Thoughts on music and emotional attachment

My nephew, Genius Child #1, has his own blog (it's one of the links under "Blogs you should read"), and he posed a question about music you can't stand anymore that you used to love, just because of the associations you have with people and the song. I really like my response to it, so I decided to post it here.

I don't know that I hate a song I used to love because of an association with someone. There are songs that I love listening to right now that I associate with my husband (sigh) or my parents or my piano students (okay, those are mostly pieces they've learned) or a friend. I think it's interesting that we can't really and truly hate something or someone we haven't had a strong, positive connection with. It stumps me when someone tells me that they hate me when I don't know them very well (like my husband's ex-wife -- I know she's never loved me). I don't hate her, but I do pity her greatly, and she can frustrate me like no one else when she acts irrationally or tries (and usually succeeds) in using the kids to hurt their dad.

I can also get sick of a song that get too much air time on the radio. Overkill kills the love for me.