Aging and music!

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When I was young (very young!) I was bopping to rock while my mother preferred Big Band and ethnic music from her youth (polkas and waltzes). I wondered why she didn’t stay current. Now I know.

My car radio is tuned to an oldies station. They play 70s and 80s stuff. I also like 60s music but I would have to find that on a dinosaur station. Since I get my music fix from my errands and coffee runs, I rarely hear the “new” music. That’s ok. A lot of today’s music seems flat without the exciting riffs of old. The feet thumping and butt swinging stuff.

This morning I heard Cheap Trick’s remake of “Don’t Be Cruel” which is a famous Elvis song. I’m sure I heard it when it came out (and the beloved husband has the CD) but I haven’t heard it in ages (seriously ages). It made my car rock and my lungs belt out (this was at 7 a.m.). Couldn’t help myself. Felt so good. Better than therapy.

Perhaps we get more deeply connected to things, including music, from our youth that give us good feelings. (Is this a good time to confess that I loved shoulder pads? No, not the big football player sized ones but the ones that squared out your silhouette. Oh, and platform shoes! The kind I’d fall off of now!) I loved almost all the music from my youth. After all these years I can still remember the words (despite forgetting what I ate for breakfast!).

It’s a different kind of memory filled with happy times. (Yes, there are songs that I relate to a bad period. Those dang break-up songs for one but the happy time tunes override them and there is an “off” button for anything that makes me sad.) I get nostalgic. Today may be a day I google some old friends to see where they are (or if they are still alive).

I love my life now but I also enjoy a good trip down memory lane and nothing takes you there faster than music. BTW long hair on a guy still makes the estrogen flow! (My mom would so disapprove!) Can you watch this video without singing?

50 thoughts on “Aging and music!”

  1. I love the oldies too. I don’t know any of the newer songs and I probably wouldn’t like them anyway. I loved 50s music – still do. In high school my girl friends and I would go to see guy friends who had a 50s band. They played 50s music and dressed like greasers and were as good as the group Sha Na Na who were popular at that time. Sometimes we would dress up to go to a gig and had lots of fun. My parents weren’t keen on dating to begin with and one time a guy who worked for the City during Summer break from college asked me to go out. I was on Summer break from college too and we were both journalism majors. He went to Central Michigan University, about 200 miles from me, so this was just a one-time date. So, he always had his hair under his hat as all the City park maintenance workers wore hats with their uniforms. He came to the door to pick me up and he had flowing hair, longer than mine and my hair was pretty long. I knew my parents wouldn’t approve so I grabbed my purse and was ready to scurry out the door until my mom said “well aren’t you going to invite your friend in to meet us?”

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  2. I agree about the music – when I was working I got 30 minutes am and pm of semi-current stuff, but now I could not tell you a single song from past say 2015….and don’t even care. I never thought that would happen, but I find it all just so soul-less and much of it crude, especially rap music . I could not tell you a single song by Beyonce, or even Taylor Swift…..let alone any new singers.

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  10. Great cover Kate! I don’t listen to the radio unless we’re in the car and then it;s usually only for the news. I’ve lost touch with modern music, but from some of the stuff I’ve heard, I’m not missing much!

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  11. There are things you and I agree and disagree on, but this one I’m in100% agreement. I’m definitely a 70s and 80s rocker. Not only did I go to concerts and listen to the famous bands (with my big hair), I also followed local rock bands in my (Chicago) area. I went from bar to bar following a few (I may or may not have been of legal age), and I met my husband when seeing one of those bands. And I’m all about the long hair on guys. The rock theme song of my life is the ringtone on my phone – Carry On My Wayward Son. I don’t know if you were following me when I told the story of meeting my favorite lead singer in person. Strange that you bring this up, because I’ve actually been thinking about re-posting it. Here is a link to a brief preview of the story.

    A Peek Inside a Secret Diary

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  13. I’m with you about remembering the lyrics from the songs of my youth. The first thing that came to mind while reading this was American Bandstand and racing home from grade school to watch it. I also remember if you lifted the arm on the record player, the song would play over and over and over again. Those were the days. These days, I have the sounds of tinnitus in my ears 24/7 – music of aging.

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  14. Cheap Trick did a credible job with that one! I’ve always had a thing for music – my brother had a band and I was a sister-groupie big time. I also loved to dance back then…..these days the slow stuff is fast enough for me. LOL When I’m alone in my car – I have some CDs that my husband would NOT enjoy…..and I sing along and think of what for me anyway – actually were the good old days. I have good NEW days now but oh boy those memories!

    Hugs, Pam

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  16. I do remember Cheap Trick but definitely am not an Elvis fan. They did other stuff that was much better. I actually enjoy some of the current music (I’m a sucker for Ed Sheeran, truth be told) but there’s nothing more nostalgic and smile inducing than a long haired rocker, am I right? Whenever I go down to visit my Dad, I’ll ask Siri to play certain stations I have set up on Pandora. Recently found Motown and have known to ‘sing’ at the top of my lungs with The Four Tops and the Temptations while cruising down the interstate. And don’t get me started on Barry White or Crosby Stills & Nash for that matter! 💙 Gawd, that man’s voice is just velvet and the CSN harmonies are incredible. 🎵

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  18. Love listening to the music of my youth but also like some current stuff…usually only the stuff played on alternative stations. Most “pop” music of today doesn’t interest me now and it didn’t interest me back in the day either. Yes, nothing takes you back faster than a favourite song from before…unless it is a scent from your youth.

    Deb

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  19. I love the music from my youngster time… and I LOVE this video… we had the best muzak in our going out- time… none of this bieber-beyonce-miley kids smoked a cigarette while being on stage… pretty cool!!!

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  20. That was a good version of “Don’t Be Cruel!” Listening to older songs is mental time traveling. I do like listening to new music and finding a gem here and there, in spite of the current pop trend of breathy, little girl voices emoting. Give me someone with lungs and range, please. At least we still have Beyonce!

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  21. I don’t think I ever heard that version of Don’t Be Cruel.I would never have thought that Cheap Trick did it. But I had a half decade or so where I listened to nothing but jazz. Probably that fell into that time frame.

    I find it disconcerting that pop and/or rock I listened to in the 70s and 80s is now on the oldies station. I have sat down and done the math but I still don’t believe it. It’s kind of like people my age (and younger) having grandchildren. Surely I am not old enough to have grandchildren…

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  22. Oh, Kate, hearing a song I know instantly makes me start to sing along, whether out loud or in my head, and I love belting out tunes when I’m in my car! My favorite decade of music was the 70s, then the last half of the 60s and first half of the 80s. I grew up with music – my mom was a music major in college, I sang in school and church choirs, took 8 years of piano lessons and played the French horn in marching band.

    Having said all of that, there are musical artists I don’t much care for. Though I love some of the songs, I don’t like Willie Nelson’s singing voice. And, in the minority, I feel the same about Elvis. I did feel myself singing along with the Cheap Trick video because I know the song, but it’s not one I care much for.

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    • We had a lot of music in our house too. My dad played accordian and I played piano. My brothers and mom sang in choirs. My voice isn’t as good but that doesn’t stop me from singing along!

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