As I get excited about the arrival of our little boy, I also think about his future. I think about the important things and the not-so-important things. One thing I think a lot about that may seem trivial is what kind of music he’ll listen to and who will be his musical inspiration.
I grew up in a house that was full of music. There was a lot of singing, a lot of piano playing, and a lot of listening to my Dad’s records. My taste in music was formed by my parents and there was always some great old Chicago album or Billy Joel album playing through the house. I realize that The Eagles, Chicago, and Billy Joel aren’t everyone’s favorites, but they have withstood the test of time. I also grew up to love Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, John Mellancamp, The Beatles, Styx, Kansas, Boston and many others!
I’m promise I’m not trying to put down my generation, but it’s disappointing, isn’t it?
I look at the artists today that are making records and winning Grammy awards. I see the lyrics to the songs to the song and, I’m not trying to sound prudish or old-fashioned, but the lyrics are ridiculous. I know my son will listen to it and I can’t protect him from all of that, but is that really who he’s going to grow up listening to?
Is he going to believe that Fergie makes good music because radio stations play her songs all the time? I guess, if anything, she can teach him to spell.
Sure, there’s the occasional catchy song. But are these artists really legends?
My parents gave me the cassette tape for “We Are the World” when I was about three years old. They also recorded the music video and making of the video off MTV for me. I still love to watch it. The thing that I love the most is that there is a choir of 40 recording artists in that song and they are all (mostly) legends. Lionel Richie, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Tina Turner, Dianna Ross, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, and the sexiest of them all, Bruce Springsteen!
Who are the musical legends from this decade? And will my son think I’m a nerd because I have great taste in music and make him listen to music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s? Am I the only one who feels let down by current popular music?
I agree 100%! It’s very upsetting…
I, too, grew up in a house full of music, with parents who pushed me to become a classically trained piano and french horn player. My absolute, all-time, favorite bands are Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire — nothing today can even come close. But if you peel away what makes the Top 40 in pop, there are groups making quality music today that aren’t just fleeting club booty-shaking jams — like Counting Crows, or Ben Folds. Sure, they’re not everybody’s taste, but there is no arguing that there is real, musical talent and it’s far closer to the music of years past than most of what is produced today. If you raise your son with an overall appreciation of real music, he’ll be able to dig through the fluff and find the gems of his generation.
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I agree!! I think I’m a total nerd when it comes to music because I don’t really even know what’s “in” right now–I haven’t watched MTV since high school and I don’t listen to all the popular radio stations. I’ll admit that I do have current music on my iPod to run with, but, 90% of the songs were recommended by my sister in law. When I was a kid we took a lot of road trips–that involved passing the time by rocking out to The Eagles, Chicago, Boston, The Beach Boys (I am a California girl, after all) and so on. Annnnd it’s still what I love today.
Oh, I LOVE this post! I have a lot of the same musical tastes as you, and I can’t stand the Top 40, “radio” music. I keep my iPod hooked up to the car, but occasionally will turn on the radio to see what’s on. Yesterday I flipped to the radio and heard some song that went (at least, I think this is how it went): “I turn my swag on, then I look in the mirror and say what’s up. Yeah…get money!” I am not kidding. Ugh. Don’t worry though, if you raise your son with good musical taste, he’ll know what’s good and what’s not.
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I’m with you, Erin! I’d much rather listen to classic rock, “oldies”, and that type of music over the current stuff. It all seems to be more of a fad than something that will withstand.
I agree 100%! The artists and lyrics today are really bothersome. What happened?!
I agree with you 110%! I don’t understand why the music today is so popular!
I grew up on music from the 50s, 60s and 70s and still love it today. I think certain music today will be stuff our children will be listening to in years to come – Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews Band, etc. Classic sounds will last lifetimes, Flo Rida may not 🙂
Hi! I have been a lurking reader for some time but had to come out today and say that I love your new blog/site! It’s great! I have added it to my blog roll.
I completely agree with you on the music thing. I grew up listening to the same type of music with my parents and lots of Beatles, Elton, Eagles..I could go on and on. I personally feel that 60’s, 70’s and some 80’s are some of the best music of our time and the music of “today” will never compare.
Ok, so if we all agree (and it seems we DO), WHY, why, why are they still releasing such rubbishy music? I don’t even listen to the radio anymore because 90% of it is crap. I’m not even planning a baby anytime soon, but I worry about what music my child in the future will listen too as well. I grew up in a house that always had music playing. My mother would play classical and opera, and my Dad pumped 50’s rock ‘n roll, Elvis, Cliff Richard and that era. Today when I hear a song that used to get played around my house when I was little, I get a happy feeling.
I love classical (especially Mozart and anything choral), and I love showtunes, musicals and Big Band oldies. So THAT is what my potential child is going to listen to! Once they discover the radio on their own hopefully I’ve instilled good taste in them!
