Yeah. I get that.
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Young people don't know these songs
- Thread starter vchimpanzee
- Start date
Yeah. I get that.
I've noticed a few teachers saying that this is happening with some students. I notice the bar has been set lower and lower since Gen Z in terms of education, and especially with Gen Alpha since the pandemic.
Way worse than not knowing who the King of Pop is...in many schools, there are kiddos who can't read even in upper elementary. Some curriculum programs have been criticized for this; the podcast "Sold a Story" is highly recommended for listening.
The behavior has been on the decline too, especially in Title 1 schools. When a student throws chairs and forces the teacher to evacuate her kids out of the classroom, and admin takes him only to come back in 30 minutes with an apology note and CANDY... no wonder we're having chronic issues in America's schools. Don't get me started on clueless parents who think their little Johnny can't do anything wrong and we teachers are the problem...
My off-topic thoughts are done.
At least the song wasn’t “Blinded By the Light.” I hate having pupils dilated (LOL).
OK...I lied, I'm not done yet.
I've done geography practices as a teacher and substitute for upper elementary kiddos...and it alarms me that some students don't know where any state outside of their home state is on the map. A few don't know where California is, where Alaska is, where Florida is, where Texas is...
I've done geography practices as a teacher and substitute for upper elementary kiddos...and it alarms me that some students don't know where any state outside of their home state is on the map. A few don't know where California is, where Alaska is, where Florida is, where Texas is...
There are adults who don’t know where some states are too
Most notably a former VP candidate, I believe in '08 (no need for names; I think we all know who it is).
I feel that people really have gotten increasingly dumbed down in recent decades, perhaps due in large part to relentless education funding cuts in the 80s and 90s. It is therefore no surprise to me that today's youth are doing so poorly.
(that's all I'll say; no "pole o' ticks"!)
c
There is so much emphasis now on using computer maps and routes, that kids don't understand the larger picture. Zooming in and out is confusing, as you are constantly changing the map scale, and roads, road names, and towns appear and disappear, along with city limits, county, and state lines, rivers, streams, etc. I still use paper maps when I want to get more perspective and scale. Ever see how much paper maps and atlases cost online now on Amazon and eBay? They used to give maps out at gas stations and I used to collect them.
I don't think it's so much education cuts (drivers training, and Art, Music and Drama, and some sports are exceptions), but an emphasis on some subjects at the expense of the old "Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic" in lower grades, and traditional hard science, higher mathematics, and geography in higher grades. Now kids take college classes in High School. They get a huge discount on college tuition costs, which are completely out of control.
I don't think it's so much education cuts (drivers training, and Art, Music and Drama, and some sports are exceptions), but an emphasis on some subjects at the expense of the old "Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic" in lower grades, and traditional hard science, higher mathematics, and geography in higher grades. Now kids take college classes in High School. They get a huge discount on college tuition costs, which are completely out of control.
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I'd rathe do that myself. I still have those maps. I was tempted to buy the expensive ones just to have something up to date, and because they look like the old gas station maps.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
I miss the Thomas Bros. guide books and still have a 30+ year old one for Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Maybe kids today can't figure how to properly fold back paper maps. I always disliked it when the map would fall apart along the creases from overuse.
Does anyone else remember the AAA Triptik travel planner packet? I still have some of those. Nowadays, it's digital
Does anyone else remember the AAA Triptik travel planner packet? I still have some of those. Nowadays, it's digital
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
(raises hand)
I don't even want to discuss maps. But back to point, why would kids these days like music from 30 years ago? I was born in 69 and never had any experience with blues music. I was raised whiter than sour cream. Then in my late teens, early 20's I started listening to old Blues because of bands like Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and ZZ Top. I wanted to hear the real roots. Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Ma Bailey, Muddy Waters. Now, I dig that music but I wouldn't have when I was a kid. I didn't understand it. I didn't even realize until I started playing guitar that Jimi Hendrix and The Experience and The Doors were actually Blues bands.
