By Julie Kippenbrock
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Recently, a friend and I went to the Connor Prairie concert “Classical Mystery Tour: Music of the Beatles.” The band was actually really good. They sounded just like the real Beatles and each one dressed up like an original band member. The group even made sure to talk with British accents even though they are all from the United States.

Someone I know thought it was lame I was going to the concert and basically called me a loser. I guess going to a mock Beatles concert isn’t the coolest thing to do as a teenager. But it wasn’t my friend’s comment that got me first thinking people our age didn’t think the Beatles concert was very hip. Almost everyone at the concert was older, although we did see one person we knew from school.

In fact, the Beatles concert wasn’t my first realization that many teenagers today don’t appreciate music from the past. Earlier this year, I went to Carb Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indy 500 where ZZ Top preformed. The concert attracted record numbers of attendance but from what I saw, I seemed to be the youngest one there. ZZ Top is of course more recent and younger than the Beatles era and had many hits but its music has faded through the years.

Let me qualify this by saying I’m not an oldies music fanatic nor do I listen to the Beatles or ZZ Top on a regular basis at all. I’m like every other teenager I know and listen to more of Radio Now 100.9 type of music.

However, respecting and being familiar with popular music in the past is important. I wouldn’t consider myself a big music person but I understand the importance of history. The history of music shows not only how music has evolved over the generations but also how morals and how lifestyles have changed. To me, it’s interesting to look at music from the past with its generational stereotypes and compare it to music today and think of possible generational stereotypes we might be given in the future. The Beatles era evokes images of hippies and lots of drug use. What will our generation be known for? Promiscuity and profanity? I’m not trying to put down today’s music or start any deep discussions, but when it comes down to it, it’s reasonable that people could come to that conclusion.

Personally, I don’t think music of today will stand the test of time. I think it’s just another fad of teenagers and could be discarded in a few years. I definitely don’t hold it to the high standards of ZZ Top and the Beatles. I can’t see me 50 years from now going to a Rihanna concert. Rihanna and other musicians today just don’t hold the same timelessness as past bands. This is why people our age need to know and appreciate music of past generations because in a few years, our fad with rap and dance music will diminish.

I’m not trying to convince anyone to stop listening to today’s popular music but it’s important to respect music from the past and to remember its significance.