Music to My Ears
It’s within the domain of those that are older, I think, to shake their head at the young. To cluck tongues at their inexperience, their lack of wisdom, and their complete disregard for good taste and decorum.
I am young, make no mistake. Nevertheless, as my years increase, I catch myself clucking and sighing at those that are younger more and more.
Just the other day, for example, I was driving in my car all alone, listening to the radio at a volume too loud to be considered remotely appropriate and only as a mother who stays at home full time can do when she feels the absolute freedom to drive very fast and curse very loudly at idiot drivers.
I felt free. I felt young. And then, I heard it.
Mum mum mum mah
Mum mum mum mah
I wanna hold em’ like they do in Texas Plays
Fold em’ let em’ hit me raise it baby stay with me (I love it)
Luck and intuition play the cards with Spades to start
And after he’s been hooked I’ll play the one that’s on his heart
(Poker Face, Lady Gaga)
Are you kidding me? These are lyrics. I clucked my tongue. I shook my head. Kids today.
I actually thought that. Kids today.
Obviously, for that brief moment I forgot that there was a time when I actually paid real American dollars for a cassette in which a young white suburban kid calling himself “Vanilla Ice” boasted about the false street cred he possessed while rollin’ in his 5.0.
Oh, hypocrisy, thou art a bitter pill.
The truth is that it’s the bane of each new generation to have to endure the narrow judgment of the preceding generations when it comes to music. In my day, the older ones say, music was better. It meant something. Nowadays, they say, it’s all just… well, crap.
Actually, it’s not. Music, specifically popular music, has always been the poetry of the young. The fact that the previous generations refuse to understand or cannot understand it speaks more about the ebbing of the poetry within us as we age than it does of the taste of those that are younger.
Additionally, it seems to me that there’s an unwritten rule that if something sells and if it is popular, that it can’t be real, true or poetic. That is just… well, crap.
For centuries, poetry has been a distraction.
For those that could not read, they would sit and listen to recitation. For those who could, they would sit in a comfortable chair and pore over the words of someone who was not quite great at the time, but was destined to be someday.
Us modern humans, we have a plethora of distractions. Glowing boxes recite their version of the truth, comfortable chairs face those boxes and we find comfort and escape from the perils of goods acquisition in those hours spent. Yet, we still need our poetry. Because, inside each of us, there is a poet.
Sometimes, it’s a bad poet with not very good taste. But, a poet nonetheless.
Pop music is the modern human’s poetry. Delivered to us on the radio or via an mp3 player, it communicates the simple truths that we already know and take for granted in clever and refreshing ways. It takes us back to a simpler time or moves us forward to a more hopeful future. Or it simply distracts us long enough to help us realize that whatever we needed distracting from in the first place may not be so bad after all.
I remember my poetry and the sighs of the older generation that would punctuate each meaningful and wonderfully deep stanza of it.
***
Do you remember when we used to dance
And incidence arose from circumstance
One thing lead to another we were young
And we would scream together songs unsung
***
The cities a flood
And our love turns to rust
We’re beaten and blown by the wind
Trampled into dust
***
All the vampires walkin’ through the valley
Move west down Ventura Boulevard
And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows
All the good girls are home with broken hearts
***
With that in mind, it becomes a little easier for me to ease up on the likes of Lady Gaga and those crazy kids who are jamming to it.
Do people even say jamming anymore?
P.S. If you’re into deep and meaningful discussions about pop music, you really need to stop by my friend Shane’s Blog. I’ve been reading it for a while and enjoy it quite a bit. It sort of inspired this post.
P.P.S. Major props to the folks at home who can guess the wielders of the mighty pens who penned these phrases I offered in this post. Or at least the guys that sang them.
55 Responses to Music to My Ears
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Dude !! Really?? I’m the first one to know these classics?? WTH ?!
#1 – It was the HEAT OF THE MOMENT, telling you where your heart went!! by ASIA !! CLASSIC BABY !!! (boom boom)
#U2 – enough said.
# 3 Free Falling (I’ma free falling) by Tom Petty
@Kim, SCORE!! You’re today’s Queen of the 80s poetry!
Cal: [Pointing to a framed poster] I mean, seriously, Asia? You framed an Asia poster? How hard did the people at the frame store laugh when you brought this in?
Andy Stitzer: They did not laugh at me.
David: Know why you’re gay? Because you like Asia.
@B.E. Earl, Oh, oh, I know this one…GAH… it’s … it’s.. 40 year old Virgin. Sigh, I googled it. ::hangs head in shame::
Well, the fact that I always say “I’m a good girl. I love Jesus and America too!” is probably an indication of both my age and the fact that I know at least one of those songs.
I love that you posted this because I was just thinking about this the other day. I realized that I’m entering that age where I start to judge popular music like my parents did. Also? Don’t tell anyone but sometimes I listen to the “Easy Listening” station. Yikes.
