The decline of music started with punk and acid rock and then deteriorated even more so with the advent of rap and hip hop which thoroughly gutterized music altogether and made such things as misogyny, drug abuse, alcoholism, murder and rape palatable to their audiences. Thank God we still have country music which I like although not the same way that I really enjoyed the classic country music artists such as Eddy Arnold, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams, Johnny Horton, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Patsy Cline and Tammy Wynette just to name a few.
It takes 10, 20, or even 50 years before the really good music from an era resolves itself from the steaming pile of crap that is “contemporary” music of it’s time.
If we went back to the 1930’s and listened to a popular radio station, we would recognize several songs through the day, but most of the music would be unfamiliar to us as it did not withstand the test of time.
I found a local classic country station which is about all I listen to now. My three kids ride around enough in my truck that they are beginning to know and enjoy classic country. In the past week, I had the following conversations with each of them.
My 7-year-old daughter asked me to put in the CD with "Johnny Cash and the other singers." I realize that she meant the radio channel.
My 10-year-old told me and his brother that the best song ever is "Big Iron by Johnny Cash." I corrected him and told him that it was Marty Robbins. "Oh, but it still the best song ever" was his response.
My 13-year-old who is self-conscious about his singing (despite having a nice voice) told me he would "sing all the time if I could sing like Johnny Cash."