I Was Born in the Wrong Generation

I’m sure you’ve all heard it before. “I was born in the wrong generation, the music in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s was the best ever, and everything today sucks.” What a tragic misconception about modern music.

Kids suck; their music sucks; EDM sucks; everything sucks. I’m going to listen to Abbey Road on repeat forever until I die. Yeah, obviously The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Hendrix and all of the other legends are all amazing. Here’s the thing: they don’t play the 6ix9ines of the past anymore because their music doesn’t survive the test of time.

This doesn’t mean that all music today is complete shit. You’ll hear people say, “Young kids don’t understand what real music is.” Listen, I get it: there’s some really shitty music out there. There has always been shitty music; people need to get over it; there’s still a ton of spectacular stuff out there just waiting to be heard. Stop being a Negative Nancy.

Go to Music Festivals. Discover New Music.

We live at an amazing time for the discovery of new music. With Spotify, Pandora, Youtube, Apple Music, Songkick and the dozens of other music streaming services, no one should ever complain that there’s nothing good out there. If people say that, tell them they’re not looking hard enough or that they’re just a miserable pile of garbage and should feel bad.

Look at some of the chart-topping bands that have come out in the past 15 years: Florence and the Machine, Mumford and Sons, Kings of Leon, The Killers, Alabama Shakes, The White Stripes, Arcade Fire, The Black Keys, The Strokes, Amy Winehouse, Kendrick Lamar, Run the Jewels, Twenty One Pilots, and Adele. These are just the big-name guys (and girls). The amount of spectacular indie rock bands out there is astonishing. There’s a massive Americana/folk revival happening. Electronic music is changing the way we dance. Hip hop has some of the greatest active artists since the genre emerged. Music is constant. It’s always there, it’s always changing, and there is always something special out there just waiting to be heard.

With the rise of music festivals, smaller bands are being given the opportunity not only to be heard but also to be seen. Music festivals like Bonnaroo, Voodoo Fest, and Lollapalooza allow small bands to play crowds who may have never heard of them prior to their sets. Look at some old music festival lineups: you will be blown away by the names that used to grace the bottom five lines that are now on the top three.

Every generation will have music that will live on forever, the same way every generation will have weird songs that take over the world like “The Macarena” did in the 1990s and “Gangnam Style” did in the 2010s.

What’s amazing about living in 2018 is you choose what music you hear. 40 years ago radio stations were the only way to hear new music besides grabbing a random/suggested album from the record store or going to a local bar.

Don’t just play the same songs on repeat that you’ve heard a million times. Go listen to something new. Go to your local venue; tune into a college radio station; support local music; do something different. There are thousands of new young artists trying to tell their stories. Musicians trying to make you dance. Trying to make you cry. Some may just want you to sing along. Go out there and enjoy it for what it is, and stop getting angry about what it isn’t.