Sirius Radio has been somewhat of a bust and somehow that realization has led me to listening to Ed Sheeran — for at least one song anyway.

I have to say this right out of the gates. I don’t hate Ed Sheeran and he seems like a talented guy and probably nicer guy.

More than anything, he just hasn’t been on my radar because it’s not my style of music.

Not enough leather and growling for my tastes.

Anybody who knows me even a little — looking at you two readers sitting in the corner — know that I’m a metal guy. Granted my tastes have evolved a bit over the years, but if the guitar isn’t grinding, the vocals loud and the drumbeat aggressive, I’m probably not that much into it.

So really Sheeran probably didn’t have a chance, even though there is a certain amount of hyprocricy in admitting that given my  music arsenal includines Jeffrey Gaines. Look him up. Great musician.

In high school I was a hair metal guy — Poison, Cinderella and the like. I was such a fan that despite the Grunge wave sweeping through the 90s, I still held tightly to those bands.

After awhile, the ultimate fandom of all things hairspray changed to other styles.

Stabbing Westward sucked me into a more industrial and electronic style, Nightwish and Xandria introduced me to a European  operatic take on metal, and now I also listen to things like Massive Attack and Lost Frequencies.

It’s quite the refined palette if I do say so myself.

Which is why I’ve become so unimpressed with Sirius. For all the stations it hypes, I listen to perhaps seven. At most, I will give country music a passing glance, admitting at best that some artists have talent.

I’m certainly not enough of a sports fanatic to listen to the many stations of guys talking about LeBron James. I don’t need that much news and boy there is a lotof rap and R&B.

To each their own.

You might be wondering at this point on how this leads to Ed Sheeran and you would be correct to ask that question, but you haven’t become my favorite reader, knowing I make fast points.

The real problem is those 6-7 stations I do listen to tend to play the same songs and the same groups over and over and over and over again.

AND OVER AGAIN!

It gets old and so I turned to the radio.

The radio seems almost archaic these days, but every now and again you find songs you want. Boston’s “Peace of Mind,” for instance. Man, that’s still a fantastic song.

After the guitar-floating sounds of that epic and classic rock, I reasserted the hunt.

I searched up and and down the dial finding nothing of any real interest. Taylor Swift, an amazing amount of country and radio-fodder I haven never heard of before. Ultimately I settled on one station and just let it play.

And that’s when Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect,” came on.

Every now and then when you are alone in the car you gain a certain level of bravery and that’s followed by a defiance that allows for you to account for listening to songs you wouldn’t admit to in public.

“What? No, I wasn’t listening to Ed Sheeran. That was some hardcore Sepultura I was cranking. Do I look like an Ed Sheeran kind of guy?”

And yet, there I was tapping my feet somewhat happily and thoroughly enjoying the song in that very defiance that says, “Yeah, I’m listening to Ed Sheeran, what are you going to do?”

When you’re alone, bravery in music selection is really easy.

Honestly, it says a lot about how far I’ve come even admitting this. In the past I’ve scoffed at the listening habits of others and yet here I was humming away to an Ed Sheeran song that really floats backwards on hits of those soft, great doo-wop songs of the 50s.

The bottom line is that it’s really a pretty decent song and I’m confident enough that I can admit this. I’m in a comfortable music-listening spot in my life  right now that feels okay with turning the radio on every so often and listening to a song like “Perfect.”

I’ll probably never buy the song or the album, but that’s okay. A little detour here and there is okay. So long as it doesn’t trail into polka territory.

There’s no room for polka in this world.

Online

Here are examples of some of the music I talked about in this column. Don’t be afraid to refine your musical palatte.

Ed Sheeran, “Perfect”: https://youtu.be/2Vv-BfVoq4g

Poison, “Nothin’ But A Good time”: https://youtu.be/_88L-CU7PD4

Jeffrey Gaines, “Hero in Me”: https://youtu.be/_88L-CU7PD4

Stabbing Westward, “Shame”: https://youtu.be/CsxaoXHe9Xc

Boston, “Peace of Mind”: https://youtu.be/Q5ZL8qvEmR0