[x]

You can’t say the guy is inconsistent. 40 years ago he was saying the music died in 1959, and he’s saying the same thing now. What has he been doing all that time, though?

[Born to Conserve]

I hated that song.

[neverevergiveup]

There’s plenty of great music out there. It’s just not likely to be on regular radio stations.

[Bommer]

He no longer exists because, like Frampton, hit big once and thats all you had in you!

[doorgunner69]

Whatever Mclean, never could stand your music.

That said, no idea what goes on in “music” these days, seems to be ghetto tribal chanting or computer generated drivel.

[Romulus]

TBH, I am not impressed with “American Pie”. Facile, shallow, cliche.

[mlo]

"The singer-songwriter added that today’s catchy songs involving notes and choruses “repeated over and over again” end up becoming “drummed into your head or makes you want to hang yourself.”

There is some truth to what he says, but it is an over generalization. There is some great music today. Just not as much as there was in some prior eras.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJqWZ3Zy5CU

[KevinB]

Of course, the folk-rock legend said that he does still have faith in musicians such as Paul Simon and Paul McCartney who are likely "still writing melodies."

He obviously hasn't been paying much attention to Paul McCartney's output for the last several decades. Absolute dreck.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Don McLean, the 74-year-old singer best known for his 1971 hit “American Pie,” says he is not impressed with the music of today.

74 year olds didn't like "American Pie" when it came out because it wasn't meant for them. Today's pop music isn't meant for Don McLean or other people his age.

[lee martell]

“OK, Boomer!”

[higgmeister]

Here is how he said the same thing in 1972:

The More You Pay (The More It's Worth)

The auctioneer said, I'm not through yet,
Here's a horse the likes of which you've never seen,
And the straw hats in the sun, with a face beneath each one,
Shown doubtful and the auctioneer got mean.
Do you think that you can find a horse like this every day?
I don't think there's any better on this earth,
And the more you pay, the more it's worth.

Then out she came, a snow-white mare,
Prancin' and a dancin' in the silver sun,
They watched her from behind, as she did her bump and grind,
Walkin' naked, sad and graceful for their fun.
Oh how I wished I could afford that lady painted white,
A queen with high nobility of birth,
But the more you pay, the more it's worth.

My pockets hung with empty blues,
Silent heels were standin' on my growin' pains,
My bid was not too bad, two bits was all I had,
And the stable boy just handed me the reins.
Well the gallery went wild, and the auctioneer half smiled,
What we don't sell we shoot or give away,
'Cause the more you pay, the more it's worth.

And where was the boy, who rode on her back,
With his arms holding tight round her neck?
How tightly he clung,
When they both were young,
And fate had not let this poor girl be so
Disgraced.

[Golden Eagle]

The center of popular music innovation and depth for the past 50 years - the UK - has dried up, for whatever reason. Take a look at the most popular electronic downloads in the UK over the last 10 or so years, and hardly a native band to be found.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-downloaded_songs_in_the_United_Kingdom

[Oneanddone]

https://www.mic.com/articles/107896/scientists-finally-prove-why-pop-music-all-sounds-the-same

....maybe a case of dumb down music for dumb down masses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVME_l4IwII

...the “Millennial whoop”. (4:30)

[HarleyD]

The singer-songwriter added that today’s catchy songs involving notes and choruses “repeated over and over again”

One of my pet peeves at church. We call them 7-11 songs. Seven words sung eleven times.

[foreverfree]

Remakes of Roy Orbison’s Crying and the Skyliners’ Since I Don’t Have You.

[Hardastarboard]

PJ O'Rourke once said that everything since Linda Ronstadt recorded her big band album ("What's New") sounds like someone kicked a china cabinet down a flight of stairs.

Another anonymous quote I liked about someone was that they played guitar like a semi trailer jack knifing on a bridge.

[Kalija]

Don't ask me what I think of you YOLO All American Bad Boy 💪 https://genius.com/amp/Ludacris-blueberry-yum-yum-lyrics I got the internet going nuts Yao Ming learn to swim who's 👊 is this anywat

[Drawsing]

I like his song, “Chain Lightning” with the refrain,

It’s like chain lightning, this love that I feel.
Who know’s where it strikes or when it will hit,
How long it will last, or when it will quit.

And I love his cover of “Crying”.

[moovova]

So...the music didn’t really die when he wrote that song.

[strider44]

Old person says today’s music sucks compared to their “day”. Story at 11. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. My grandfather hated Elvis and the Beatles while my parents loved both. Shocking I know...

Do I like the music my teenagers listen to all the time? Nope. But I see why they like it. End of story.