by Tyler Fransen
Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Earth Wind and Fire, The Rolling Stones; if these sound familiar to you, then congratulations, you are as old at heart as I am.
I have, what my friends call, a geriatric taste in music. I’m not particularly fond of the current trends, although admittedly there is some pretty good stuff out there. But for the most part, if you forced me to listen to a Justin Bieber song, I’d probably punch you in the throat (okay fine I wouldn’t punch you in the throat, but I would write you a strongly worded letter).
No sir, my favorite music comes from a time long gone by, so long, in fact, I wasn’t even a thought when it came out. If you asked me to pick my favorite decade of music it would be like trying to pick my favorite child; I just couldn’t do it (assuming I even had kids in the first place, which I don’t. Well not to my knowledge).
The 60s brought some of the best protest music of all time because it was at the height of the Vietnam War. The 70s gave us some of the best R&B, disco and the beginnings of hard rock. The 80s had hair bands ,and the best pop music there ever was. And the 90s? Well, I have three words for you: Tupac and Biggie.
So yes, not only is my taste in music old, but also very eclectic. And guess what? It’s none of your business!
My friends give me constant crap about how I listen to the same stuff my parents used to listen to and guess what? It’s none of their business either!
If I hear “Stairway to Heaven,” cliché as it is, I will drop everything I’m doing and immerse myself in the song, as a sort of therapy since I can’t afford actual therapy. There is a downside of course to having old taste in music: none of the bands I listen to are touring and/or are probably dead by now, but a man can dream can’t he?
Going back to my friend group making fun of me for having an old taste in music, it’s not that they dislike me, or my taste for that matter. I just so happen not to fit the social norms of what it means to be a millennial when it comes to music. And like any good thing that’s weird, it must be called upon, or else everyone else would think it’s normal and trust me when I say this, I am not normal.
And you know what? That’s okay. I let those I care about give me a hard time for jamming out to Guns N’ Roses, while not having any clue as to how “Closer” by the Chainsmokers has been atop the charts for this long.
When other people do it, that’s when we have a problem. So let this be a message to those of us with older eclectic tastes in music. If people tell you that you have to love everything that Beyoncé puts out, you say, “I really enjoyed “Lemonade,” and I like Destiny’s Child, but not everything she puts out is gospel, and that’s okay.”
If someone approaches you on the street and makes fun of your Beatles t-shirt for being “old,” simply reply, “old, rich and beloved by millions, unlike you.”
And if a person says, “well I’ve never heard of them,” put on a record, hit the play button on your Spotify, or ask one of your friends to borrow their iPod and share the music with the world. Because at the end of the day, the universal language is and always will be Music; music makes the world go round. Well music, gravitational forces, the sun and the angle of the Earth’s axis. You know what? No! Music makes the world go round, and I’m sticking to that.
