Amy Lu's View

This post is simply going to be a rant–nothing artistically, philosophically, or spiritually relevant or entertaining about it.

Okay, you’ve been warned, so let the ranting commence:

The Current radio station should NOT use articles (“a”, “and”, “the”) to alphabetize songs for its A to Z Weekend!!

–me, screaming into The Void

Now don’t get me wrong, I am an extremely loyal fan of The Current and support them financially and in every other way that I can. I love the community they’ve created and take delight in so much of what they do. But then, every Fourth of July weekend, they do THIS. They claim to play the best songs in their music library in alphabetical order, but they alphabetize the songs using articles!

If they committed this heresy quietly, I may be able to endure it. But no, the DJs (again, whom I love) will draw attention to their blasphemy by making comments like “Oh, isn’t it wild that A Boy Named Sue by Johnny Cash ends up being played next to Joni MItchell’s A Case of You when we alphabetize our music library?”

• 

• 

NO, it’s not funny or interesting because for the love of all that is good and holy, you have NOT ALPHABETIZED YOUR MUSIC LIBRARY. I don’t know what you have done, but this travesty is not alphabetization.

Now, you may say I’m overreacting to this “alphabetizing” sacrilege because I’m a librarian and yeah, well, okay. As much as I like to rail against librarian stereotypes, fine, whatever–I’ll concede that maybe this is only important to me because I’m in a profession grounded in the very act of alphabetizing (at least I think it is–I’m a librarian, damnit, not a historian).

But I contend that one doesn’t have to be a librarian to know that this is JUST NOT RIGHT. And because I am a librarian, I can cites some sources, including the Modern Language Association (https://style.mla.org/articles-and-alphabetization/) and the American Psychological Association. I will even quote their blog: “When alphabetizing titles or group names as authors, go by the first significant word (disregard a, an, the, etc.).”

I think I could also deal with this Fourth of July travesty if the Current was open about it. If they boldly said, “Yeah, we know you’re not supposed to alphabetize titles by articles but hey, we’re innovators, we’re disruptors, we’re questioning the A-Z paradigm, so deal with it” I’d try to rise to the challenge. I don’t want to unthinkingly support the status quo.

But no, they just proudly play A Day in the Life followed by A Girl Like You like it’s normal. Like it’s right. Like that’s the way everybody does these things–always has, always will.

I think they are gaslighting me. Because they have to know. And if for some reason they didn’t know when they started this “A-Z” thing years ago, as a public radio station, they must get feedback/complaints/pleas for help from at least some of their nerdy listeners.

Okay, rant done. I realize that by posting this I’m opening myself up to correction and criticism, and I’ll try to be prepared for getting schooled.

And I’m either going to have to turn The Current off or drink heavily as they make their way through the “The’s”.