A few weeks ago, I heard a song that I loved by this Canadian singer Feist, so I went to my B&N and bought the CD (a bargain at $10). I was happily listening to the CD over and over when my sister declared to me that it as "a little smooth jazzy." What?! I responded that the beauty of the album was that it was eclectic. A remake of a Bee Gee's tune ("Inside and Out"), a heartwrenching balad, a sweet French tune, a quirky pop song, and on and on. And this woman has an amazing voice. The more I listened to the cd, though, I had to admit that there is a recurrent smooth jazz vibe. Ugh--I hate smooth jazz. I really hate it. But I love this cd. And this has me worried that perhaps my music tastes are deflating, that it's just a matter of time before I have the Breeze programmed on my car radio. But I have justified myself with an internal dialogue about how Feist is beyond genre and that because she has collaborated on a variety of eclectic projects (from folk to rap) that there is a certain amount of irony in her remake of the Bee Gees and her disco-dripping "Leisure Suite." And if there's irony, it's all ok.
For some reason lately, I'm hyper-aware of the fact that I'm aging. I know I'm not old--just aging. My sister (again) was telling me that she was taking some girls from her church to a local rest home to play bingo and sing the residents songs. Even though I know the possibility is decades away, I had this sudden, frightening image of me as an octogenarian having to play bingo and listen to well-meaning teenage girls sing. And even worse--the idea that, in spite of myself, I might enjoy it.
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8 comments:
I already started with poor muscial tastes, so there is nowhere to go but up.
I say the only way to ward off fears is to embrace them. Afraid you'll like something as uncool as smooth jazz? Embrace the smooth jazz underbelly of this Feist. Screw irony. Life's too short.
I think it's not that we're getting older (though we are, of course, all of us, at an alarming rate, me faster than others)but that what used to be cool and hip (Violent Femmes, Madonna, Adam Ant)is now considered "Classic Rock" or "Smooth" or "whatever." I heard "Vogue" by Madonna on whatever radio station they were playing at the LAC today. I felt old, and yet, somehow, hip.
yeah, for me, it's really about getting old, not about maintaining the illusion of cool. I'm not worried about liking the smooth jazz elements of Feist because I think smooth jazz is uncool (although it is) but because I've never liked such music before. No, it's about the idea that my music tastes may be changing--and if they are changing I must be getting older.
This is the trouble with my blog title--I've created this persona who's perpetually concerned about hip.
When you catch yourself watching Lawrence Welk and enjoying it not for its very horribleness then you know you are old.
Son and I just watched a snazzy Lawrence Welk number last weekend. Son enjoys the cheesy tap routines on Lawrence Welk.
Mid-B, I'm going to call DCFS on you for child-endagerment. I say that having been forced to watch LW by my baby-sitting aunt on a TV with the tint adjusted entirely too green. I stillr resent her.
Lighthouse 20! I remember it. I commented upon it where you mentioned it.
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