@Hilly, Easy listening rules. Do YOU like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain?
@Faiqa, I sure do! Especially after riding through the desert on a horse with no name.
@Hilly, Oh, well then those drinks and the rain would make you feel very fresh. And emerging from the desert? That’s even more cause for a celebration.
…”And am I bad boy for breaking her heart.”
(I don’t know if I’ve ever commented or if I just lurk. Hi, I’m Nat — Bounced over from Hilly.)
Funny, I had exactly the same reaction to Lady Gaga. Then I remembered all the crap I subjected my poor parents too… ack. Although they did subject me to torturous quantities of Celine Dion… maybe we are even.
U2′s Where the Streets Have No Name… got I loved that album… not as much as I love Unforgettable Fire. I had such a crush on Bono. I will admit that I do subscribe to the “if it’s popular then it’s shit philosophy.” I love Joshua Tree but damn, I hated that every one else liked it too.
@Nat, Bono. Tall, dark, handsome, Irish accent, raises money for orphans, looks good in leather… I ask you, my friend, who did NOT have a crush on him? People with no soul, that’s who.
@Faiqa, I have no soul. I think Bono is an idiot. And those glasses? Seriously?
::runs and hides::
@Sheila (Charm School Reject), arrrrggghhhh!!!! You are so wrong on this!
@Avitable, Hey – at least I admit that “One” wasn’t as bad as I initially thought.
@Sheila (Charm School Reject), YOU HAVE NO SOUL!! But, I knew this immediately after the whole sweat pants discussion.
@Faiqa, Then I guess you would be happy to know that my rattiest, comfiest, least public worthy pair of sweat pants have been lost. ::sigh:: I really need to get to the bottom of that laundry pile.
Well, everyone already posted the answers to the lyrics.
But I thank you for putting ASIA in my head.
Now – I lived in Boston with 3 guys, all going to Berklee, all very, very talented musicians. One guy had a girlfriend, and they would argue like crazy over good and bad music all the time, and basically, to shut (mostly him) up, I’d say, “It’s opinion. Period. You can’t argue about what’s better because it comes down to opinion.”, even though I mostly agreed that the music she listened to was pure shit.
My 7 year old and her friends love Lady Gaga – I maintain that her music sucks. Whatever. All opinion. Except I control what’s playing in the car.
@Sybil Law, Ooooh, did you say Boston?
I looked out this morning and the sun was gone
Turned on some music to start my day
I lost myself in a familiar song
I closed my eyes and I slipped awaaaaaay
Annnd, you’re welcome.
I instantly recognized Tom Petty – which is funny because I HATED him as a kid and love him as an adult.
@Miss Britt, Me too, but don’t tell my boyfriend. He’s a diehard Petty fan and I always roll my eyes at him.
@Miss Britt, Me too!! I thought I was the only one. But, of course, YOU, too.
When I was a teenager, my BIL (11 years my senior) got me into Led Zeppelin. A few years later I got into the Seattle grunge scene and tried to introduce him to some of the better stuff, and he scoffed at me. Then, maybe 15 years later he started accumulating all the stuff I was trying to share with him back then, and now asks me to borrow all my early 90s CDs.
Some music will stand the test of time while some won’t.
I don’t listen to as much current music as I used to, so a number of the one-hit wonders are lost on me, but I know some of the newer bands, and can appreciate what they’re doing.
@SciFi Dad, I love 90s grunge music. Actually, I’ve discerned from your blog that you and I have very similar tastes in music. The above lyrics are actually from old 80s songs because the other day a friend of mine said that all music written in the 80s was crap. I posted these particular lyrics to prove a point. Oh, and? I still cannot respond to your e-mails. It’s all very weird. My e-mail program does not like your address. Now, that we’re friends on Facebook, we should probably communicate that way.
I do the same thing, only to different artists. Lady Gaga doesn’t bother me, but I can’t watch her perform. Then I sit there and shake my head and wonder what in the hell is wrong with her. Have you seen her? Weird I say.
But then, it bothers me not at all to watch old WAM! videos or George Michael in the late 80′s. How bizarre is that???
@Becca, Hahaha!! Were you reading my blog back when I posted a YouTube of video of Wake Me Up!? I couldn’t stop laughing… at them and myself.
@Faiqa, Yeah I’ve seen it, it
is flippin’ hy-larious as my 11 year old daughter would say.
Did you know that Tom Petty is from the Gainesville area? True story.
@Finn, I did know that, but I had forgotten. See? Who says Florida isn’t a bastion of culture and literature?
I find myself clucking my tongue at today’s music all the time! I’d like to think I’m pretty open, but some of it just baffles me. Like Lady GaGa. I’m completely baffled when it comes to her.
