One of the areas in which Boomers like me (Class of '59) have conflict with the younger generation, which by the way, are all a bunch of snot-nosed, know it all punks, is popular music. Otherwise known as "music you hear on the radio and Publix."
Gen X music is okay. Some of it was good and I appreciate them waking me up before I go-go.
My mother had a legendary encounter with Culture Club whose lead singer was a tortured soul named Boy George. Culture Club had a song called "Karma Chameleon." Mom asked me if I liked the song "Come To Me, Leon." She said the lyrics were "Come, Come, Come to me, Leon." No, missed that one, Mom.
Then you have Millennial music. I don't remember a lot about Millennial music because I was turning the station to Classic Rock or Sports Talk.
Hip-hop was really big in Millennial music. At first, Hip-hop was about what clothes you were going to buy with all of the bling (money) you have. Then it morphed into music which made you get naked. One song popular in 2002 was called "Hot In Here" by Nelly. A sample lyric: "It's getting hot in here (so hot) so take off all your clothes.(Ayy)"
You can't argue with those lyrics. It is hot, therefore you should take off all your clothes.
It was around this time Country Music began to change. At one time, Country Music was about the hard living working men and women who discovered, through no fault of their own, heaven was just a sin away.
Now, Country Music is about my town and my town is great and don't you put down my town cause my baby likes my town and my truck and we listen to Hank Williams (there is still a law which states every record made in Nashville has to mention Hank Williams) and Jay-Z.
Of course, Gen Z had to get in the act and making a popular hit song so dirty I can't mention it in a family blog. I'm sure the artist's mother is very proud.
My point is every other generation's music is bad for one simple reason: the music sucks.
But never let it be said that this blogger is afraid to point out the really awful songs of his era: the 70s.
The 70s were a time in which songwriters took on the significant issues of our day, like signs.
There was a song back when I was young called "Signs." The lyrics: "Signs, signs, everywhere signs. So take your clothes off."
No, it didn't say that. But, it was a song protesting signs, man, and they're breaking my mind.
There was another song called "The Bertha Butt Boogie." A sample of the deep lyrics: "Her name was Bertha, Bertha Butt, she was one of the Butt sisters."
I remember being on the precipice of manhood, laughing at the line "she was one of the Butt sisters" because in my neck of the woods "butt" was a minor league cuss word.
Even the Greats slipped up in the 70s.
Paul McCartney wrote in 1965, "Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away." Poetry, sheer poetry.
Ten years later, in 1975 he wrote, "Somebody's knocking at the door, yadda, yadda, do me a favor, open the door and let them in." To be fair, this was written around the time Sir Paul could have recorded a song of burbs and hand farts and it would have sold 14 billion records.
One of the all-time weird 70s songs was "Muskrat Love" by the Captain and Tennille.
The Captain And Tennille was a husband and wife singing duo. The Captain (the husband) was called "The Captain" because he wore a captain's hat. I don't think I ever heard his voice. He mainly just sat there and played the piano for Tennille (the wife) who while pretty, had a ginormous mouth with as many teeth as the Trivago guy.
One of their hit songs was called "Muskrat Love". It was about Muskrat Suzie and Muskrat Sam "doin' it". ("Doin' it" was the 70s euphemism for "doing it".)
It was such a hit song, that the Captain And Tennille sang it at White House dinner honoring Queen Elizabeth.
That sums up the 70s. Only in the 70s would you have a popular duo singing about two rodents procreating in an audience which included not only Bertha Butts, one of the Butts sisters the President of the United States who dated Muskrat Suzie while a collegiate athlete at the University of Michigan, but also The Queen of England, who dated Muskrat Sam.
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