It’s a sad thing when we, as baby boomers,
begin to feel like “old fogies” when it comes to music and the “hip” things
going on in popular culture. It’s also
easy to forget that the rock music and many other genres of modern music got
their launch way back during the days when baby boomers were the young people
changing society and it was our music that changed the world.
So it’s good for baby boomers to remember
such things about their heritage and what they passed on to the music and
entertainment culture today. In the song
“Rock and Roll Never Forgets” by Bob Seger, the singer reviews the changes baby
boomers have gone through as they go from youth to middle age and deal with
pressures of work, family, child rearing and changes in health due to
aging. But the end result remains the
same that at the heart of every baby boomer is a rock and roller who is just as
capable as ever of enjoying the music that was the foundation of their culture.
One of the things that disheartened the
baby boomer generation growing up was seeing the rock and roll life style take
its toll on many of the icons of youth culture and music including Jimi
Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Freddie Mercury.
But the unfortunate demise of these music heroes does not diminish the
great contribution to music and to culture down through the years. So as much as we grieve the loss of great
talent, we can always celebrate what they gave to us and continue to give to us
down to modern times as music continues to reference those great figures of 60s
music as icons and inspirations.
But for every rock and roller who did not
survive that turbulent time in our culture, we can look to great performers who
did survive, overcame their addictions and went on to continue to give great
music to the world decade after decade.
Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones and David Bowie are examples of wonderful
and talented music heroes that demonstrated that age and a few wrinkles don’t
mean a thing. They continue to rock and
roll today as hard and with as much heart as they did when they were in their
twenties.
In a way “to rock and roll” is a metaphor
for living life to its fullest and for staying true to your values and living
life in a genuine way that never gives up on what’s important in life. That is why baby boomers have always had the
greatest contempt for anyone who sells out or abandons their core principles
that they espoused in youth. To sell out
is to say that none of the great history of the youth revolution meant anything
and we are willing to turn out backs on it.
But to “rock and roll” means always going back to your roots and never
giving up, even when age, and busy lives and poor health say that you should
slow down and not try to live with as much earnestness as you did when you were
young.
Baby boomers, even at this dignified and
“mature” stage in life, should feel liberated to be able to go ahead and “rock
and roll” in a real sense of the word.
The Bob Seger song was a hit because it gives us permission to reconnect
with our roots and express that youthful enthusiasm again. You don’t have to go to a nostalgia show to
do that either. There are dozens of
great rock and roll acts that are giving to the children of baby boomers (and
their grandchildren) that same excitement we got from The Beatles and The
Stones.
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