Who's in the mood for a little geek talk? I got a new PC at work because my old setup (linux box running a VMware session) was a pile of shit. My spanking new windows box has has a soundcard and I can finally listen to music at work without worrying about when I'll drop my ipod next. Small battles, people, small battles.
Speaking of music, Nirvana never grew on me. They were big when my older brother was in college and so he identifies with them on some level. Me, on the other hand, had boy and girl bands to combat during high school/college years. You can watch it on the VH1 series, Go Fuck yourself the 00's. Anyway, I'm told popular music of an era represents the most dominant feeling of that society. Growing up in a different society creates a disconnect between the music and the reasons why we enjoy it. People in the know remarked that music of the early 90s (American rock anyway) represented the angst of youth troubled by poverty, fractured households, high divorce rates, poor education and more.
We were told to value our culture, our history, and traditions by those who'd never heard a beat of hard rock/heavy metal but despised the genre. "Heard about that blonde singer? He OD'd AND shot himself!! Respect your great aunt or you'll end up like him". "You mean with millions of dollars and hundreds of groupies?" "shut up".
So when I got here, I was pleasantly surprised that most of my American friends were pretty stable and balanced. Guess they never faced the hard times like ol' Cobain did, I told myself. But they did. I learned much later that all the Americans in my group had separated/divorced parents. One of them was even a Columbine survivor. Life's probably a lot tougher for those under the poverty line, but that's something I have absolutely no idea about, and won't insult anyone's intelligence (any more than I already have).
Back to my friends and peers. I'm sure it was pretty agonizing, and some scars will never heal, but they're here. No angst, no mood swings, no sniffling in the corner. Confident, loving, cheerful, marrying and raising children - you'd never guess dad left mom for a 20 year old maid (true story).
Speaking of music, Nirvana never grew on me. They were big when my older brother was in college and so he identifies with them on some level. Me, on the other hand, had boy and girl bands to combat during high school/college years. You can watch it on the VH1 series, Go Fuck yourself the 00's. Anyway, I'm told popular music of an era represents the most dominant feeling of that society. Growing up in a different society creates a disconnect between the music and the reasons why we enjoy it. People in the know remarked that music of the early 90s (American rock anyway) represented the angst of youth troubled by poverty, fractured households, high divorce rates, poor education and more.
We were told to value our culture, our history, and traditions by those who'd never heard a beat of hard rock/heavy metal but despised the genre. "Heard about that blonde singer? He OD'd AND shot himself!! Respect your great aunt or you'll end up like him". "You mean with millions of dollars and hundreds of groupies?" "shut up".
So when I got here, I was pleasantly surprised that most of my American friends were pretty stable and balanced. Guess they never faced the hard times like ol' Cobain did, I told myself. But they did. I learned much later that all the Americans in my group had separated/divorced parents. One of them was even a Columbine survivor. Life's probably a lot tougher for those under the poverty line, but that's something I have absolutely no idea about, and won't insult anyone's intelligence (any more than I already have).
Back to my friends and peers. I'm sure it was pretty agonizing, and some scars will never heal, but they're here. No angst, no mood swings, no sniffling in the corner. Confident, loving, cheerful, marrying and raising children - you'd never guess dad left mom for a 20 year old maid (true story).
Posts
2 comments:
Nirvana was huge when I was in junior high, so you can imagine how fucking obsessed I was. One of my friends actually created a heart-shaped box and kept all this Cobain memorabilia in there. Crazy bitches.
Incidentally, that's one of the only 2 Nirvana songs I like - the other being Come as you are
Post a Comment