When Dinosaurs Roamed the ….

When I was growing up, there seemed to be a rather large gap in what my parents liked, watched, and listened to. My mother liked Elvis but was a country/western fan. My father liked Tom T. Hall and Marty Robbins. I can still hear Marty Robbins crooning, “Out in the west Texas town of El Paso, I fell in love with a Mexican girl.” Scary isn’t it. But not as scary as when I was listening to my music and he would come home. “TURN THAT (fill in your favorite word for excrement) OFF! What I considered to be classic, was no more than noise to my parents.

I have found that some of the music that my children are exposed to is what I would consider noise. Some of the more obnoxious rap songs that are a festival of four letter utterances while others are nothing more than chanting about banging. Sup widat? No one needs to hear lyrics that are nothing more than an excuse to cuss or be rude and vulgar. If that is art, I must be deaf.
Most of what my kids listen to is nothing more than the pop songs from years gone by. The angst of failed relationships or of chasing the girl that will never look at you have not changed since music was invented. Each generation invents our own way of saying the same thing and puts a slightly different beat on it. Most of the music my children listen to is at least listenable. There is some stuff that I dislike but for the most part it is good.

What I like better is that I have turned my kids onto the stuff I listen to and they have responded by stealing it and playing it in their rooms. That is a little victory for me. My parents pretty much forced their music on us by playing it despite our protests. My kids are actually listening to my music because they like it. They have even turned me onto a few groups that peak my interest as their style is similar to the groups from days gone by. Jet and Nickelback are prime examples of groups that I would buy or even go to a concert. I don’t think I could say the same about Gwen Stephani but I just don’t care for powder faced bleach blond with scowls. I still listen to her on the radio when she comes on.

Icool

Cobb