I guess I really am old
 

I'm taking an online guitar course from a much younger guy and he commented that if one doesn't know the song Zombie by the Cranberries then one must be living under a rock. What song? Who? O.K. so I quickly listened to a release of the song, and don't believe I was missing much compared to my era of the 60's and 70's. Just my opinion of course. And what's so entertaining about zombies anyway?

The coup de grace was when he described another song as an "old classic" from the 80's! The 80's was just yesterday! :p

Otherwise the course is quite good loaded with techniques and interactive options.

LOL. Well, I do remember Zombies, but I think of it as a pretty old song, and I never liked it much (couldn't stand her voice, apart from anything else).

Likewise, I'd agree that in pop terms anything from the 80s counts as a "classic" (assuming it was fairly well known back then).

I'm a boomer too, btw - my teenage ears coincided exactly with the Beatles career - and the way you have to think is that for a young person today, the 1980s is like the 1930s was to us teenagers in the 1960s! :eek:
Personally, I do remember thinking back then that a lot of 1930s stuff was cool (all that scratchy vintage guitar blues!), but obviously a lot of the rest was insufferably naff - those sentimental crooners? bow ties and slicked back hair? gimme a break! And in any case, in the 1960s most of us thought the 1950s was ancient! Let alone the 40s and 30s! ;)

What is passing for music these days, at least pop music, is of no interest to me. Anything anyone wants to say about me because of that position is fine because it, too, is of no interest to me.

I’m in my 60’s, so I’m definitely not young, but the ‘80’s was 30-40 years ago. That’s not “just yesterday” in any lifetime. Anything that happened since I’ve been an adult SEEMS like just yesterday because I can remember it pretty well, but I’ve been an adult for over 40 years and that objectively 2/3 of my life and, thus NOT just yesterday… I like a certain era of music more than others, because it “my music”, but it’s not better, it’s just what I know best…

-Ray

Well, I really am old too then (66). The only zombie I ever heard of in music is these guys:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zombies

:D

You're not alone, trust me! :)

TBH, in a musical context, "Zombie" would also make think of that band before I remembered the Cranberries. ;)

And I accept no accusation of boomer bias or nostalgia in claiming the Zombies were a way better band than the Cranberries! :)

(Not every 1960s band was great, but the Zombies were.)

I'm in my 60's and still find songs from my own generation that I hadn't heard before, much less know some obscure song from the 90's. I guess music appreciation/awareness is a matter of perspective.

Play on my friends!

Cheers!

It sounds like you might have a "smarter than his years" :rolleyes: whippersnapper for a guitar teacher...

The Cranberries? Obscure? It's hilarious the attitude my fellow boomers have - "if I haven't heard of something it must be obscure; I'm so worldly and knowledgeable..."

We truly are the "it's all and only about me" generation. Okay boomers.....

I’m 65, and the Beatles were all it for me growing up. But I love all kinds of music, from all kinds of eras. Every generation looks down on the next generation’s music. Do you remember the reaction the Beatles got from people over 30? A lot of older people hated them. And I don’t think everyone loved Frank Sinatra when he first emerged: his fan base was led by teen girls, bobbysockers. Anyway, I think “Zombie” is a terrific song. It’s a protest song about the troubles in Northern Ireland. Delores O’Riordan had an idiosyncratic voice—and so did Louis Armstrong, Bob Dylan, and Nanci Griffith, to name a few. I don’t love all the music around today—I didn’t love all the music in the 60s, either—but I do love several contemporary artists, like Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Waxahatchee, Dua Lipa, Regina Spektor, Ben Folds, and Olivia Rodrigo, to name a few. Most people’s taste in music stops after their early twenties, and what comes after gets disparaged. I like finding music to like that came out after 1980 (when I was 25). Some of my all time favorites are there (and many others has their careers before I was born). There’s always good music being made.

I’m with you that. But even go a step further. I began playing in bands in the 1950’s. Around the late 60’s when OD guitars sound began to be the norm (classic rock, etc.) I was done with it. Never have been able to listen to even a few seconds of it. At that point I began listening to singer/songwriter, mainly acoustic stuff and country music. Guess I am an old codger, but proud of it.

