“THE NEW MUSIC”

I’ve been a little frustrated lately,
wanting to put in a blog entry for a while but I’ve been just so very busy.
So, recently I sat at the computer, opened up a Word document
and prepared to do a blog entry about teaching and being a psychic
which will probably be my next blog entry.

As usual I had my Sirius online radio on and began to sing along with a song that came on.
I was enjoying the music and the beat and the memories it brought back.
But when I began to listen to the lyrics, I was somewhat shocked at what I was hearing.

It’s interesting these days, how my generation, the baby boomers look  at today’s music
and in particular, gangster rap as being so negative, cruel, sexist…
We look at the lyrics of the song writers of this time and feel somehow,
they are jaded, hardened by their lives.

But I’d like you to read the lyrics, from the song I was just listening to;
It goes…

“Well, I’d rather see you dead, little girl then to be with another man…
You better keep your head, little girl or I won’t know where I am.
“You better run for your life if you can, little girl, hide your head in the sand little girl,
catch you with another man, that’s the end, little girl…

“Well you know that I’m a wicked guy, and I was born with a jealous mind
and I can’t spend my whole life trying, just to make you toe the line.

“You better run for your life if you can, little girl, hide your head in the sand little girl,
catch you with another man, that’s the end, little girl…

“Let this be a sermon I mean everything I’ve said,
Baby I’m determined and I’d rather see you dead.

“You better run for your life if you can, little girl, hide your head in the sand little girl;
catch you with another man, that’s the end, little girl…
 It was interesting as I was sitting listening to the music,
enjoying the memories they brought back,
knowing I had listened to those lyrics,
enjoyed the song,
enjoyed that time in my life,
and now listening to the lyrics realizing how dark they were.

And how much times have changed… Or have they?

Pretty nasty stuff, huh? Sounds like a homicidal maniac,
determined to kill his girlfriend before she could be with another man.

He’s aware that he’s jealous and he is telling her that.
He’s telling her, that she better watch out, he so jealous that he could kill her.
And I’m guessing she just might  stay with him.
Perhaps she could change his ways?
Those of you who are my age, you might recall the lyrics,
perhaps with a smile on your face.

For those of you who are too young, that really dark, pre-gangster rap group
was called, the BEATLES.
Yes the Beatles, perhaps the most popular band in history, with the most love musicians,
who, spouting peace and love, seemed to have a dark side.
It was a song on the “Rubber Soul” album called “Run for Your Life”…
Go figure.
So when us old folks, start to complain about the music of this younger generation,
with their crazy clothing, their outrageous hairstyles, the way they carry on,
let’s just look back to the 60s.
To the Ed Sullivan show and think about our parents
and remember them talking about those mop toped kids
with their crazy clothes and crazier ideas.

Think about the Doors, the Stones and all those amazing groups of our generation
that paved the way for these new amazing groups that our children and grandchildren are enjoying.

An old expression comes to mind,
“The more things change the more they stay the same”.
The more I scratch my head,
and look at the MTV music awards and the Grammy awards
wondering what is happening to our society,
the more I think of my father .
On February 9 1964 the family was watching the Ed Sullivan show
eagerly waiting for the first performance of the band
that caused an illness in the US called “Beatle-mania”
and asked if we could shut it off and put on the Lawrence Welk Show.

Sadly for my father, he was out voted 3-1,
my mother was also caught up in the contagion of Beatle-mania.

As I sit and play with my six-month-old grandson,
I wonder what kind of music he will be listening to in his teenage years.
I wonder if he’ll enjoy the music I listened to at that age
and will he enjoy the Beatles, Eric Clapton and the Doors, as his father, my son does.
I wonder when he, my grandson, becomes a grandfather;
will he be sitting with his grandson, playing and listening to music?
And will he be scratching his head as his grandfather did,
when listening to his grandson's music?

But there is one thing I don’t have to wonder about,
I know at that time when my grandson has his own grandson,
I will be watching over them and appreciating them from a completely different perspective.
View it on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3wNopYS8YE