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I completely agree. Most of the time I don’t even listen to the radio. People think I’m crazy because I don’t know what the new ‘hit’ songs are, but really I think they are all trash! I don’t think you are prudish or old-fashioned!
I loved that video/song! I agree…my children will most likely also grow up listening to music from the 60’s & 70’s. That’s what I listen to, since that is what I was raised on, God bless my parents. = )
Oh man, my husband and I were just having this conversation over the weekend. We were enjoying a lunch outside with our son and the station playing over the speakers at the restaurant was Classic Rewind, so lots of music from the 60-80’s. And I actually said to my husband, sometimes, I feel like we were born in the wrong decade. (we were born in the 80’s but just barely). Neither of us like the music that they play on the radio now, I mean, there are some songs that are catchy, and I will listen to, but nothing that I think my child will remember as “classic”, and nothing that I really want to download on my ipod. Totally bummed, and glad we are not alone!
Oh boy oh boy, do I agree with you 110%! I grew up listening to Van Morrison, The Eagles, Rolling Stones, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, The Beatles, Billie Holiday, Buddy Holly, and Irish folk music. An ecclectic mix for sure, but all amazing artists. Most “musicians” today either don’t even play an instrument or don’t write their own music! Or both! Its truly sad.
Music from “our generation” that I’ll share with our kiddies in the future? Counting Crows, Dave Matthews, country music artists (especially “Texas Country” singers that colored my high school and college life so greatly)… and then… all my old 80s and 90s standards, obvi!
Erin I am a total old soul! I love listening to Oldies. I would dance around my room to “Going to the Chapel” and speed down the highway in highschool to the beach boys, journey and bruce springsteen!
oooo and Widespread Panic and Phish.
LOVED We Are The World. And every time I hear Billy Joel, I think of my dad and all of our car trips as kids!
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100% agree. It frightens me that my children might think Britney Spears is the epitomy of musicianship. Ugh.
Hmmm….I will always have a passion for the 80’s no matter what era it is! Go Bangles! LOL!
I agree completely. I am a huge fan of all that you mentioned as well as many others, although my favorite still has to be The Doobie Brothers. I dont understand why musicians feel the need these days to make everything on the radio so crude and irritating. I mean I do have to say I catch on to the fun and funky beats and find myself singing along sometimes, but when you think about those lyrics you start wondering… are my kids going to catch on to what this song is really about? I hope that the face of music will make a change for the better, but instead things seem to continually get worse in this area. Luckily our car has XM radio and we are always on the 60’s, 70’s or 80’s section! Keepin’ the oldies alive for sure! 😉
My dad and I have grown so much closer in the past few years through our mutual love for Bob Dylan, including seeing him in concert together every chance we get (4 times & counting), so I never underestimate the power of music to bring generations together. I recently baby-sat my BFF’s baby boy, and refused to sing normal “lullabies” to him as he went down for a nap. He seemed to love my renditions of “Thunder Road” and “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonseome When You Go”… put him right to sleep! I’m definitely conscious of the kinds of music my future children will listen to when they are young- I want them to grow up appreciating it like I did.
Love Love the 80’s!! Like you, I grew up listening to so many of those artists and I still love them! I definitely have some Billy Joel, Rod Stewart, Elton John and many more I can’t think of right now on my Ipod! It’s sad to think of what kind of music our kids generation will listen to.
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I grew up on the oldies, Johnny Cash, John Denver, Marty Robbins..all old country and it’s still my old stand by favorites today. They just don’t make music like they used too!
By the way, I almost fell off my stool laughing when you said Fergie could teach your little man to spell…haha!
OMG – we have the SAME music taste. I love The Eagles, Billy Joel, Bob Seger, The Beatles, etc. That’s all thanks to my Mom and Dad too. But the music REALLY is better. My husband and I went and saw the Eagles in concert a couple years ago – AMAZING.
In all fairness … Fergie can’t even spell.
T to the A to the S-T-E-Y does not spell “tasty.”
All hail Paul Simon and Dave Matthews Band!
Oh seriously. I grew up the same way. Chicago, Fleetwood Mac, Richard Marx, etc are some of my favorites that I still listen to today.
AND, I recently heard people were using Fergie’s songs to teach there children to spell….um T to the A to the STEY is NOT how you spell tasty!! PEOPLE
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HAHAHA I just saw that Katie posted the same thing as me. Glad I’m not the only one.
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That’s fantastic that your parents raised you to know about & appreciate music.
Tough to say what bands of this decade will endure. I will say that getting satellite radio & moving to Austin both have somewhat redeemed my faith in more recent music; sometimes it just takes looking a bit outside the mainstream. I’m loving the current move back to the more acoustic singer/ songwriters (Eric Hutchinson is a good one) and hope that becomes more than a trend.
