the beat goes on

  Yesterday I made a posting about music. Tongue in cheek I stated that the problem with today's world is there is no good music. Part of that was inspired by hearing that someone named Riannah was going to be the half time show for the Superbowl. Now I have heard the name but not the music she sings, she is a singer right? I don't know much about any of that they all sound alike to me. These singers today I mean, lots of electronic help. But like 99% of the population, I quit listening to the "latest" thing somewhere along the line. For me, disco was the end of the line. I didn't listen to that at all, although it flooded the airwaves. 

 Well, I get it, it was what was selling, what was making a profit and that's all that really matters. Despite all the talk to the contrary, entertainers seek fame and fortune, that's how they measure success. Yes, I know, it's the art they love. You will hear that from the ones that can afford to say that anyway, that's how that works. I get it, I understand all of that, I'm no different. Start paying me millions, let me have adoring fans and I'll start telling you the same thing. I only do this because I love it, for the art and for the sake of humanity. 

 I like to believe I have varied tastes in music. I've always listened to whatever I liked regardless of current popularity. I admit I sometimes tried to hide that when I was a teenager, wouldn't want others to think I was a square! Still, I was never a big fan of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones and never bought a single album of either one. I wasn't spending money to try to fool anyone. No, I was buying Steppenwolf, Jr. Walker and all Stars, and George Jones songs. As I said, I liked what I liked and that's what I bought. Today I'm not buying a thing! Alan Jackson is about the end of the line for me. I almost bought a Zac Brown album once. 

 You know it's a funny thing about music, popular music that is. After a certain age you aren't supposed to like that. The "kids" will laugh and point at you saying, check out the old timer, who's he trying to fool, he doesn't get it! And the thing is, you do look foolish when you are older attempting to look younger. Popular music is for the younger crowd. It's always been like that too. It's just part of growing up. We will call it "our music" and the older generations aren't welcome to it. We know it's the best music ever made. Which is strange if you think about it. The "best" music, the pinnacle of expression musically is generally thought to be the baroque era. If anyone is composing that music today, I certainly haven't heard about it. I expect someone is. 

 The reality is the music we like is whatever music brings up emotion. Sometimes I want to be happy, sometimes I feel sad. There are music and songs for everything in between. Mostly though music, old songs, are vehicles to the past, even when they are brand new! That is what catches your attention. At a certain point however, your emotional spectrum has been reached. The music, the songs become alien to your ears. They are no longer pleasing. You don't want to try that! Yes, like Lima Beans I already know I don't want that. There is no explaining it! You can talk to you're blue in the face, attempt to bribe me, shame me, or call me names, but I'm not eating those Lima beans. It's the same with music.

 I was never one much for dancing, it was only something I did because girls like to dance. Even then what I was doing was hardly considered dancing, not sure what to call that. Luckily when I was a teenager we were busy doing on own thing so you could get away with that stuff. Dancing with actual steps and patterns were before and after that period, so I lucked out. Today I do a sort of two-step thing and it takes a good partner to follow me around. One of the reasons I married my wife, she is great at that, almost a mind reader! As I said, I do a sort of two step thing but it's really more of a where are we going next sort of thing. That being said though I have watched as others danced away in all sorts of styles. It's my thinking though that Disco killed dance. I don't hear about the kids doing any sort of "new" dance these days. At least not the way we used to hear about them. Seemed like for a while a new dance came along every few weeks. But then I'm not on Tic-Tok or Snapchat, Twitter or any of the cool sites. I haven't been out to a club in years. 

 Well, what goes around comes around as the saying goes. The old rockers look pretty silly today, Kiss is a great example of that. Keith Richards is the subject of memes. These rappers aren't going to be any different in their sixties and seventies. Hey, Snoop Dog is baking cakes with Martha Stewart! He's rich enough to do that and still be cool. Maybe some good music will return. You know music with a good beat, music you can dance to, and songs that tell a story. In the meantime, it's like that old song, the beat goes on. 

                                                                       

                           The lyrics ring true.