GATHER YOUR TORCHES W R I T T E N
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An alarming percentage of parents aren’t doing their job. That’s right. I said it. Fans of Kanye West that thought Paul McCartney was a brand new artist prove my point. Sure, those kids are asleep at the wheel but their numbskull parents should certainly share the blame. While educating your children on basic music history, there are dozens of bands you could reasonably forget to mention. NEWSFLASH: The Beatles are not a band you could ever skip! Even if you’re not a fan, it’s preposterous to leave them out. That’s like covering the magic of baseball and not talking about the Yankees. Hi. This is Planet Earth and that is never, ever allowed. Get with the program. Some people thought the posts online were hilarious. Twitter blew up. The topic was #trending and then I realized it wasn’t a social networking hoax. Suddenly, I was mortified. With instant access to so much information through hyperlinks and hashtags I couldn’t figure out how so many music fans missed the boat. Wait…so, you’re telling me the singer for the Foo Fighters was the drummer for Nirvana, Sting was IN the Police and Ozzy Osbourne was the singer for Black Sabbath? No way! Uhm…yes way. Thinking about the glaring missteps first by the parents, and then by their kids I shuddered to think what else they inexplicably left out. Somewhere there’s a teenager discovering the color blue for the first time. Yikes! Anyway, whether the parents screwed up or their kids didn’t follow through, the end result is the same. That’s what seems horrific to me. At some point our youth – the future of this planet – will completely miss out on the truly quintessential stuff…music in particular! Of course iPads and a strong Wi-Fi signal are magical things but spending all your time watching Grumpy Cat videos or Snapchatting (shit… is that now an actual verb?) will nearly force you to MISS OUT on some really important stuff. The impact of that, at least musically, would seem to grow exponentially from generation to generation. Imagine if musical knowledge of the Beatles was gone. What would we be left with?
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work. Afternoons regularly felt like hunting for treasure as I carefully looked through all their albums. I sat there, fascinated and sometimes frightened by album covers that sparked the need to HEAR what they sounded like. [insert dated reference here] Discovering the Eagles, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Styx, Billy Joel, Elton John, Doobie Brothers, ELO and on and on was something that literally shaped who I am today as a music lover…as a musician. The flame of curiosity had been lit partially because of the fact that my folks almost always had music playing in our house and partially because I relentlessly tested the limits of my dad’s huge stereo speakers without his knowledge. As you might imagine, he eventually found out, but it was because I had questions about the bands I was listening to. Both of my parents played along, answering all my questions realizing I had been putting in some overtime. They never really busted me, but I never actually came out and said I was jamming tunes to the point where the speakers distorted a bit. Eventually they loosened up those rules because I was a pretty responsible kid and because it was pretty clear to them that my thirst for musical exploration wouldn’t be quenched anytime soon. Did my parents do the right thing? Maybe, but that’s not why I shared my personal anecdote as the example. The reason is because I wanted to illustrate a glorious experience that I believe is slowly evaporating. Let that sink in for a few seconds. If discovery and exploration are fading I am afraid for future generations. That’s disturbing and disappointing to me. What if the Kanye/McCartney collaboration ends-up being the tipping point for a gigantic surge in album sales for the Beatles? Is that the new version of the childhood discovery experience I cherish so much? Are your children really supposed to learn about the Beatles from the dude famous for cancelling shows and being married to Kim Kardashian? Does anyone else need an airsick bag?
“I don’t know who Paul Mccartney is, but Kanye is going to give this man a career w/ this new song!!” ~ @OVOJosh “Who is this Paul McCartney???!??? He Boutta blow up thanks to Kanye!!! - @PercyBlackson
“Who tf is paul mccartney???!??! this is why i love kanye for shining light on unknown artists” - @CurvedDaily
As parents, teachers, friends, aunts, uncles or whatever it is our responsibility to inform the youngsters around us. Beyond that, we can only hope their curiosity persists into their future long enough to unlock new information and experiences along the way. Losing touch with the ancient tradition of ‘passing the torch’ is a critical error. How do you expect anything to survive from one generation to the next? When I was a kid I wasn’t allowed to touch my dad’s record player. Good thing I got home from school a few hours before my parents got home from 18 | PASTORALE | FEBRUARY2015
I have a penchant for making it all about music. After all, this is technically a music article. But in this case, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. We all know that curiosity in kids is tough to quell and that an iPad can also be a boundless resource for that – in a good way. Harnessing the power of that as a parent, teacher, friend, aunt, uncle or whatever comes from sharing our experiences and dropping a few breadcrumbs for the kids to follow. When I close my eyes, I see my dad showing me how to throw a football and how to tie a necktie. I also see my mom showing me how to sit at the piano and how to decorate Christmas cookies. I could learn all those things and a zillion other things by watching how-to videos on YouTube. My experience wouldn’t be the same. And that’s not how it’s supposed to be. Gather your torches and pass them along. WWW.PASTORALEMAGAZINE.COM