Music of a Generation

This is stolen material. From myself. From my old blog on msn. Enjoy and leave feeling cynical. I usually do. < 3



Well I know that this is something that most of you have probably already noticed but I thought that I'd point it out to the ones who seem previously disinterested.

All the way up until somewhere in the late 90's or 2000 music was constantly changing its "theme". Like the 50's was rockabilly, you know Elvis' smooth voice and Beatlemania. The 60's was the age of rock, the iconic Rolling Stones, The Who, and the more "mature" Beatles. The 70's was all about peace and love, a time to speak your mind and fight for what's right and just that feel-good disco; which sounded like Fleetwood Mac, or the Jackson 5. When the 80's came around...well they were 80's. Hard to describe (but you know it when you see it) except for leg-warmers, big hair, big earrings, skinny jeans, loud makeup, and Michael Jackson's solo career.And oh boy, the 90's. My era. It was the beginning of grunge, hip-hop, R&B and rap. I think this is where we started to broaden our minds and horizons...But suddenly (or not so suddenly) we've kinda started retreating and repeating. Some people like the same kind of stuff from the 90's and others like "classic" stuff from the 50's,60's & 70's and so it goes. There is no real "new" genre of music. I'm not sure if this is due to everything having already "been done" or just (another word for laziness). Nowadays it's not only the lack of a genre to call our own, but the fact that almost every song is "sampled". There seem to be almost no original beats! But that's how I know I've found a song or artist that I love. Original beats and a creative way to word the most amazing songs I could ever hear. I'm not sure whether I'm on a rant anymore, or just observing. Don't get me wrong, it feels great to grow up during an age where anything is possible. Pop, Rock, Hip-hop, R&B, Rap, Techno, Jazz, Blues, Country, everything is accepted and spread far and wide throughout the globe. It's amazing to see how the world has changed since those decades. Women in the workforce, Rascism/Ageism/Sexism etc is not tolerated, Power to the people. But a (HUGE) part of me feels nostalgic about an age that I wasn't able to even be a part of. It seems like lyrics have completely gone downhill (to me anyway).

A song written in the past really meant something, you could feel it in the singer's voice, regardless of who sang, as long as they were passionate. Each song held a story, or a lesson, to be listened to for generations to come. But now it has started to feel like a lot (not all, but most) artists are singing and writing tracks just for the sake of putting something out on the radio, or making a new album. A song now seems like it's filled with either the same line repeated over...and over...and over...and over (cough-cough-bep-cough) or many many da-da-da's (ahem sb) or la-la-la's. Honestly it's getting harder to differentiate one artist from another; I miss when it was a singer's unique voice that set them apart and made them a "star" (a la Anthony Kiedis from RHCP, or again MJ)

Now I am definitely not putting myself on a pedestal or saying that I could write better. I most likely couldn't. All I'm saying is that it's time to take a look back, and remember what made music great, what made us remember the classics, and why songs like "Gimme More", "That's not my name", or "Rock Your Body" will almost positively not be remembered for decades to come.

June 2010 Edit:
Lady Gaga is an exception to this horrible epidemic (hopefully);)
(at least she has "theatricality". That's something we need a hell of a lot more of too)