Usually in popular music such ambiguity is an issue only until it can be set aside. George Steiner claims that music actually defines us as human. He expresses wonder at the profound reverie even the most banal of tunes can set in motion. We pass beyond ourselves he says, and we become aware of unfathomable depths . This seems familiar enough, and intellectual resistence would certainly prevent this.
Music demands an extra degree of trust to let go and be open to the sounds.
Yet I would say our resistance to music is just as important and cannot be dispensed with. It too defines us as human. Criticism, let us say reflection, is as inevitable as breathing. I would explain all this by saying the experience of reverie is really its imminence making itself felt, rather than actually occurring. In effect, we are experiencing the nostalgia for an impossible experience.