When I was a young music fan I swore I’d never turn into my parents.
That is, I’d always listen to the hot new band, the latest indie sensation and would always keep right up to speed with the world of music.
I’d never find myself mired in the same music I listened to 20 years ago. And I certainly would never adopt my dad’s fondness for any compilation album entitled ‘‘Songs from Scotland and Ireland’’.
You’d be surprised just how many albums have that title, and they all have the same songs on them.
If I never, ever have to hear the likes of Danny Boy or Donald Where’s Your Trousers I’ll be a happy man.
Although I’ve managed to escape even the slightest urge to listen to anything by a guy in a kilt, it’s not the same story when it comes to being mired in old music.
That has, in fact, happened. And I’m totally okay with that. See, I’m 41 years old - I don’t need to be cool and have my finger on the pulse of music. I don’t need to be ahead of the curve and download the hip new hillbilly-metal-funk combo from somewhere in Switzerland or turn up at some uber-trendy hole-in-the-wall venue to see some band that is all the rage with the hipsters in Tokyo, Timbuktu, Tempe, or wherever it is they make flavours of the month and flashes in the pan these days.
I haven’t adopted the generic old person statement - ‘‘the music the kids listen to these days is terrible’’ - because I don’t think it is terrible. It’s just that I’ve heard so much of it before. You get past a certain age and you suddenly start to realise that there aren’t many truly original ideas in music any more.
Instead, what you get is a lot of borrowing from the past. So some ‘‘right-now’’ band will adopt parts of previous music styles to create their sound. I listen to them and think, ‘‘that sounds like ’80s pop’’. Or ‘‘those guys sound like ’70s punk’’. To a 15-year-old it all sounds new and vital, but to me it sounds like something I used to listen to almost two decades ago.
That’s why it’s so hard for me to hear anything new these days and be excited by it. There have been a few recent albums here and there (The Gallows’ Grey Britain and Canyons’ Keep Your Dreams) that really made me sit up and take notice. Yet, for the most part, my reaction tends to be ‘‘yep, they sound like (insert ‘‘old’’ band’s name here)’’.
I figure I’ll go and listen to the original sounds, rather than the modern-day version of it.
Also, there’s the nostalgia kick - listening to music from the 1970s, ’80s or ’90s stirs up a lot old memories. Certain songs remind me of special moments and special people in my life and hearing those songs brings those memories - and occasionally, the emotions accompanying them - rushing back. A song released today just can’t replicate that.
As well, there is a degree of laziness involved in listening to ‘‘old’’ music. I already know that I’ll enjoy it and it’ll give me instant satisfaction, rather than taking a punt on listening to something new and giving it time to develop. Granted, taking a few punts (like buying an album based on nothing more than the cover) is how I discovered what is now the ‘‘old’’ music. But I don’t have the stamina, time or even the inclination to flick through endless CD racks, trawl through iTunes, read the latest hipster blogs and see gigs every night of the week in the hope that something great will surface.
If you’re a 20-something reading this and thinking ‘‘Man, he sounds old. That will never be me’’, I’ve got news for you. It probably will - and you’ll like it too.
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