Music is and always has been a near-constant in my life. Back in the olden days of cassettes I had a lot of fun playing with this set which allowed me to sing along. In the era of CD’S, I got myself a Winx CD to switch out my mom’s ever playing Freddie Aguillar in the car. For the record, I can still sing along to some of the lyrics. Another fond memory I have are my (karaoke) renditions of the ABBA classics. Tiny Me could sing her heart out, even though the meaning of the lyrics were a mystery.
ABBA 
Freddie 
Winx
And now with the reminiscing behind us: I can get to the main point of today’s blog: is music good, bad or all the same?
I work in a home for the elderly, and some of the residents are steadily declining when it comes to mental clarity. However, when it comes down to singing, they can go at it like it’s nobody’s business. And that truly melts my heart. When they sing together, the residents share a bond forged by music. The songs are usually nursery rhymes or classics that they all know. The last time we talked about music, was when talking about hit songs they remembered. And while the titles were a bit hazy at times, the lyrics and melody were definitely there!
Music is an enrichment to society, yes, even modern “copy-paste” music. I have gone through this discussion with several people, and I do feel that newer music sounds the same. Or more accurately, the songs in the top charts appear to follow the same format. If it is a man singing, then he is very likely to sing falsetto. Another trend that I feel is still going strong is the whole soft singing thing.
Do I think that the modern charts are getting a bit predictable and boring? Yes, absolutely.
However, I won’t go as far as to say that modern-day music is plain worse than it used to be. But we have so many ways to listen to music now, with so many artists who can create content with much greater ease than back in the day where live music was the only way to go. And that is simply something to keep in mind, trends come and go. Music taste changes over time.
This is an exellent site if you want to look more into the evolution of music.
A main constant is that previous generations dislike the modern music of the youths. Elvis was definitely a terrible influence, with his corrupting pelvis. The Beach Boys were also a danger to society. But to stay relevant, you have to keep reinventing yourself or at least your image. Our modern popstars know it, and they knew it too. Frank Sinatra started out as “The Sultan of Swoon” but became a crooner. This new style of singing was facilitated by new technology (sound familiar?), namely the microphone and amplifier.
In conclusion: music is great and we should stop all the gatekeeping enjoy listening to whatever it is you are into and let others do the same. Yes, there might be some serious repetition going on here and there. Yes, some artists might produce songs that you are into. But it does not have to be an issue!
Celebrate new artists and their creativity and do the same for the established ones. There is enough music for all! Just live life to the fullest and keep groovin’.
yooo I absolutely loved your post! music is so intricately woven into our beings, and it’s amazing to see the neurological capacities and implication music introduces to our brain! There’s a town called Hogewey in the Netherlands where the main inhabitants all have various forms of dementia. the whole town is adapted to certain preferences and characteristics of popular culture in previous eras, and artistic cues such as music plays a huge role in maintaining neural processes afloat. also love the music as an individual freedom for all conclusion! + a link about Hogewey:
https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-hogewey-dementia-village-2017-7?international=true&r=US&IR=T