Music of our Generation

Sometimes I wished I lived in another generation or time. The Internet was one of the greatest inventions of our generation, but I can’t help but feel it’s created some kind of disconnect between human beings. Gone are the days where you have to walk over to somebody’s place to see or communicate with them.

Music in general has long been deteriorating over the course of time. If you look at the Top 40 music of today, it’s not only depressing, but a sad symbol of what our culture has become. Sure, a majority of music remains about love, breaking up, or growing older. Still, the lyrics are not nearly as “profound” or deep as they were in the past. When I had to do a presentation for my literature class, we decided to present song lyrics to the class. There is a startling contrast between the music of the past and the music of today, as we struggled in finding a song of the “current generation” that would so profoundly symbolize entire cultural shifts of our generation. Instead we’re drowned out by Adele, Katy Perry, Drake, “Rack Cities”, “Cakes”, and the generic Hip Hop/Rap music that contains no other meaning other than to : Party, play, drink alcohol, do drugs, and get laid. In the end, I look to the past (way before I was born) to see the light of a generation – the music that inspired people (resonating with the cultural changes of the past). Bob Dylan, Don McLeon, Jimi Hendrix, Simon and Garfunkal all had stories to tell – their lyrics presented the world with them and paralleled the historical and cultural shifts of the time. It still remains to be seen whether the music of our day can be as good as it once was.

Just listening to the songs below can show you how music has depressingly deteriorated over the course of history, with mainstream artists now manufacturing the same sugar-coated music to sell millions to consumers who will buy them.