Their Generation Doesn’t Rock...Or Does It?

I can easily reflect on my childhood and recall on my left hand the number of times my parents joined in with me while I listened to the radio and actually liked what I was listening to. More often than not, they didn’t…and they never held back what they were thinking. I can recall like it was yesterday, singing along with Boy George to Karma Chameleon and my father blurting out in his heavy, Hungarian accent, “What is this?...Is this Boy George a real boy?” Or my English mother telling my friends and I that Duran Duran was rubbish and that Joni Mitchell was where it was “at." My friends and I used to roll our eyeballs and mutter under our breath, “Whatever.”

What I’m getting at is that every generation seems to think its music and pop culture is somehow better than every generation after it. I’m sure the people of the 1500s were like, “We’re so much better than those idiots from the 1490’s, the 90s are so retro.”

And my generation is no better, I hear my contemporaries often complain that as a society we’re ‘devolving rather than evolving’ (which I actually happen to agree with). Why do we all think we're so superior? Why are we such narcissists? Or are we just terribly insecure and this is how we compensate?

Case in point, both my daughters love Top 40 radio (thank god for my MP3 and tiny ear buds!). They absolutely go gaga for the lady (Lady Gaga) and I like her too but some of the other music that’s out there (Britney Spears, Katy Perry) should come with warning labels: Careful This Music Is Highly Annoying And Repetitious, Abusive To The Ears. Rihanna is one of those artists that radio stations can’t get enough of either; she’s become part of the engine that drives the music industry machine. Every time one of Rihanna’s songs comes on I’m like, “Oh what a surprise, it’s been five minutes since we heard that.”

However, I’m mindful not to ridicule my daughters for their taste in music. I don’t tell them that what they like is garbage and that the pop stars of my generation were better. I think it’s really important not to put down young people for their taste…especially young women. Believe me, it ain’t always easy not too, either. Especially when that Gym Class Heroes song comes on, all I can think is, “You call this music?!” I do my best to hide my disgust, silence my “ughs” and say nothing. It’s one thing not to like their music it’s another to just turn on your MP3 and tell them, “I’ll listen to my music while you enjoy yours.”

Do you share the same taste in music with your kids (and their generation) or are you fighting with them over whose radio station you’ll all listen to when driving?