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Just do what we did and fill the house with Oldies but Goodies! It works!! xoxo
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I like some of the music out today, but like you, prefer the music that I listened to as a child (especially 80’s music, which rocks!). I think it has to do with the fact that we associate that music with childhood and growing up, when things were new to us. I know for me, I connect with the music from my chilhood because it reminds me of my family and good times.
i COMPLETELY agree…..i hate thinking my sweet little boy who knows all the words to “Ring Of Fire” is going to want to listen to complete smut one day…but he loved Johnny Cash first 🙂
I totally agree with you, a lot of the songs today have such random lyrics that you don’t even know what they mean!
If you play the “good” music when he’s young, he’ll like it, and he won’t even know that crap like Lady GaGa exists until he’s in middle school. 🙂
I wholeheartedly agree! I have my grandmother’s record player and have been able to find some really good records at Half Price Books, as well as the collection I grew up with. There are a few artists I can think of in several different categories, but most started their careers in the 70s, 80s and at the latest, the very early 90s.
I completely agree! I grew up listening to The Beatles, Billy Joel, Elton John, etc I could go on forever! Just recently I decided that half the music I have on CDs in my car is “inappropriate”, I feel so old but I’ve started downloading radio edit versions of songs! Just play the “good” music when he’s a kid and he’ll learn to appreciate it.
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I totally agree!
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Hey Erin,
First, congrats on the website. Isn’t Thesis great? I loooove it 🙂
Anyways, I have to disagree with you somewhat about the music. While I do believe some of the “hot 100’s” music sucks (especially the lyrics), I have to say that there IS some amazing music out right now! I love Adele, Duffy, and Jason Mraz to name a few.
I hope all is well with you – I’m so excited for you and your bundle of joy coming soon 🙂
Julie
Julies last blog post: A $50 Lesson
I am 110% with you! My parents, too, instilled the great “oldies” in me…rock n’ roll, classical, a little bit o country, etc. 🙂 To this day, I still just LOVE listening to so many of those songs, as they remind me of my wonderful childhood. 🙂 I LOVE “We are the World,” and my Dad has the same record at their house. 🙂 It’s funny, my ipod has a ton of great older music on it. Oh…and if it makes you feel any better, when they keep my little boy everyday, they always bust out some oldies and Jake LOVES it! 🙂 So just teach your sweet boy early and he will grow to love and appreciate them too! 🙂
Sounds like, no matter what, your precious baby boy will grow up appreciating the same music that you did–like you said, it stands the test of time! Sure, he’ll listen to the garbage that’s on the radio today, but I think his true loves will be the old classics 😉
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I COMPLETELY agree with you! I love listening to the 70’s, 80’s and maybe early 90’s music. The music that is out today is so hit or miss, mostly miss. My fiance and I discuss how the music industry has slid and that nothing will compare to the music in past decades. Just last night we popped in an Eddie Money cd.
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I’m sure your son will inherit your love for classic rock. My father was a musician and we grew up with classic and southern rock, and we all appreciate that music and don’t think our parents are nerds. 🙂 And, I’m sure you don’t think that your parents are nerds, so I think you’re okay! 🙂 PS – I also LOVE Boston (and Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Allman Bros, etc.).
I always just listened to what my parents listened too.. I did go through a fad where I listened to some rap music with bad words in it.. but that did not last long! I think he will love all the classics!!! Just like you do:) I love this post! It made me smile:) love to you and lil boy:)
I know exactly what you mean. I also grew up listening to and loving music. I think the same thing about cartoons and t.v. shows nowadays too…
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You hit that right on the head!! Some friends and I went to the Billy Joel concert a while ago and sat there wondering who our kids would go to see from our generation…we came up with 1 band…Dave Matthews and that was about it. Love your new blog – super cute! Can’t wait to see the nursery pictures.
ummm.. did i write this?! I also grew up with all “old” music. I grew up on the Eagles, the beatles, aerosmith, and all the old hair bands (my dad was a rocker!) I never listen to the radio! i don’t like the lyrics, the artists… anything really! i do love my xm though and listen to the kind of “indy” music it has. Love my David Gray, old Jason Mraz (before he went commercial!), etc.. My kids will hate me because I will be a radio nazi! you got to have the classics!
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You are speaking my language, girl! I too grew up on all the classic 60s and 70s music, and a lot of the good 80s stuff too. Today’s popular music is low on quality and meaning, and the stuff that is high quality or or meaningful doesn’t get much play! I’m sure if you are faithful to play the good stuff, your little boy will grow up to love it as much as you do!
Coldplay! Damien Rice! Ray Lamontagne! Phil Wickham! The list goes on and on for me…
That is so weird that you posted this a month before Micheal Jackson’s death.