I was just a child during the rowdy years when Rock and Roll started taking over the world. Actually, it started a while before I was born. I remember my sisters putting on their Dave Clark Five records and The Beatles when my parents weren't at home. My mother and father had no tolerance for that 'noise,' preferring their Johnny Cash and other country and gospel favorites. My dad had a pretty fancy stereo system for those days.
It was during those years, I first heard the term, generation gap, often referring to the different tastes in music between teenagers and their elders. It was also applied to clothing, attitudes and hair styles. A while ago, I read an interesting article claiming there was no longer a generation gap in music. Parents and their kids listen to the same kind of music.
I've known for years that I liked the same music as the teenagers I teach but this article proposed it wasn't just me, but mostly everyone. Rock and Roll has closed and made obsolete the gap.
Last Monday, Alex Cavanaugh, hosted Favorite Genre Blogfest, where one of the genres was music. Except for a few blogs I visited, most people selected Rock and Roll of some style or decade as their favorite genre. The Rock and Roll generation is now almost all generations.
There were also a lot of bloggers who said YA books were their preferred genre. I know my teenagers read the same 'adult' fantasy books as I did, but I also read some YA my daughter recommends. No generation gap there either?
What do you think? Is generation gap an obsolete term? Do you see it in a certain area but not in others? Are you rock 'n' roll forever?
16 comments:
I don't think the gap is as big as it once was, except maybe for kids who wear their jeans below their butts. What's up with that?
Well, I do know my daughters try to dress me in booty shorts and sheer mid-drift tops. I might as well just wear all the macaroni necklaces they ever made me. I think it would cover more skin.
Hugs and chocolate,
Shelly
I don't think the gap is as large as it once was, though I think great music is liked by any generation. I'll admit I don't like the majority of music in the UK chart these days, so perhaps the lastest generation is the start of my age-gap?
I think all generations are now reading YA books, in particular fantasy and dystopian. They have themes that appeal across all ages.
There were a lot of people who selected rock. I think of the gap more in terms of how the next generation views the world.
Hmm. Not sure. I keep hearing "generation gap" all the time, but then they might talking about events and trends over time. Some books will always stay trendy. :)
Many of my students cite their parents as their heros. I think that's an indication of how far we have come!
i think the classic rock and roll will never be out of style :)
I have to mention that my definition of Rock and Roll varies greatly from the stuff my grandkids call by the same name.
But I think communication across the generations is better now than it was a couple generations ago so maybe that's a closing of the gap.
I don't think the gap is as large as it once was, but being a baby boomer and having a young child is difficult at times. She tells me she wants a laptop when I'm still working on my old desktop. She wants a cell phone with apps and I don't even have one. She likes my rock n roll, which is good, but I can't stand Justin Bieber. Oh well.
A lot of my teens favorite songs are covers of old ones.
My husband and I were talking about the whole generation gap thing not long ago. We didn't draw any major conclusions, just mused over how we became the older generation somehow along the way.
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Good point, though I think the generation gap has merely shifted focus to other things, video games especially. People are becoming more eclectic in their tastes in music and are more accepting of different styles. Games, however, are usually embedded as part of our childhood and so there is still a gap there.
Jamie @ Mithril Wisdom
J.K. Rowling broke that barrier in reading with Harry Potter, and I've always loved new music. I think I follow more new bands than my kids. :)
Maybe baby boomers and those younger are more open-minded and excited to discover new experiences, including music and books.
yes! I am constantly shocked! My college kids know every word to my high school rock and roll. I asked them why they don't have their own rock and roll and was told it was just a flash in the pan....but really, rap? is not the same. the frats still play rock.
For books, it's interesting how YA and MG books have become cool for anyone to read, which has helped lessen that gap. For music, especially rock, it doesn't matter if it's from the 1970s or 2000s. Each decade of rock, even though it evolved into many different sub-genres, continues to be pretty accessible to anyone who likes rock.
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