. I remember back in the day when everyone was as naive as I am, and we were all in love with each other, and we thought we'd figured things out. Good times, although it couldn't last, as Bieber finds out.
Of course our protagonist gets his 'Baby' back in the end of the video. I find it hard to imagine there is a 13 year old girl on the planet who would turn down Justin Bieber.
The moral of the story is that I need to stop overestimating my taste and just go with the flow. Clearly there is a 13 year old girl still living inside me, and she has very specific demands.
[For example, she demands that I mention that if I were in fact thirteen, I would find Justin Bieber adorable/sexy/whatever the kids are calling it these days. He's the Jesse McCartney of our times. I want you and your beautiful soul!]

Love always,
Clara