Because people like Bruno Mars and Sabrina Carpenter sound like they recorded the music back then.
Ya got me, Chimp. I have no idea what Bruno Mars or Sabrina Carpenter sound like. But young folks really are far more technically advanced than we were and I'm pretty sure that they aren't asking their Spotifys or TikToks to play 30 year old songs. Oh, and the Rocky theme? They'd only know that if it was used in a meme sometime recently. I was talking to a cat in his 30's not too long ago. I quoted a line from Pulp Fiction. He looked at me clueless and I said Pulp Fiction. He said, oh yeah, I think I saw that.
That Bruno Mars song is good, just needs a little more funk in that bass guitar. But pretty damn good. The Sabrina Carpenter one, maybe a little Madonnaesque but not really all that impressive. The young ladies who impress me these days are Hayley Williams, Lola Young, Lana Del Rey and Elle King. I've heard a Taylor Swift song or two but I wouldn't know them if I heard them again.
Whether it is good or not, a song that sounds like Madonna suggests Sabrina's fans could be persuaded to enjoy Madonna.
I don't know about Sabrina or Bruno, but in desperation, I've paid more attention to the 80s and 90s (even the very early 2000s), and there's actually a lot of decent stuff out there that would almost count as modern, but still have some of the production and performance sensibilities of the past, which to me makes them more interesting to listen to.
Everything newer sounds like Hip Hop to me, even when it's not, I think because of the way it's produced.
I suppose pop music has always been that way, of course. It just happens that Hip Hop-style backing tracks and dry, breathy vocals seem to be the latest formula (at least it was in 2017-2019, when I stopped paying attention). The first few years of the 2020's don't count, because most live music died, and most of what was left was either stuff from 2019 or those stupid, never ending and highly annoying piano arpeggios (it was featured in most TV and radio ads during 2020 and 2021). It reminds me of generic corporate demonstration music, and I can't stand it.
It also reminds me of being stuck in isolation because of the COVID stay at home orders for some reason, which only makes it worse.
c
Everything newer sounds like Hip Hop to me, even when it's not, I think because of the way it's produced.
I suppose pop music has always been that way, of course. It just happens that Hip Hop-style backing tracks and dry, breathy vocals seem to be the latest formula (at least it was in 2017-2019, when I stopped paying attention). The first few years of the 2020's don't count, because most live music died, and most of what was left was either stuff from 2019 or those stupid, never ending and highly annoying piano arpeggios (it was featured in most TV and radio ads during 2020 and 2021). It reminds me of generic corporate demonstration music, and I can't stand it.
It also reminds me of being stuck in isolation because of the COVID stay at home orders for some reason, which only makes it worse.
c
We've discussed this before over the last 20+ years, but let's get this said again:
Ever since MTV launched, visuals have become as important as the music. That means nobody just listens anymore. If you're a Sabrina Carpenter fan, you're not just listening to the albums, you're watching the videos (just not on MTV anymore) and you're following her on the socials.
This is Sabrina Carpenter. She's 26:
This is Madonna. She's 67.
Guys, I have been father or stepfather to three teenage girls (now grown women). Trust me, you cannot underestimate fashion, hipness and role modeling when it comes to girls and women ages 12-34.
Ever since MTV launched, visuals have become as important as the music. That means nobody just listens anymore. If you're a Sabrina Carpenter fan, you're not just listening to the albums, you're watching the videos (just not on MTV anymore) and you're following her on the socials.
This is Sabrina Carpenter. She's 26:
This is Madonna. She's 67.
Guys, I have been father or stepfather to three teenage girls (now grown women). Trust me, you cannot underestimate fashion, hipness and role modeling when it comes to girls and women ages 12-34.
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In the era when MTV was popular, I enjoyed the videos on other stations even if I wouldn't have chosen to listen to the music.
I know Sabrina because she was on "SNL" and I figured with that last name she had to be good. Okay, not Karen's style, but she wasn't too bad. I liked her when she came back to "SNL" and on The Grammys.