If you ever watch a group of very young teenagers in a cluster, you cannot find the non-conformist among them with a tweezers, as they just do not exist.  With youth comes the desire to be the most perfect copycat, with no really good map of which cat to follow.

 

More fascinating still, is to watch a group of older teenagers as they embrace the convictions of their hearts.  For me, it is such a joy to watch them express themselves with t-shirts of things they loved when they were little, and are finally secure enough to share with the world, or bands/artists/actors that were around decades before they were born, not just what’s hip and cool among their peers today.  They discover that autonomy is a beautiful thing and are often wounded if someone else sports the same image close to their heart, so strong is their individual love of a thing.

 

Wait a few more years and watch as the young adult begins to try on new suits of self.  No longer tied to the confines of home, they often test drive new haircuts/styles, clothing and a myriad of other things they probably once thought they never would.  Their choices are not always wild and crazy, either.  As I’ve seen a lot of young adults who’ve never set foot in a theater for a live performance see their first play, musical, symphony or opera and come out newly converted, newly nauseated or somewhere in between.  Tastes and habits (good or bad) are formed during your twenties.  It is a time to start seriously considering who you are and what you believe, sometimes not truly coming to terms with exactly what that is until another decade is stuffed under your belt.

 

That’s why I’m not necessarily afraid of what the entertainment media, specifically the music industry, spews forth (good or bad) because I know the temporary nature of popular culture and how so much of it is like a newly opened can of soda: effervescent and scintillating for minute, then flat and forgotten before long.  Eventually, we grow up and away from the trends of youth, as there aren’t too many Flock of Seagulls haircuts on car or insurance salesmen these days.

 

When I was a baby dinosaur, I was a ringside observer to all of the fuss about Punks vs. Parents and the uproar over the “hostile and coarse nature” of the song lyrics.  Adults were positively freaked out by how teens had become so “anti-parent” and the “unbelievable level of apathy” exhibited by the youth of that time.  

 

Hmmm.  Ain’t it funny, how everything old is new again?  And again.  From one generation to the next… Go back up to that sentence and replace the word Punks with Rebellious Jazz Era Youth or Rockabilly or Rock & Roll or Rap or Little Monsters…

 

Think about it, what parent of what generation hasn’t been appalled by teen behavior and their blind allegiance to their musical heroes and idols?!  When young people look away from their parents and immediate role models to those of the world, hearts are bound to be broken, maybe a little more so when dear old mum, dad or auntie are replaced by a hip-swiveling or long-haired or crunk cup carrying or meat-suit wearing musician.

 

But — wait for it, wait for it…

 

Eventually, the aging process brings some level of maturity and with it the evolution of self-awareness.  When that happens, we start to look at ourselves differently, not always associating as much with the poster of the pop star or that guy that won that Grammy that one year.  Life lands on our doorstep and we become somebody that people depend on, either at home or at work, and our definition of who, and what, we are slowly forms.  It has been said that “awareness is our first step to our liberation.”  And even as we break away from our younger selves, I firmly believe the music of our youth can stay in our hearts without damaging our soul.

 

While my father might have sported Elvis sideburns back in the day, he didn’t become him, plagued by prescription drugs and demons.  One of my childhood girlfriends worshipped at the cassette tape altar of Madonna in the 1980’s, even wearing some of her accessory items that were considered sacrilegious at the time, yet my friend never lost sight of her own religious convictions as an adult.  Personally, I know almost every word to every lyric ever sung by the Beatles, Rolling Stones and even the Eagles “Hotel California” and I’d like to think it doesn’t make me an evil person (since some believed these artists and their songs to be).

 

Youth has rebelled through music since the dawn of time.  After all, somebody had to change up the fireside drums and chanting to get us where we are today.  Honestly, people.  Take a breath.  Remember who you used to be.  Don’t make me dig your concert t-shirts or ticket stubs out of that box in the garage/attic/storage unit.  Leave them alone and they’ll come home, probably wagging their cowbells behind them.

 

“I think music in itself is healing.  It’s an explosive expression of humanity.  It’s something we are all touched by.  No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music.” – Billy Joel

“Classical music is the kind we keep thinking will turn into a tune.”  — Kin Hubbard

 “I went through a period of great rebellion within my family…I was mad, I had no focus, had no real interest in anything, and so I started to do things that were just rebellious and stupid.”  — Kevin Spacey