It's not entirely true - one glance at my ipod "most listened" list would demonstrate that. I have come to enjoy the Fratellis, The White Stripes, Beth Orton, Joss Stone, Kanye West, and plenty of others in the many, many years since I graduated. I know I'm not musically frozen in ice.
But still, some of those early loves never leave you, y'know? I can find as many new artists and songs as I want but they will never eclipse certain songs.
So here's the thing: I love, love, love "Panama" by Van Halen. I do. If I could marry a song (and Suzanne didn't mind musical bigamy), I would totally marry "Panama."
I know what you're thinking. If you're my mother, you're thinking, "What song?" If you're my brother Jason, you're thinking, "Righteous, dude." If you're one of my grad school buddies, you're thinking, "Poor, poor Mark. I wonder if he keeps a mullet wig in his closet." If you're Suzanne, you're thinking, "Musical bigamy? Beg your pardon?"
But yeah, when that thunderous guitar intro comes along with the sharp, pounding drum beat courtesy of Eddie and Alex, the Van Halen brothers, I am transported. I realize David Lee Roth is a tool and I know the band hasn't done anything good in decades. But "Panama," yeah. It rocks.
So if you pull up alongside me at an intersection and I have my ipod headphones in and tapping my feet, pumping my fist, and I've got the white-man-overbite going, you can bet I'm probably listening to "Panama."
Beware when I am in this mode:
Stay clear or some of the 1984 awesome rockitude may rub off.
6 comments:
I will join you in your 80's Geekfest....I love the music and can even appreciate a little Van Halen. (Thank my older brothers) Never mind I was a wee babe in the 80's :)
If I may offer my own spin on your friend's theory...
It may not be in high school, but most people's taste in music, clothes, etc., freezes at some point in their lives, but not all categories are frozen at the same time.
My boss is 40. His goatee looks like Pee Wee Herman's when he got arrested in 1991. Jon Bon Jovi rules his life; he's been to see the feathery-haired, uh, rocker, nine times. Oddly enough, his clothing is quite contemprary and I am often jealous of his new, hip shoes.
So, tastes can indeed freeze, but not necessarily at the same time.
AND...(if you'll forgive this lengthy comment) one person who I knew (and hated) theorized that when you become an aging adult, you'll always go back to your junior-high years for music that makes you happy as these were the last uncomplicated years of life pre-job, pre-responsibilies.
blah blah blah.
I'm shutting up now.
What song?
All I know of 80's music is that I kept asking to have it "turned down", and that I then understood my Mother's aversion to Elvis !
What I am chuckling about is Maryn's comment ... Born Again Veggies ! What a thought !
Especially if that musical bigomy involves Panama by Van Halen. I'm sorry, I just can't accept that as my sister-wife. Try again.
I have believed for some years that the single greatest song produced in the 1980s is Modern English's "Melt With You." Your mullet wig is no more embarrassing than my New Romantic puffy shirt and big hair wig.
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