Greetings all. The problem with being "old-school" is that it usually also means "old" ...but let's not all reach for our walkers just yet.
DEAR ask a punk-
These days it seems that listening to old punk rock songs makes me sad instead of filling me with nostalgia like it’s supposed to, isn’t it? Every great old song I hear now reminds me of an old boyfriend or of a club that doesn’t exist any more or of how much younger and better looking I used to be or how much more fun I used to have, and used to be. What’s a girl to do? – Punk Girl of yesteryear.
Dear Punk Girlie-
Growing up, or rather growing ‘older’ sucks on all sorts of levels. As I type this I am recovering from a gallbladder attack that, a little while ago, sent me to the ER for tests, proddings and (thank god) morphine… What could be more middle-aged and pathetic sounding than that? It was a brutal reminder that time marches on… and that if you’re LUCKY you get to grow old and slowly fall apart. It blows. “The past” when we were pain-free and full of energy and a feeling of boundless time feels like a better thing to think about than the future…with it’s seemingly diminishing joys and possibilities…The only plus side is that everyone is going through the same thing.
Remember how much we hated the graying hippies? Remember listening to them rant about how music went downhill after Quicksilver Messenger Service broke up? Or how Woodstock was a turning point in Human History? …well, now it is our turn. We look at the wasteland of watered down non-conformity that ‘the kids’ now buy at the mall and we want to shake them and tell’em that they’re suckers. Tell’em that 1977 was a turning point in human history that The Replacements' “Let It Be” album should be included in the next deep space probe… That things were so much better “back then.” ha…Now, NOW is finally our chance to prove that we are/were fundamentally different from and better than the hippies and the whiny baby-boomers… and the best way to do that, really, is to shut the f#ck up about the past.
You’re right, nostalgia is a tricky thing. Sometimes hearing some old favorite song will make our day, sometimes it’ll ruin it. There is no cure for this really. Since I’m unemployed and had to cancel my cable TV, I’ve been digging deep into my DVD collection lately. A few nights ago I sat down and watched ‘RUDE BOY’ a seminal film from way back that featured footage of a new and powerful band called ‘The Clash.’ Watching it again (for the first time in many years) I got to see a young Joe Strummer kicking ass and venting his spleen in all his youthful glory… may he now Rest In Peace. A few days before that I was giving a friend a quickie tour of Los Angeles that included stops at various cemeteries to visit Buster Keaton and DeeDee Ramone. All gone. Gone as yesterday. Gone as the Pharaohs.
When I got home from that excursion, I got online and searched Cnet and some other favorite sites for music and bands I knew nothing about. I cleared out half of my ipod and replaced old favorites with about 20 hours of music I haven’t ever heard… and then I staggered out the door to take a gallbladder recovery walk. This is how people survive. Looking backward toooo much is as tempting as it is dangerous. This sort of advice is so easy to type here, but I’ll be honest, I have a lot of problems following it myself. I try not to dwell in the past, but I’m as guilty of it as anyone else of our vintage. I’m struggling with it just as you are.
Find a well-adjusted and happy 70 year old and ask for his/her secret. Nine times out of ten they’ll tell you that they live in the present, not in the past. Imagine for a moment that you DO make it to 70 or 80… What will you think of your ‘past self’ when you look back on THESE days? What will you say when you’re wishing you could be 40 again?
Don’t blow this chance, this daylight, this moment… You’ll never be this young again.
Posts
