Engulfed in a Quagmire of Banal Music

“Caught “The Who” concert at London Gardens last night,” my 18 year old tells me with certain zeal in his eyes that I rarely see out of a “so called” member of Generation Y. I look at him and think to myself, “THE WHO probably own underwear older than he is. What would possess a child like this to embrace some sixty years plus rock stars who are still singing songs that no longer even remotely apply to them-ex My Generation (I hope I die before I get old).” Rock music, I thought, was supposed to be about youthful rebellion. Something that the younger generation could call their own. Instead, my nephew went to see that concert with his 50 year old father. I find this very, very disconcerting and more than a little perplexing. While I understand that rockers have to make a living, it seems incongruous to me that they should play music they made in their youth. A better solution would be to evolve their musical styles to correspond with their age. A perfect example of this would be one-time rocker STING among others. The answer to why my nephew went to see that concert, (or at least my spin on it), is that there are no new frontiers left to discover in music, in short, it’s all been done before.

Journey back with me for a moment to the Middle Ages up to say the 1920’s. There were, at least to my knowledge 3 or possibly 4 genres of music in existence, (Classical, Hillbilly Fiddle, and Big Band). Types of music were limited to local surroundings due to the fact that travel was often inconvenient and exceedingly difficult. Musical experimentation was in its infancy, but the Industrial/Technological revolution changed that forever. Today’s Internet/Cell Phone/Television fueled global community tosses ideas back and forth with staggering speed almost to the point of overkill. This ever shrinking communication world has naturally spawned numerous musical styles which if I were to name them all would fill up an entire page at least.

So where does that leave young Generation Y? They are the first generation who truly does not have a music of their own. Gone are the days of types of music that no one has ever heard before. Instead, all music of the modern day is merely enhancements of already invented styles. The idea that was music has now become an institution due largely in part to gluttonous music industry conglomerates who toss out trendy chum to the thoughtless masses that are manipulated into thinking this is high-quality music.

This is not only true of music but nearly everything else as well. Every flavor of bubblegum has been tried, clothing styles, shampoo, television shows, movies, hair styles. Most cars look the same, ditto for houses. We seem to be heading for a society hell-bent on ramming conformity down our throats. If this wasn’t bad enough, with miniature web-cams everywhere and homeland security tapping your phones, do or say something that strays from the norm and you are red flagged and filed into various classified databases. The only glimmer of hope as far as I can see is the day when we venture out into space and make contact with an alien species who naturally will have concepts and ideas that are totally new to us. I look forward to that day with great expectancy.

The distressing options open to Generation Y are 2 fold. Regress back and embrace musical styles invented before you were born or be a good little disciple and absorb today’s music (which has all been done before.) Except for one horrible exception “reality TV”. I refer specifically to “American Idol”, a show where contestants have no instrumental or song writing talent, getting by on looks and sometimes a half-descent voice. If this is a reflection of where the music industry is heading, I’m going out to get my hammer and smash the mirror! While there still remain a remote few musicians with true song writing talent and instrument proficiency, the fact remains that they are applying there talents to musical styles that have been beaten to death. No musical revolutions for poor young Generation Y. The artistic version of George Orwell’s “1984″ has arrived and is here to stay.