ok, I will fess up immediately that I’m slow. I have no excuse except a lack of imagination.
Growing up in Maine, there were record stores, and plenty of radio stations, and yet I feel like I missed something. I missed a LOT of somethings.
What I did love, besides musicals and old timey stuff, was classic rock. The Who, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, CCR, Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, The Doors- but I was only catching the biggies-the stuff you’d hear on the radio. I felt that knowing Aerosmiths’ earlier tunes made me some sort of smart music lover. sigh
I branched off occasionally-I once liked a skater who was into the Sex Pistols, which quite frankly, scared the crap out of me then. I knew that protest songs had been sung before-in far prettier ways, and with much nicer guitar playing, so why yell?
And so it was, in my sheltered, frequently PG rated childhood, that I missed out on thepolitics, the passion, and the point! of tons of other types of music. I thought angry music was for hateful people.
Yet even though I was sheltered from angry music, I wasn’t sheltered from life. I had shit happen to me; nasty things, embarrassing things, anger inducing things, and figured I was the only one to feel so out of control of her emotions. Really! I thought that.
I now wish, as I often do, that I could go back in time. I would get my hands on more punk music, and read about the issues that made them want to yell. I would pick up a guitar and learn to write my own damn songs instead of singing everyone else’s. I would buyRunaways albums, and learn how women can not only own their sexuality, (which young girls are not told enough, and which will have to be another posting, I think), but also sometimes get mad. The one thing I never did as a teenage girl, was allow anyone to see me get really mad. I didn’t know it was ok, and I had no outlet for my angst. And honestly? I coulda used one. Instead of making myself throw up when I was mad (ew), why did it not occur to me to get an electric guitar and wail on it?! WHY?!?
I learned to be productively angry eventually, but it took longer than it should have.
So finally after many moons of introspection, here’s what I learned: Henry Rollins is really cool. Marylin Manson is not that scary, and has some good songs. System of a Down,Fugazi, Dead Kennedys, Dinosaur Jr-all had something to say, and said it! Some of the players, like Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine, even started organizations to inspire political involvement. Damn I wish I’d known that before!
So I’m rediscovering the music of my youth (or before my youth into my 20’s), and healing old wounds and misconceptions in the process.
I’m inspired. A lot of these people are still out there doing what they love, and reaching people.
So, really, all my rambling is to say: it’s never too late to learn, or listen to styles of music you used to claim to “hate”. Especially true if you’re into writing or playing music yourself. You might find new appreciation for it. It can only expand your musical palate, and who doesn’t need that?
I’m learning history lessons from lyric sheets, and have just scratched the surface.
Growing up in Maine, there were record stores, and plenty of radio stations, and yet I feel like I missed something. I missed a LOT of somethings.
What I did love, besides musicals and old timey stuff, was classic rock. The Who, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, CCR, Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, The Doors- but I was only catching the biggies-the stuff you’d hear on the radio. I felt that knowing Aerosmiths’ earlier tunes made me some sort of smart music lover. sigh
I branched off occasionally-I once liked a skater who was into the Sex Pistols, which quite frankly, scared the crap out of me then. I knew that protest songs had been sung before-in far prettier ways, and with much nicer guitar playing, so why yell?
And so it was, in my sheltered, frequently PG rated childhood, that I missed out on thepolitics, the passion, and the point! of tons of other types of music. I thought angry music was for hateful people.
Yet even though I was sheltered from angry music, I wasn’t sheltered from life. I had shit happen to me; nasty things, embarrassing things, anger inducing things, and figured I was the only one to feel so out of control of her emotions. Really! I thought that.
I now wish, as I often do, that I could go back in time. I would get my hands on more punk music, and read about the issues that made them want to yell. I would pick up a guitar and learn to write my own damn songs instead of singing everyone else’s. I would buyRunaways albums, and learn how women can not only own their sexuality, (which young girls are not told enough, and which will have to be another posting, I think), but also sometimes get mad. The one thing I never did as a teenage girl, was allow anyone to see me get really mad. I didn’t know it was ok, and I had no outlet for my angst. And honestly? I coulda used one. Instead of making myself throw up when I was mad (ew), why did it not occur to me to get an electric guitar and wail on it?! WHY?!?
I learned to be productively angry eventually, but it took longer than it should have.
So finally after many moons of introspection, here’s what I learned: Henry Rollins is really cool. Marylin Manson is not that scary, and has some good songs. System of a Down,Fugazi, Dead Kennedys, Dinosaur Jr-all had something to say, and said it! Some of the players, like Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine, even started organizations to inspire political involvement. Damn I wish I’d known that before!
So I’m rediscovering the music of my youth (or before my youth into my 20’s), and healing old wounds and misconceptions in the process.
I’m inspired. A lot of these people are still out there doing what they love, and reaching people.
So, really, all my rambling is to say: it’s never too late to learn, or listen to styles of music you used to claim to “hate”. Especially true if you’re into writing or playing music yourself. You might find new appreciation for it. It can only expand your musical palate, and who doesn’t need that?
I’m learning history lessons from lyric sheets, and have just scratched the surface.
Am I gonna scream when I sing now? No, but I can appreciate it now-and will try to be as fired up as they were, when I do my thing my way. It’s about being purposeful. Even if you sound more like Joan Baez.
Next up for me? Country.
we’ll see.
we’ll see.
-Lea
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