Friday, July 3, 2009

Sharing Music with Dad

It's Fatherhood Friday again so stop by Dad Blogs and check out all the great posts before you head off for the holiday weekend. Happy Independence Day to everyone!

Fatherhood Friday at Dad Blogs


I have never been a music crazy kind of guy. I don't even own an iPod. I like to listen to music in the car. I love hearing some good tunes when I'm having a beer with my buddies. Music certainly is a part of my life even if I have never been a music freak.

Growing up I listened to country music with my Dad on the way to the farm. I still love the old country crooners like Merle, Waylon, Willie, and Johnny Cash. Dad also listened to the oldies station which was not my favorite. Some day Braden and I will have to share the airwaves. I wonder what we will listen to while going places in the car. Of course with satellite radio and TVs in many vehicles the experience won't be the same. I will probably be forced to adapt to Disney tunes.

Until that day comes my music enjoyment will involve listening to classic rock on the FM radio in my truck. I don't have satellite radio so I am still doing the FM thing. Recently I was thinking about the definitions of classic rock and oldies. When do my favorite classic rock tunes become oldies? Is there some sort of constitution on music classification? Is there an instruction manual? Do songs just become oldies after a set amount of years like cars becoming antiques?

When Braden gets older will the things I like to listen to be on the oldies station? One day will I turn to easy listening and find Jimmy Page rocking the guitar solo in Heartbreaker? Will Eddie Vedder become an oldie in a few decades? Maybe one day Braden will beg me to change the station from the Doors or Guns n' Roses after referring to it as oldies garbage.

I once went digging through my Dad's records as a teenager. I found Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix albums among others. This was probably the first time I ever realized that my parents might have been cool once. I still listen to those groups on classic rock stations today. I don't think they will ever become oldies. It seems like "pop" music goes the way of oldies channels. As ACDC once sang, "Rock and Roll will never die." I hope they are right. I hope some day Braden will enjoy the classics like Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix just like my dad and myself.

I am aware that through his teenage years he will like whatever is popular at the time. He might even like pop music or rap. I haven't admitted this in a while, but I used to love rap music when I was in high school. So I certainly won't judge. Whatever music he likes is fine with me.

I do think it would be cool, however, if one day he found an old Pearl Jam CD of mine and decided to listen. Then upon hearing the band he would me amazed. He would come to me saying, "Dad, who is this Pearl Jam? They are awesome! Do you have any of their other CD's?" He might even come to the same realization I did years ago that his Dad could have possibly been cool once. That could lead to us talking about all my old favorites.

Good music is timeless. Classics never die, and being able to share them with Braden would be just another great connection between father and son. And to borrow from Bruce Springsteen, it would give me another chance to remember the "Glory Days."

7 comments:

PJ Mullen said...

I always wondered the same thing about musical classification. When does the alternative music I listened to in high school become classic rock. Is it even classic rock? Maybe a new genre called classical alternative rock will be formed. I don't know, makes my head hurt. I do know that when I hear songs I used to love in high school that my parents hated on classic rock stations now it makes me feel old. Have a great 4th!

BellaDaddy said...

HA! I remember when, as a child, Mom would ask me to "turn over the record"...and I would "accidently" scratch it with the needle, so I didn't have to listen to it anymore (Hank Williams)...LOL

Happy 4th!

Mike said...

When I was in high school, U2 came out, and I hated them, actually I still don't listen to them, but they have been around for 30 years! Where does time go? Led Zep has graduated from classic rock to oldies!

SurprisedMom said...

I hope you and Braden do get to share some musical tastes. Music is a great connection.
Alas, the girls and I do not. I love country, but they consider it torture to listen to. I love both oldies and classic rock. Ditto with the torture. I can listen to some of their stuff, but would rather not. I only get to listen to what I want to listen to when I drive . . . alone. I don't get to share the "Glory Days."
I'm sure Braden will look at you, no matter what his musical tastes, and think you are a cool dad.

Mike said...

My daughters and I share a common love for the same music. Somehow the classics just seem to continue on and I even enjoy a little of theirs sometimes...

seashore subjects said...

I am not sure how it happened, but my kids like most of the music we listen to. Maybe it's because we started them young!

I don't know when things become classic or oldies, but when they start using my songs in commercials - it makes me feel like an oldie!

WeaselMomma said...

Oh my. I feel like such an idiot. I can offer the excuse that my brain has not been firing on all cylinders this past week, so I'm kind of covered.
Anyway, I just noticed that wonderfully sweet and beautiful badge in your sidebar. I am touched, beyond words. Today just happens to the day we held her wake (7 years ago). We didn't plan it that way. All we knew is that it was Wednesday and didn't realize it was the 4th until driving home that night and seeing fireworks going off. FYI, we still don't enjoy fireworks anymore.
May I have a copy of it?