"The Times They are a Changin'"
This being Friday and in keeping with my schedule, this column will be about music, sort of. It, like all of my writing, is an opinion and I welcome anyone who might disagree with me but if you are of a certain age, you probably won’t.
In a very broad sense, music has gotten worse and worse. I am not talking about the quantity or diversity of music, I am talking about the quality.
My hypothesis is this; There is very little music that is being created today that will stand the test of time. My test of time is fairly simple, will that piece of music stand up in 25-40 years from now and still be considered great music? There really isn’t anything that stands out now that could be compared to what was written maybe in the late ‘60’s or early ‘70’s.
Considering the genres that are popular can anyone say that they think that some rap song about shooting cops or slapping some woman will stand the test of time. Will any song or piece of music that may be very danceable and have some catchy phrasing be relevant in 2045? Will the generation that has disrupted everything known to man feel some nostalgia to an era of music that has nothing really to define it?
I don’t think so. I will admit that the artists today have mined millions while having minimal talent and considering that, thats a unique talent unto itself. We have a generation that will put artists on pedestals not for the quality of their work but because they have been able to create unique spaces on social media.
This is not to say that there aren’t some talented singers, songwriters and producers. There are. They just aren’t creating anything you or I would consider classic. It’s for the here and now and to rake in as much money as they can in the shortest period of time possible. Thats not a new phenomena but the artists of yesterday at least produced something listenable for that time and that music was sustainable over time.
I listen to all types of music and can honestly say I do enjoy some of the music of today but I also know that in 10 years or 25 years, few will actually recall any song or album with the same feelings you or I may recall something from our past.
I can easily list thousands of songs for the ‘60’s and 70’s that will be instantly recognizable by almost anyone no matter what age. There is a very good reason that SiriusXM has over 100 stations that play music from earlier decades and only 15 stations that play current music.
The current generation of musical artists suffer from the exposure they created. They are constantly trying to be on Page Six or gather the most Twitter or Instagram followers instead of creating meaningful or even interesting music. Constant overdubbing and multiple drum loops does not constitute creativity in my mind. It’s just using technology to do the work of musicians and talent.
I know many people will disagree with me about this and thats ok but I challenge any of them to come up with a list of 20 songs over the last 10 years that would be considered timeless. I could list 20 songs from February of 1969 that are classics and timeless and I am not even a rock historian.
Music has always been about telling a story, expressing a feeling or fear, yet today’s artists shoot for the money and at times disregard the power of their message. The civil unrest in this country is very similar to what was going on in the ‘60’s and yet, I doubt anyone can actually give me a protest song written by any artist in the past year. However, during the ‘60’s, you couldn’t listen to any radio station and not hear a classic protest song by Marvin Gaye or the Temptations. Those songs still resonate today sadly, yet where are the artists of today writing meaningful, well constructed pieces of music about the current conditions. Some would say that many Hip Hop artists have written about racial injustice and that may be true but can you possibly compare N.W.A.’s “F… The Police” with The Temptations' “Ball of Confusion”? Not a chance.
The Times are definitely changing as far as music goes, and not for the better.