Every time I find myself listening to music with my dad, he’s constantly comparing the quality of my music to his own. And while, admittedly, I do enjoy jamming to Journey and ABBA every so often, sometimes I just want to listen to that brand-new Chainsmokers remix.
But it seems I can’t do that without hearing criticism from my often too-judgmental father. He, like many parents, complains constantly about how the quality of music has gone completely down the drain over the years and how there simply isn’t as much talent in today’s generation of musicians as there was in his.
In reality, his complaint reflects that music trends have always shifted over time. But as some age, they no longer feel the need to keep up with popular music. Instead, they often choose to listen to songs from their youth.
While I do agree that some of the music today’s popular radio stations play isn’t necessarily my favorite, this isn’t to say that all of it is bad. In any case, there’s “bad” music in every generation, not just ours.
One thing our parents seem to forget is that comparing music from the ’70s and ’80s to EDM is like comparing apples to oranges — they may both be fruits, but they taste completely different. If there are few similarities between musical genres, that’s often how it’s supposed to be. It’s not like today’s musicians are just bad at imitating ABBA.
So while I love singing at the top of my lungs to an overplayed Eagles song, I also like dancing my butt off to the bass drop in that Vigiland tune. That doesn’t mean that I (or anyone else my age) have bad taste in music. It’s just different from my dad’s.
Maddie Eaton welcomes comments at [email protected].