“Lady Gaga can’t sing,” said my friend. “And she has no talent.”
My friend was once a performer.
I had heard of Lady Gaga, but I did not know what she looked like. I had never heard her sing. I assumed my friend was right, but never gave the matter much thought because I no longer followed the music scene.
And then? And then I happened to hear Lady Gaga singing The Lady Is A Tramp with Tony Bennett. Wow! What a voice! She certainly had talent when singing that song. And she had talent when singing all the songs I checked. Obviously, my friend has no credibility when it comes to judging talent. I told him so.
“I could not believe how great Lady Gaga’s voice sounded,” I said. “I was expecting to hear someone who could not sing because of what you said. What a surprise! You have lost your credibility when it comes to judging talent.”
“Well-er-uh–when I said that she could not sing and had no talent,” he said, “I did not mean that she could not sing and had no talent. I meant that she couldn’t sing as well as Sarah Vaughan.”
“That is not what you said. You said that Lady Gaga could not sing and had no talent.”
“But I meant that Lady Gaga is not as good as Sarah Vaughan.”
“That is not what you said.”
“But it’s what I meant. You should have known that.”
“How could I have known that you saying, ‘Lady Gaga can’t sing and has no talent means Lady Gaga can sing, but not as well as Sarah Vaughan’?”
“I don’t know, but you should have known.”
My friend spends a lot of time finding fault with the performers he does not like. He loves it when they fail and will go on and on about their failures. Would he be this way if he had achieved success as a performer?
