Recently, the Reticent Supervisor mentioned we celebrated our birthdays. Yes, yes...birthdays. Up to and since my birthday, I have thought about aging and questioned if I am getting old. Now, now, I am not about to have a mid-life crisis or anything like that. I have just wondered if the things that culturally defined me and my generation are slipping past relevance. I started thinking this as I was listening to a CD I made of songs from various artists I enjoyed in the 1980s. I entitled this mix the "Fun Mix," because it was in and of itself fun and I really felt a thrill or happy when hearing these songs. Now, it has been over twenty years for some of these songs. Some of the artists now appear on the nearby Classic Rock station. When did U2, Talking Heads, and REM become Classic Rock? I thought those stations were the refuge of the Allman Brothers Band, the Dead, and CCR? Will I turn on the Oldies Station and hear INXS?
Artists like the Who, the Rolling Stones, Robert Plant, and Van Morrison have continued to tour, release new albums, and revisit their older music. Even the Dead have come back to life. When is it time for them to retire? Listening to some of the songs from the new U2 album, I was struck by the fact that while I liked the music, the band's songs did not thrill me as say "I Will Follow," or "New Year's Day," or anything from War or Boy. Now is this because U2 has passed its prime or am I getting old?
I came to maturity at time when the "Baby Boomer" generation dominated popular and political culture. (Thirty-Something and The Wonder Years are two great examples of Boomer-dominated television, unfortunately.) Political struggles, military conflicts, and cultural norms were all compared to the events of the 1960s and 1970s. My generation (is that X? I was a Teen in the mid Eighties), never could measure up to the previous. As feminists, well, we are repeatedly told the women of the 1980s and early 1990s failed miserably in that category. All political protest was apparently mimicking the student protests of the Sixties and never quite as authentic. In terms of music, "Oldies" music was their music and Rock n Roll seemingly sprang from their consciousness.
Before this devolves into a complaint about Baby Boomers and their condescending view of those who have come after then (oops, still complaining), my larger question is whether my generation has come into cultural dominance and if our time has passed. Did VH1's I Love the 80s and its hilarious survey of this decade's pop culture indicate that something had changed? (When the channel ventured into the 1990s, I started to question their historicism. Can the 1990s be history? Hardly, she scoffed.) Are there a plethora of television programs and movies devoted to people of my age group? The USA Network's Psych certainly is a good example of this. This hilarious show is full of references to the 1980s youth culture done in a clever and witty manner. I am unable, however, to think of many dramas or sit-coms right now that speaks directly to the concerns of people in their late thirties and forties in the same way. Has our generation failed to imprint the larger culture? Have we bypassed this opportunity for reality programing? Or do we have enough collective sense not to be so navel-gazing? (Oops, that's another shot, isn't it?)
Returning to music, I have discovered Pandora and I am able to listen online to various "stations" based around artists I enjoy. While there are current (or newer) musicians I like, Pandora has enabled me to listen at length to music from my high school and early college years. When new music starts to grate on my nerves (why the omnipresent Amy Winehouse, Death Cab for Cutie, and the Fray?), I can take comfort in the Jam, Talking Heads, New Order, Psychedelic Furs, and Siouxie and the Banshees, among other artists. If anyone understands my ramblings and needs a little Siouxie and the Banshees, check out this video of "Dear Prudence." (Come on, it was bound to happen as some point with a blog entitled Perfection of Prudence.)
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