If you round up a group of adults of the same generation, most of them can identify with certain songs, or at least musicians. Play them Bob Dylan or The Grateful Dead, and they will likely recall what was going on in their world when the music was at the height of its popularity. Given this fact, I began to wonder: will our generation have any sort of collective remembrance of music?
In recent years, an absurd number of bands have emerged, and our access to them is virtually instant. Though this incredible access to music and influx of musicians is not entirely bad, it does hinder any hopes for a shared connection with music years down the line. Many times, bands and artists that hold meaning for one are likely to be completely irrelevant to others.
Much of the music that does get radio play is undeniably, inconceivably idiotic. Sure, many people my age might know Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl,” but somehow I doubt that I will remember it as representative of my teenage years.
How about Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance”? With lyrics like, “A dizzy twisted dance, can’t find my drink, oh man. Where are my keys? I lost my phone, phone…Just dance, gonna be okay, da da doo-doo-mmm…” I can say with great confidence that I will not be looking back fondly at her prodigious gift for words.
In 2009, “hits” are fleeting; I merely have to wait a few months to hear another nauseating song accompanied by equally laughable lyrics. Sickeningly sweet Miley Cyrus may be outselling Elvis Presley, but I refuse to believe that her songs will transcend the decades, even for younger generations. When much of popular music seems entirely worthless in its own time, how can we expect it to last longer than a few good laughs?
Perhaps I should let go of any far-off notions of reminiscing about the songs of my youth and how they affected my generation. Maybe, in our increasingly self-centered society, individuals are intended to have their own “anthem.” I could be entirely wrong, and thirty years from now I will be singing along to Jamie Foxx’s classic, “Blame it (On the Alcohol)”, remembering the good ol’ days.
THIS ARTICLE IS PERFECT!
While this is true, there are many anthems of the past that don’t have any real meaning to them, and there was always people that listened to different music. Though now the amount of people who listen to different music is much higher. I think that people will still pick out some song that sticks with them, I mean it’s what we end up remembering listening to which will trigger the memories, not the lyrics itself, so really… we can’t tell until then. Somehow we’ll pick something.
FS