Time is leaving my side
25 is probably way too young to even begin to think about feeling old; and while I'd like to think I'm never going to be that person who has a breakdown with every new gray hair, I've had a couple of moments lately where I realized that I'm at least not as young as I used to think. Working on a university campus, I become more aware every day of the gap between me and these people who I swear have to be the same age as me. Several conversations of late have pressed upon me the fact that some of our student employees were newborns or less when I was starting elementary school. Particularly for someone who has always managed to be the baby in any group (youngest child, summer birthday that always put me a year behind during the school year), someone that has always gravitated to older people - heck, my wife is 2 months older - even those 5-6 years seem like several generations.
But nothing makes me feel older than what passes for popular music these days. No, I'm not still mourning Kurt Cobain. And there actually have been some popular things that I enjoy greatly - overplayed/overexposed or not, Kanye's great. Let's be more specific: what passes for rock these days. Honestly, Nirvana never interested me while they were alive and well - I was still knee-deep in the oldies I grew up with (what was I saying about gravitating to older people?). The first current music I can remember enjoying was the infamous third-wave ska craze of the late 90's. And while I don't necessarily look back on those days with great nostalgia - the plaid, thrift-store pants are long gone from the closet - I can at least say one thing for the whole ska thing: it was juvenile, but it was fun.
Supposedly when all the ska/punk kids grow up, they go emo. I guess the idea is that instead of growing up and turning into our parents, we just turn into blubbering goth-lites. I know, this is not the first time in music history that moping is the rule. But this is the first time I've been alive and aware of it, and it's a drag. But then I remember how moody I was in my teens, and I realize why My Chemical Romance and their ilk are scoring so large.
I try to keep an open mind about the whole thing. I perused through my CD collection and found traces of moodiness past. But I can't find any Joy Divisions these days - mostly just Cures and Smiths (yes, that's a bad thing). But is it possible that I'm just jaded to all this whining, thinking that it's somehow supposed to appeal to me. Am I forgetting about the age gap again? Is it just the music snobbery that allows me to see a difference between Ian Curtis and Chris Carrabba?
I'm still pretty sure most of them suck. My Chemical Romance in particular is just barely music. Is it the black-and-white tie or the make-up that's supposed to make me think these guys are dangerous/tortured? Despite the all too real tortured life, even Kurt Cobain managed a sense of humor, let alone actual melodies (well, Ian Curtis at least had melodies). But either way, I'm ready to embrace being not young. I'm going to enjoy Liz Phair tomorrow night. I think she's pushing 40, and at this point anyone who remembers her hates her for cheating on the indie world and going pop. To me it just sounds like she's matured and realized that she can still have fun even if life still is a mess. That's more like it.
Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins
Nature kids, I-they don't have no function
I don't understand what they mean
And I could really give a f***
- Pavement, "Range Life"
Posted by Joel at 10/08/2005 12:39:00 AM
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