I was conversing with a group of my peers. More specifically, a group of peers of which I was the oldest by about 8 years. I was lamenting the disappearance of my favorite radio stations.
What do I listen to? A variety of music but my favorite is rock and alternative.
In the past year, my three mainstay radio stations have succumbed to all pop music, all sports station or a new location with a weaker signal.
“But there’s this great new station at 103.7 where they play a huge variety. In fact, their catch phrase is “We play everything!””
Uh. Yeah. If by everything you mean everything that’s old.
“No they don’t. They play current stuff. What do you mean by old?”
What do you mean by current?
“Well, they play Nirvana and Aerosmith and Dave Matthews.”
Okay. I’ll give you Dave Matthews since he’s put out music recently but have you looked at Steven Tyler lately? (Sorry Steve.) And Nirvana? They were a 90’s band. Old music. I rest my case.
“The nineties isn’t old!” They all shouted.
If it’s more than 5 years old in music world? It’s old.
They all looked at me with blank stares.
To break the uncomfortable silence I whined about the loss of my beloved radio stations. What will I listen to now?
“Satellite radio. I love it. I can listen to all my favorites by genre.”
What do you all listen to?
“Rush. Led Zepplin. The Who. U2.”
I’ll say it again. Old.
Sigh.
Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy the old stuff, too. But I find when I have a steady diet of music that I listened to when I was a teenager I fall into the same teenage angst that I tried so hard to shake. I remember the boy that dumped me. The creep that I stood up on purpose. The guy I pined for and never did anything about. The music of my twenties stirs memories of marrying too young, scraping by on teacher’s salaries and lonely nights even though I was married. In my thirties songs will remind me of my divorce, that jerk I worked for and my daughter and I struggling in our tiny one bedroom apartment.
I love music. All kinds. But I thrive on the new stuff. I love discovering Adele and Imagine Dragons and Bitter:Sweet before the masses. Or knowing all about PSY and Gangnam Style before my daughter-in-college and teaching her the dance moves! (A coup that I shall celebrate for the next few months.)
Oh sure. Old songs stir happy memories, too. But I find when I only listen to the old stuff my heart gets pulled back to a time that doesn’t exist anymore. My heart is here. It is now.
And I want to create new memories with the songs I hear.
With new music.
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