The difference between the music of the 80’s and the music of today is, one era made me happy and the other makes me very depressed.
We went from having a soundtrack to our lives to no soundtrack at all. I can go down the list of favorite artists from the 1980’s that I will never ever forget. Who can forget All Night Long from Lionel Ritchie, Billie Jean from the late great Michael Jackson, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun from Cyndi Lauper, Jump from Van Halen, and Let’s Dance from David Bowie and the list goes on… With each song from that era, I can remember specific moments in my life as a kid growing up on the south side of Chicago. Hanging out with my friends during summer break while the song Fly Like an Eagle by The Steve Miller Band blasted from somebody’s car radio as they passed by, being mesmerized as a child watching The Midnight Special as Freddie Mercury dressed in a half black half white skin-tight body suit and holding the microphone upside down sings We Are The Champions. Smiling when I heard a group of boys singing Who Can It Be Now? From Men at Work in my eighth- grade classroom. The time I and my best friend created a dance routine to the song Flame Thrower from The J. Geils Band after multiple failed attempts to record it from the radio.
Today’s music is foggy, hazy, dark and lazy. It talks about sex but has no depth and if I am able to remember any of these songs, it’s of me turning the station to the all 80’s channel. My memory is fine, and I have been listening, I’m not crazy and my eyes are wide open. There seems to be a trend of music that aims to corrupt and bring you down, so your minds are so full of trash that you aren’t really thinking. It’s not fun and far from healthy to our minds and to our souls. Of course, there are a few exceptions like Bruno Mars, Coldplay, and Lady Gaga who’s talent just keeps getting better with age. These artists stand out in my mind and give me hope that good music hasn’t died.
I know things can never be as they were when we were young. And no matter how much we may want to, we can never go back to yesterday. I guess that’s why I listen to a lot of old music. Because Steely Dan, The Police, and Prince will never really leave us. I won’t even mention those who will. Because I know those artists are trying and don’t have full control of the material they put out. But I give them credit for working hard and trying to be the next legend of our time. For those who are still trying to make it, keep it up. Your song just might be the one that we remember many years from today…
Eshelle H. Butler 