What In the Fuck????

So I'm a bit of a music snob and I truly believe in the power of music.  I believe that music should reflect the realities of the time that it was released.  It can be a capsule of viewing into the past or better yet, the mood and the timbre of current events from certain segments of society.

It should be rebellious.  Your parents are supposed to turn up their noses at your music and ask what the hell is wrong with you kids today.  It should be about YOUR era and YOUR experiences, not that of your parents.  Don't get me wrong; I can understand an appreciation of older music.  But part of being young is being in the now; old people live in the past.  I'm old and try my best to live in the now.

That being sad, I don't understand this obsession with classic rock in the Midwest, in particular Ohio.  It seems as if the only decade that music was created was the late 60's to the mid 70's.  Radio stations in Cincinnati in particular have a set list that includes the Foo Fighters, Bob Seger, Steve Miller, Nirvana and a few odd songs at least 15 years old. 

Right now, I'm living in Army barracks with guys that will deploy to Iraq with me.  One of my roommates is playing Pink Floyd .... Pink Fucking Floyd.  Not he's not stoned although he was a stoner previous to the Army.  Guess how old he is?  35? Wrong.  40?  Wrong as hell.  45? Wrong again.  Try 22.  Yeah ... 22 fucking years old and he's playing Pink Floyd.  He was like 6 year old when these old fuckers released their last "album".  But he plays it like no other music exists.

It might not be so bad if the music collection of these guys varied but it's as if they only recently discovered grunge. No need to daydream about the first time I heard the Offspring or Stone Temple Pilots.  I'll hear that in about 20 minutes .... oh, I'm sorry, every 20 minutes between 8 minute drones by Pink Floyd punctuated with organ solos .... yeah organ solos.  

I can't imagine going to high school in the Midwest.  Parties must have sucked: "Hey, let's play some Steve Miller or Bob Seger.  That'll make playing quarters really fucking awesome."  To quote a character from my wife's favorite reality series: "How dreadful."  I guess if their parents came in, they'd love the music and probably join right in singing a Creedence Clearwater Revival tune.  You won't hear B.O.B. or T.I. or the Kings of Leon one of these parties ... unless it's being thrown by someone who grew up outside the Midwest.

Maybe these people are trying to live the only decade in which the Midwest had any sort of cache.  In the '70s, you had WKRP in Cincinnati, classic rock and American muscle cars.  But those days are over.  Howard Hessman is no longer Johnny Fever, the members of Pink Floyd ended up fighting one another in court and the American muscle car is now seen as a gas guzzler.  Next year will be 2011, not 1977.

My wife is amazed how kids in her classes (she's a middle school teacher) will know all the words to "Freebird" or "The Joker".  The only version of "The Joker" I'm interested in is Homer Simpson's.   I'm not cut out for the Midwest ... I'm so not.