I was wondering if I am alone in this ? I was listening to Pandora radio, classis country and all those tunes are so familiar to me. I began to wonder, just when did I stop listening to the music ? What I am thinking about is at some point I just started listening to the old tunes over and over again. Oh, I occasionally hear a new song or two on the radio but don't really follow any one band or person. This modern version of country, bro country I think it is called, has left me flat. Almost all the great ones are gone now. George, Waylon, Johnny, Merle and Conway. All immediately recognizable by their first names and by the first note of a song when they sang it. My old rock and roll heroes are mostly gone now, relegated to the oldies stations. I wonder , does this happen to everyone ?
When I was growing up the radio would be on. Of course it was the local station and was playing popular music of the time. When I was small radio and music wasn't quite so portable. I listened in my bedroom on an old tube radio I had purchased at the church bazaar. Yard sales weren't a thing yet, they came later on. A ladies civic group ran what they called " The bargain Box " a small shop on Newtown lane were you could purchase used clothing and anything else that was donated. It really was like an indoor yard sale before we knew what yard sales were. Anyway, I got a transistor radio for my sixteenth birthday and music became portable ! That radio was purchased from Parsons' electric company and was the latest technological advance. I had it fastened to the handlebars of my bicycle. It would lose the station often when going around the turns so I fixed a whip antenna to that bicycle and ran a wire to the radio, problem solved and I was rolling. That radio was followed by an eight track player, a cassette deck and finally a cd player. Today I have a MP3 player that clips to my belt. I used it once or twice and found it to be an amazing thing. All those songs right there and so easily portable. Sure you have to listen to it through a headphone, guess that is the price of portability. Well, I know you can buy external speakers for it and all that but that isn't the point of having it is it.
As I was thinking about all of this I remembered how I used to listen to the new songs and groups with my friends. Listening to music was an activity in itself. I guess the kids still do that although mostly I see earbuds. I've heard a few of those songs some of these young people are listening too and I'm glad they have those earbuds in. The music is awful and I won't even mention the lyrics. I wonder though if these kids will still be listening to that stuff when they are in their sixties ? I still enjoy the music of my teenage years every now and again. I admit I no longer want a steady diet of that. I did wind up a fan of classic country hits. There is just something about those cry in your beer songs that hit close to home. Oh I like the lighthearted ones as well but the old story songs are the best. Music a man can work or relax to. Those old rock and roll tunes can get you going alright but the quality of the lyrics leave something to be desired in my opinion.
I do wonder when I stopped paying attention to the new music. When did music just become something in the background to me ? I like to hear the old familiar tunes. Those songs carry me back in time and put a smile on my face. The music doesn't interfere with what I am doing, it is a part of me. I do listen to the new stuff and have found a few gems mixed in with the commercial claptrap they now call country music. I get it, it is all about sales. It always was and always will be. Those old country songs were written for the market same as the ones today it's just that the market has changed. In my humble opinion I would say the old songs were dealing with honest feelings, the realities of life, and that is what made them so popular. Songs that are completely relatable. Perhaps I don't like or understand these new songs for that very reason. I just can't relate to them. I didn't relate very well to those old country songs when I was teenager either now that I think about it. I guess you do have to have had life experiences to understand those songs. The more experience I get, the more I like those old country songs. In the end it is all about comfort, not fashion. You know I never was much on fashion.
When I was growing up the radio would be on. Of course it was the local station and was playing popular music of the time. When I was small radio and music wasn't quite so portable. I listened in my bedroom on an old tube radio I had purchased at the church bazaar. Yard sales weren't a thing yet, they came later on. A ladies civic group ran what they called " The bargain Box " a small shop on Newtown lane were you could purchase used clothing and anything else that was donated. It really was like an indoor yard sale before we knew what yard sales were. Anyway, I got a transistor radio for my sixteenth birthday and music became portable ! That radio was purchased from Parsons' electric company and was the latest technological advance. I had it fastened to the handlebars of my bicycle. It would lose the station often when going around the turns so I fixed a whip antenna to that bicycle and ran a wire to the radio, problem solved and I was rolling. That radio was followed by an eight track player, a cassette deck and finally a cd player. Today I have a MP3 player that clips to my belt. I used it once or twice and found it to be an amazing thing. All those songs right there and so easily portable. Sure you have to listen to it through a headphone, guess that is the price of portability. Well, I know you can buy external speakers for it and all that but that isn't the point of having it is it.
As I was thinking about all of this I remembered how I used to listen to the new songs and groups with my friends. Listening to music was an activity in itself. I guess the kids still do that although mostly I see earbuds. I've heard a few of those songs some of these young people are listening too and I'm glad they have those earbuds in. The music is awful and I won't even mention the lyrics. I wonder though if these kids will still be listening to that stuff when they are in their sixties ? I still enjoy the music of my teenage years every now and again. I admit I no longer want a steady diet of that. I did wind up a fan of classic country hits. There is just something about those cry in your beer songs that hit close to home. Oh I like the lighthearted ones as well but the old story songs are the best. Music a man can work or relax to. Those old rock and roll tunes can get you going alright but the quality of the lyrics leave something to be desired in my opinion.
I do wonder when I stopped paying attention to the new music. When did music just become something in the background to me ? I like to hear the old familiar tunes. Those songs carry me back in time and put a smile on my face. The music doesn't interfere with what I am doing, it is a part of me. I do listen to the new stuff and have found a few gems mixed in with the commercial claptrap they now call country music. I get it, it is all about sales. It always was and always will be. Those old country songs were written for the market same as the ones today it's just that the market has changed. In my humble opinion I would say the old songs were dealing with honest feelings, the realities of life, and that is what made them so popular. Songs that are completely relatable. Perhaps I don't like or understand these new songs for that very reason. I just can't relate to them. I didn't relate very well to those old country songs when I was teenager either now that I think about it. I guess you do have to have had life experiences to understand those songs. The more experience I get, the more I like those old country songs. In the end it is all about comfort, not fashion. You know I never was much on fashion.
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