i still don't really know if i hate a particular genre wholesale, but i suppose it doesnt mean there wouldnt be music i find hard to listen to...
with country, it really varies a bit. i usually appreciate it more if a friend is playing it and enjoying it for their own sake. i am better able to enjoy something from it when i can slowly and gently soak into that friend's joy without being asked to have an opinion of my own-- because ironically, having the space to not have an opinion is probably what would help me develop a more positive opinion for some kinds of songs
i generally have a hard time listening to... something, i don't really know how to define it
music that sounds bright but shallow? lyrics that feel like empty platitudes... not quite, there's more but like;; it's so vague and kinda arbitrary coming from me. why is it so hard to like certain songs? something about them tastes sour, when they were supposed to be sweet
it's unfortunate that tastes can be so sincerely joyful and sweet for any two people, but when those two people meet, their tastes could conflict so strikingly with each other...
i love slow sad music, i love cathartic grief and fear and horror and dread. it's really soothing, like your experiences were being seen and were translated by someone who feels that too. could it be a matter of "disturb the comfortable, comfort the disturbed", or something? i don't really like those phrases, but they're interesting to test and observe
but i also love the rushing pace of joyful music as well, it's just, that really depends on the texture of that joy and how it emerges, how it might describe itself, and sometimes i just don't see myself reflected in it. it can feel far too artificial to be true