Over 4th of July I was chillin' at the Lake with my extended family. As we drank margaritas and swam in the brackish, we blasted Billboard's top tunes through the decades. Suddenly, one of the "adults" shot a comment at us "kids," making the statement that nobody will listen to our generation's music 25 years from now because it's all completely disposable.
I immediately reacted with a spiteful tongue, saying, "of course people will listen to our music 25 years from now! We'll be the ones listening to it!" They shook their heads and looked at me like I was crazy. So, I sat there as they turned up the Jimmy Buffet. I griped that nobody cares about Jimmy Buffet anymore and made it known that his music SUCKS. I was just so angry. I acted childish and bitter and didn't think through a rational argument.
Until now...
Music is music is music -- no matter when it was released. I'd wager to say that Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools" still produces the same soul-expanding, euphoric effect today that it did when it was released in 1967. It doesn't matter when a song was written, played on the radio, pressed to a record, or put on iTunes. 1872 or 1994. If the song as an effect upon me, I'm still going to embrace it as my own... and I know the same is true for a lot of my peers.
The notion of "our" music doesn't really work because it's ALL our music.
The one thing that will always remain constant in the world is this -- things change. From hairstyles to plate tectonics. Nothing ever remains the same. Perhaps one of the greatest cultural examples of this IS music. I remember hearing a story about how Frank Sinatra felt that Elvis's was the trashiest music he had ever heard. He thought it would bring about the nation's moral decay. Was Frank right? Did Elvis destroy our decent human nature and send our country straight to hell? Who's to say? But I think people will do corrupt things no matter the kind of music that pumps through their stereos. My mother has been known to have similar negative feelings about Rihanna.
To all of it, I say: people will always sing about sex. Elvis sang about sex. Rihanna sings about sex. Their styles might be different, but their essence is the same. People have always sung about sex. People will continue to sing about sex. Why? Because people will always sing. It's how we cope with life. We use background music. We use it to infuse meaning into our humdrum existences.
So, to say that nobody will listen to our music 25 years from now is to say that nobody will listen to music at all 25 years from now. I'm sure there were middle-agers back in the day who said, "nobody will listen to AC/DC or The Go-Go's... or even Madonna 25 years from now." Well, if history has proven one thing, it's that middle-agers can be kind of dumb when it comes to music. It's because once they turn 30 they become numb to anything new in culture. If they didn't grow-up with it, it's filth. If it's unfamiliar to them, it doesn't count. Honestly, it's kind of depressing and makes me apprehensive about getting older.
The great thing about us (the iTunes generation) is that due to access to TONS of music - old, new, mainstream and independent, we've got huge range in our musical taste. We've been exposed to more and have a higher tolerance than a lot of our ancient ancestors. This is where there's hope.
Perhaps in having all kinds of music at our fingertips, we'll continue to be more open than the gen "X" crowd... and when our kids come around, we won't dismiss the music that they listen to. Hopefully, we won't say that nobody will acknowledge it in 25 years. Hopefully, we will continue to embrace music of the past, present and future because ALL OF IT is ours. And a lot of if matters.
And here's a personal confession. Even though I reacted with wrath and condemnation toward Jimmy Buffet on the 4th of July, I have to admit that "Volcano" is a favorite of mine.
Ciao for now, babes.
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