9.22.2008

Is That A Twisted Sister Pin On Your Uniform...

I never thought this day would come... the day I am no longer cool.

When I was a kid I remember my mother never being able to listen to anything she wanted on the car radio because her choice of music was so uncool. There was no way I was going to sit in the car, in all of my coolness and listen to her old-people uncool tunes. Therefore my mother was never allowed to even touch the radio dials. I was in complete control of the station choices and I believed I was doing her a favor by making her listen to my cool music and not her old stinky music. I was educating my mother in cooldom.

I had carried this need for control over the radio dials throughout my life and I have always thought that my choice of music was far superior than anything a mere passenger in my vehicle wanted to listen to.

That is until recently...

For years my kids have happily sung along to my music. I was proud of the fact that they could name singers like Freddy Mercury, or Paul McCartney just by listening to the first note. I thought I was teaching them to have an eclectic sense of music. One that is neither dictated by teeny boppers or MTV.

Well... my 13 year old daughter thinks my idea of music is prehistoric and totally, like completely uncool right?

As of a few days ago, I am no longer allowed to touch the dials on the car radio. If I dare to put my old people music on her ears may just start to bleed and she will keel over from embarrassment for my lack of music coolness right there on the spot.

So now instead of Journey I have to listen to Will I am (that is William for those of you who think his name is stupid like me), and other people who pretend to sing but have not an ounce of talent in their little voice boxes and in 2 years from now no one will remember who they are or what they were singing.

Music today just does not have the staying power that my cool music does.

I fully admit that I like Rihanna and I know who Leona Lewis is... but this past weekend we went to a festival that was 45 minutes away. We stayed at the festival for a little bit and then headed home for the 45 minute drive again. In that time, we heard the same 10 songs played over and over and over again on the radio... on the same station of the radio.

What in the world has happened to music and why do my children think that Metro Station is cool and Duran Duran is not? They look a lot a like to me... and you can still hear a Duran Duran song on the radio. I seriously doubt we will hear Metro Station ever again after today's youth have been so saturated with "Shake Shake Shake."

This all feels like a bad Twisted Sister video to me. Only instead of being the cool rebel in the video, I have somehow morphed into the parent screaming at the cool kid "WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE?"

14 comments:

~ Straight Shooter ~ said...

Oh...Sister. I feel your PAIN! I became uncool out of the blue this year too!

Tom in Vegas said...

When I was a kid, I was mesmerized by just how ugly the Twisted Sister band members were.

As far as your choice of music being uncool goes, well, just remember the old paradigm: we turn into our parents. That's a fact of life for you, and an ominous warning for our kids:0)

Anonymous said...

Come pick me up and we'll ride around listening to uncool music together. I feel just like my mother must have - I can't even understand most of their music. Mine is so much better.

Anonymous said...

It has a nice beat and it's easy to dance to...I give it a 10, Mr. Clark. What, American Bandstand isn't on anymore?! Wow, I've been uncool for a long, long time.
Hee hee!
Love,
Aunt Barbara

Anonymous said...

It has a nice beat and it's easy to dance to...I give it a 10, Mr. Clark. What, American Bandstand isn't on anymore?! Wow, I've been uncool for a long, long time.
Hee hee!
Love,
Aunt Barbara

Kasia said...

Cris, you are a MUCH nicer mom than I would be. I would be telling her that when she is making the car payments, she can have radio privileges. Most I would do up until that point is give everyone in the car a turn to pick a CD. Starting with the driver/owner.

Because, you know, I don't actually HAVE kids yet, so I can talk a LOT about what I would and wouldn't put up with from them... ;-)

Robert M. Lindsey said...

here's the lyrics to a song called 1985. http://www.lyricist.com/various_artists_lyrics/1985_-_bowling_for_soup_lyrics.html

Springsteen,Madonna,
Way before Nirvana
There was U2, and Blondie
Music still on MTV
Her two kids in high school
They tell her that she’s un-cool
Cause she’s still preoccupied
With 19,19,1985

She hates time
Make it stop
When did Motley Crew
Become classic rock
And when did Ozzy
Become an actor
Please make this
Stop, stop, stop

Kathleen said...

I am uncool and when they tell me so, I sing louder!

The issue in our house was 4 kids with different music tastes...mp3 players saved us from chaos! Occasionally I will let one of them plug in and share with all of us. Rarely.

Anonymous said...

I'm still cool with my daughter. :)
Love you
Claire

CJ Sweet said...

I once referenced Van Halen to my 18 year old nephew and his friends from his garage band. The look on their faces made me realize, for the first time, that I am not even remotely cool anymore. Luckily, my kids are still little and have no idea what kind of music they like yet.

momto5minnies said...

I grew up listening to the oldies. My mom NEVER let me control the radio. I am a little nicer but I also would like to think that I am just a little bit more current than my mom ever was. We are big into music so we all listen to all of our likes (and dislikes). My 10 year old will go from The Fray to a Steve Perry (Journey) song. I love that!

Anonymous said...

Oh thank goodness my daughter loves my music!! She listens to all the 80's rock just like I do and loves it!! I don't know what I'd ever do if she started listening to this crap they have today. She's been listening to this since she was in my belly. It's how I got her to sleep. She still has it on the radio at night!! LOL

Please don't ever let that change!! LOL

Stupid Fat Hobbit said...

Okay, I found the fix for this and it is so cool! About 3 weeks ago, I had the same epiphany that you had; except I had it with the whole carpool. My kids had to prove how cool they were by making fun of their dad who HATES all of their music.

Soooo, these past two weeks I've been listening to everything they listen to. I have some of it on my iPod, I keep the radio turned to their stations, everything. Yesterday, as I picked up 3 Football players, 1 Field Hockey player, and a Soccer player (my child), I jammed the radio up and started singing at the top of my lungs ALL OF THE SONGS ON THE RADIO. Now, I'm the cool dad in the carpool and my kids are right back where they belong; TOTALLY EMBARRASSED BY THEIR DAD!!! I so totally rock!!!

Anonymous said...

For now I will enjoy the fact that my kids listen to Rush, and Metallica, and The Clash. We have loads of fun singing and playing together on Rock Band. Hopefully, those days won't end too soon!