The Golden Oldies

All you have to do is browse through some of my posts and you'd see that I really don't hide my feelings about 'modern' music.  At the risk of sounding like my parents, I'm really disappointed in the way that the music industry has turned.  It seems like everyone is an entertainer, not a singer.  A great singer can stand in one place without lights and videos, etc. and blow your socks off... audibly... not visually.  A good example of this is the fabulous Miss Barbra Streisand.  Sure, her nose can be distracting like a video... but it's the talent in the voice that you remember.  I was just reading an article about how music in movies has dwindled... it's hard for the Academy to actually come up with decent nominations... so much that they are thinking of eliminating the category altogether.

Mainly though, it's what the songs say, or are about.  Nowadays, it's so violent and degrading and unintelligent.  When we were growing up, songs were simple, harmless and envoked happiness, not rage and anger.  One of the first songs that I remember was 'Billy, Don't Be a Hero'...  and Puff the Magic Dragon' was one of my favorite songs growing up... it was that song and 'Sing' that I used to sing with my Mom.  'You're Still the One' reminds me of my friend Julie... 'Lady', 'Still' and 'Truly' were all songs with girlfriends (yes, I dated girls)...  Point is, all those songs bring back good memories...

Now, fast-forward 30+ years and you have songs like 'Baby's Got Back', 'Heartless', and 300 other songs that have to do with drive-bys, cutting people, shooting them, killing blacks and gays and women and anyone else... excessive swearing... pimping, sex, drugs and hookers.... and a slew of entertainers that use smoke and mirrors and sound systems to hide the fact that they can't sing. What memories could those songs possibly evoke?   It's a shame... (so much for not sounding like my parents).

I feel bad for kids today.  They're so shallow, non-worldly and unexposed to quality of any sort.  Happy with the likes of Lady Gaga and with their faces buried in video games... they'll never look up to see a whole world around them and to appreciate the little things, instead of needing such visual and audible stimulation.