But maybe I need to open my mind even more. Just not enough to buy one of her CDs.
@Elizabeth Kaylene, Yes, let’s save our dollars for someone who… well, does not have the word “Gaga” in their name.
@Faiqa, Or “Lil’.”
i clucked at lady gaga, too. and then i got up and danced my ass off. i am a hypocritical clucker, apparently.
(love the lyrics you posted…recognized em all. oh how i loved the 80′s!)
@hello haha narf, Oh, I danced, too… but I felt conflicted about it.
The word “plethora” always reminds me of the movie “The Three Amigos”.
@Avitable, This comment is right up there with “my feet itch.” Thanks for the meaningful contribution, buddy.
Tom Petty is so timeless.
Lady Gaga? Probably not, but she’s fun to dance to for now.
@Kate, I love Tom Petty… Refugee is a favorite of mine… I danced to Lady Gaga, but as I said earlier, I didn’t like it.
for what its worth, i have BOTH ice and gaga on my ipod, and i have to admit i’d take gaga’s lyrics over ice’s anyway.
neither is shakespear, but gaga is alittle closer to it.
@Slyde, closer? I’m going to negate my entire post and say, “I can’ believe you used Shakespeare and Lady Gaga in the same sentence.”
My friends were renting Tom Petty’s old house in Gainesville, so we hung out there a few times. Pretty sweet place, but it was in a state of disrepair. Bunch of upper-middle class American Girls living like Refugees as their parents’ screamed Don’t Do Me Like That! while their bank accounts went Free Fallin’ due to their daughters’ Last Dance With a 1/2 lb. of Gainesville’s finest Mary Jane.
@Shane, Well played, my friend, well played.
I’m still pretty entrenched into the popular music of what really should only be appropriate for a 17-year-old. It’s sad.
@Poppy, Sad? Did you read the post? It’s because the poetry in *you* is alive and well, baby.
My parents never complained (outwardly) about the music I listened to, but I always held a couple trump cards in my pocket just in case;
“It was a one-eyed, one-eared, flying purple, people-eater….”
“I am the eggman, I am the eggman, I am the walrus….”
@RebTurtle, I mean, really, what is “the eggman?” They were just insane.
I am glad that by the end of the post you decided to ‘ease up on the likes of Lady gaga’, since you probably found that song under the ‘most played’/'last played’ category on my iPod, lying in the car!
and in that same playlist you will also find other favorites like:
Evacuate the dancefloor
Oh, oh, I’m infected by the sound
Everybody in the club
Stop, this beat is killing me
[Hey, Dr.DJ come burn this place right down to the ground]
***
I want to be rich and I want lots of money
I don’t care about clever I don’t care about funny
I want loads of clothes and i want loads of diamonds
I heard people die while they are trying to find them
I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore
I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore
When do you think it will all become clear?
‘Cuz I’m being taken over by The Fear
***
anybody want to try and guess the names of these poets?
@tariq, Timbaland, Jaz Z, Eminem? Vanilla Ice? Ice T? Ice Cube? Ice Box? Ice Cream? Mmmm, ice cream. What were we talking about again?
P.S. Why does it NOT surprise me that you would categorize the sentence, “I want to be rich and I want lots of money” as poetry. OMYGOD, I love you.
This post is sooooo me. I was driving with my teenage son in the car the other day and he was listening to screamo music and I got irritated and told him to shut it off. UGH. I was starting to feel road ragey! Seriously! hahahahah
Then I started to wonder where the hell does this kid get his music tastes UGH then I remembered who got him into that type of music to begin with.
Now I’m an old lady and can’t handle more than two screamos in a row. It makes me irritated and angry. LOL which I guess is the point and I related to back in the day….but who has time to be irritated and angry when you have four kids a job and a morgtage payment, right? hahahahaha
And which would explain why in my iPod I have a variety of music ranging from Country to Mariachi, to Mariah Carey, to Eminem, Too Short, Tom Petty, Wham, Prince, Sade, Bob Marley. Depending on what my mood is.
@Twinkie, Subtract mariachi and add Bollywood soundtracks and we probably have all the same music on our iPods. I think this is a sign of musical genius.
My musical tastes are very, um, eclectic I guess you could say. And I rarely recognize a song that is a current hit.
My son loves “Pokerface”. I endure because I love him.
@Sheila (Charm School Reject), NO SOOOOOOUL!!
My son runs around the house singing the lyrics to the 3OH!3 song. The one that goes: hush girl, shut your lips, do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips.
He makes me proud.
And that Lady Gaga song is now in my head. I may have to not be your friend anymore for that
Ahh, music, pop culture, poetry. Good times.
@Al_Pal, Thanks for sifting through my blog and taking the time to comment on various posts these past few days! It feels great to know someone is reading *and* enjoying themselves.
I agree with you!
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