Generation gap or generation gorge?
Thursday, February 16, 2006 at 05:17PM It was when my generation, the boomers, began flexing our public voice and political power that the term "generation gap" came into popular use. Our hair styles, political values and even life-views seemed wildly different from those of our parents who had been children during the Great Depression. My shameful insistence on wearing bell-bottom jeans and allowing my hair to touch the collar of my shirt was a bone of contention between my parents and me. Dad was more of an unmerciful teaser about such matters than autocrat, and I remember getting my haircut for my 1970 high school graduation when eventually my mother cried out of frustration over the matter. Coolness was not worth making one's mom weep.
Strangely though, I believe the gap (or gorge) between my son and me is greater than it was between my my father and me, though perhaps less obvious. Look up Net Generation in the dictionary (oops, make that Wikipedia), and you will find Brady's picture. But he's not made me cry.
Music is one thing which divides us, as it has recent generations. But our difference in music go well beyond simple taste.
While the electric guitars, rock and roll, and drug-referenced lyrics I loved were all off-putting to my dad, we both listened to music in the same way - on LPs (or 45s) or on the AM radio station. There was no disagreement that one purchased music. That one listened to music as it was played by the artist. That one felt blessed when just the right song was played at just the right time when "parking" on a lonely road late at night with one's girl friend. Yes, 'Hey, Jude" or "Close to You" could get you to first base. Our musical experiences, Dad's and mine, in the end, were not vastly different.
My
son caught the tail end of CD purchasing. But since he was 16, he's had
an iPod and only purchased songs online. Music is not a physical object
(my vinyl disk) to him, but a file, endlessly duplicable and
transferable. The right song at the right time is his now up to him,
not the DJ's. It's the right "mix" that gets the girl in a romantic
mood today, I'm guessing. Or he'll go one step beyond making a mix,
remixing song parts or combining them with visual images or
text or programming. Music is not an object, but a substance from
which objects are made.
We have different views of music ownership as well. I did not buy "the rights to use an audio recording." Hell, I bought a record - a thing. If I stole it from the store, it was stolen. I had it; the store did not. Intellectual property did not factor in. For my son, music is not something one can hold in one's hand. That can get scratched or melt if left in the back window of the car. The expression "sounds like broken record" doesn't, well, track. The property aspect of music for Brady seems to be more fluid, less bound by strict rules of ownership. He understands and respects the need for an artist to be compensated for his work. But he's looser about things than I ever would be.
Finally, music seems a more private than public entertainment to him than me. While I listen via air molecules stirred up by speakers, Brady is usually attached to his music through ear buds. I have to think about the tastes and needs of others who may be sharing my audio space; Brady doesn't.
I believe Brady and I see other things quite
differently as well - books, movies, work, school, and friendships to
name a few. His attitude shaped so much by personal communication
technologies. I love the child dearly. I respect him. I believe he is a
good person. But he is strange to me.
I'm not sure what the impact of all of this is. Different generations have different values and the world seems to keep on turning. I am just not sure generational differences have ever been so subtle...or so deep.
Of course the gorge between Brady and any sons he may one day have has every chance of being even greater.
Reader Comments (2)
But, since said husband is a teacher, coach and has been in the same rock band for 35+ years, his band's almost-finished CD will be available from iTunes, too. No one can be involved in making music today and still produce it in the same formats as Double Axel did when they started in 1969.
Our sons have been somewhat "warped" by growing up as roadies for a band that plays classic rock. Their playlists are very wide (much wider than ours) and two of them campaigned to have their father's/stepfather's band play their proms. Everybody can dance to DA music even though the young'uns wouldn't necessarily "buy the rights" to it for themselves.
BTW, your next present to Brady should be the earbud headphones that block out outside noise so that he doesn't have to play the music as loudly as he probably does now. MUCH easier on his long-term hearing and well worth the $80 investment since he IS going to listen and block out the outside anyway. Just not while driving, I hope. You're right, music IS a private experience for the generation our kids are in.
There's a generation gap but the fun is that some music can be shared. My son's and my favorite song that we always dance to is "Your Mama don't Dance and your Daddy don't Rock and Roll!"
Such fun! Sara
As a whole, my generation is going in two very seperate directions. There are those of us who embrace everything about prior generations and others of us that couldn't care less what was hip last month... let alone what our parents enjoyed when they were our age. I am studying why this is happening because this didn't seem to happen as much. As my dad eloquently said, "Everybody from the 60's [youth] seemed to like stuff from the 60's"...
I am in a sociology class and I am studying this whole sort of thing. I am fascinated about music and social science and really I wanted permission to quote you for my research.
Thank you...
Michelle