Parental Duties

tomewing:

That video I just posted has led me to wonder. Would you have liked it if your parents had tried to get you into the music they thought was good? Or, if they DID, did you appreciate it?

I don’t remember my parents listening to music for its own sake very much. It was usually talk radio (which I generally ignored), both in the car and at home. Sometimes we would have music on during sit-down dinners—mostly classical/instrumental, though I do remember some of Clapton’s Unplugged collection making frequent appearances, as well as Carole King’s Tapestry (both I think were favored by my mom and I’m not particularly fond of either now)—but there was never a sense of authority, of saying, “Son, there is good music and bad music and in this house we listen to the good stuff,” because I never got the impression that it really mattered all that much to them. In elementary school my brothers and I would listen to the oldies station while playing in the basement (this is where my love of The Beach Boys begins), but that was something my parents tolerated as innocent fun, not encouraged as historic and important.

I’m nowhere near having kids of my own now, but I can imagine that if I ever did it would be a very different scenario. For one, that impulse to flex my sense of authority on the eager, spongy brains of my offspring would be a difficult temptation to resist. I think that’s kinda what’s happening with Jason Schwartzman in that video. He keeps talking about it like a mini canon, records that “should be in the house,” to which I would respond: if they’re so essential to a happy home, why aren’t they already in regular rotation? I actually think his inclusion of music specifically for children—old soundtracks, “Disney stuff,” stories, and the like—is a much smarter idea than trying to catch a baby up on 50 years of pop music. The thing about nursery rhymes and music for kids is that (when done well) it has this great way of teaching you about rhythm and melody, of telling stories, and of being fun and catchy all at once. You don’t have to drop the complicated historical weight of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones on a kid to show them how to listen to and enjoy music. Besides, I don’t think pop tends to really matter to most people until their teens, and I know it took me even longer than that to barely begin to understand what I liked and didn’t like (it’s an ongoing process). I’m glad that, for the most part, I never had to approach older music as a thing my parents loved that I then had to concede was actually really good.

*Although, I also have a friend whose father is a life-long musician and an avid Beatles fan, so she grew up hearing that stuff and is now one of the most gifted songwriters I know. Just saying.

    • Source: tomewing

    22 Notes/ Hide

    1. koganbot answered: They did, it was classical, it left me bored to bits and antsy, it’s still a deaf spot, though minor payoffs in knowledge remain.
    2. andrewtsks reblogged this from tomewing and added:
      (I have too much to say to this to use the answer function with it’s 150 character limit) My dad did, and
    3. davidkatz answered: My parents listened to George Benson and Chicago. The priority was to just escape!
    4. boxeurthecoeur answered: Grass is always greener on the other side. Since my parents would never give a shit ‘bout music, that’s always been my biggest fantasy.
    5. nicolars answered: My mom played Barry Manilow & the Carpenters for me constantly (at the time, they were her favorites) and I did end up loving both.
    6. thecusp answered: For my 6th birthday, my mother made everyone pick up an inflatable instrument and pantomime to Bryan Ferry’s “More Than This” - so, yeah.
    7. o4cast answered: I appreciated it, but it was unintentional.
    8. bengraham answered: My parents were never really big music fans, but they did teach me about classical music, for which I am grateful
    9. popcornnoises reblogged this from tomewing and added:
      don’t remember my parents listening...music for its own sake very much. It was usually...
    10. sexshooter reblogged this from tomewing and added:
      argh answer won’t fit in the box i realize i’m probably an anomaly here but i cannot stand to listen to any of the music...
    11. minimoonstar answered: I appreciated how my parents did it, which was to have the works easily accessible but not instill dogma or filters (same with books).
    12. marathonpacks reblogged this from tomewing and added:
      more my childhood. At least until this.
    13. pgwp answered: A lot of the non-children’s music I play for my son is exactly the music my parents played for me! Cat Stevens, Paul Simon, etc.
    14. openapplev answered: I’m a Beatles fan, so yes. It probably helped that my mom only had a few albums, so I got to discover Revolver and the White Album later.
    15. thirtydollarproject reblogged this from tomewing
    16. oldtobegin answered: i loved it! my parents turned me on to zappa and the dead and jazz and a ton of hippie shit i still really enjoy and that was very formative.
    17. tomewing posted this

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