Yeah, the Cranberries were a fairly major band in their brief heyday. “Zombie” was a #1 song in a bunch of countries, including the US. I owned the album with that song on it (No Need to Argue), and I thought there were some good songs on it. “Zombie” is kind of ugly, for a reason— it’s a song about warmongers and the damage they do to innocents, a la “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath. Whether you think that works or not, it was clearly a conscious choice.

As a boomer with a millennial child (turning 30 next year), my experience has been that millennials are way more tolerant of us and our music than we were of our parents’. I have to laugh when people of my generation take offense at “OK Boomer,” considering that we came up with “Never trust anyone over 30.”

I like the song...and some zombies :)
So, who/what is the online class?

I think some of you guys need to lighten up! ;)

My post was tongue in cheek!

https://members.guitarzero2hero.com

Here's an example of a song tutorial which there are numerous ones as part of the course. Lot's of free ones on Youtube though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXysc_HszQ4

I love playing a song called She's Not There which I think was by the Zombies. But that was probably more than 50 years ago when it was a hit.

Mando,

Point well taken, and perhaps I should have simply said that I was not familiar with the song. It's all good !

Cheers!

Yes, personal taste is fine. Its only a problem when one starts making critical assesments based on one's taste.

The vast majority of current pop music doesn't interest me either, but - like you - I wouldn't go so far as to say it's crap. I'm not much interested in classical music, and that doesn't mean I think it's crap! (As with current pop music, I do like occasional examples, just not most of it.)

IMO, the best way to think of it is as languages we don't understand. The music that doesn't interest me - whatever genre or period it is - always sounds like a language designed to communicate to someone else, not to me.
If I make an effort to listen more often or more closely, I usually find I can understand it better. Maybe still not to the point of actually liking it or being interested in hearing more - because it will still seem to me like it's not intended for me to like it. I'm not its natural audience.
That applies to Beethoven as much as it does to (er) Jay-Z or Beyonce.

Yes, 1964, to be precise. 57 years. ;) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2hXBf1DakE (singer Colin Blunstone, keyboard player Rod Argent)
Santana did cover it later, but that was almost as long ago.

One of the best ways to stay young is to stay curious.

Generally, today’s pop music isn’t to my taste, but when I happen to hear it (I don’t actively look for it, honestly) I listen and reflect on it (and try figure out its merits).

I don’t think it’s ever a good idea to close down and live in a self-imposed bubble of the past being the only reality of worth. That’s how the dust settles down and the rust sets in.

imho

:)

I, too, am a sexagenarian, but I don't play one on American Idol. (Errrr ... Even I don't know what that means). But -

I have eclectic musical taste. Always have. From Sinatra to the Beatles to Blues to Mo-Town to Celtic Folk to Bluegrass to "3 Chords and the Truth" and others.

In all cases (involving lyrics) if the words are not discernible; forget it. I've enjoyed some beautiful music involving languages I do not understand. That is not what I'm referring to.

I can always appreciate a melody (which IMO automatically eliminates some contemporary "music") - but fortunately there is no shortage of music to be appreciated and my door remains open.

The millennials can have a bit of an attitude about baby boomers. I used to eat my lunches at a college dining hall that is adjacent to the studio where I work. I paid cash. One day the young lady at the register and spat out, "Why do you use cash? Don't you know it is outmoded?" She was really angry, presumably because she had to make change.

Last time I checked it was legal tender for all debts, public and private.

Bob

I'm 73, I remember the first time the Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan show :D

I also remember seeing Elvis on The Arthur Godfrey Show- :eek:

I prefer the music of yester- year- not yesterday-

I wish I could find a non-opinionated teacher that could help me improve what I do and not tell me what he/she thinks/feels I should do to suit him/her-

Eric Blackmon on you tube could probably fill those requirements, but, I ain't into
video lessons- I'm too freakin old, I liked it better the old way- (extra points if you know where that line came from ;) )

Btw I do like some newer tunes (at least newer to a 63 year old). Two that come to mind are I'm Yours by Jason Mraz and Hey There Delilah by the Plain White T's. I like the harmony slides into the chords with I'm Yours and the nice swing beat, which adds a nice touch. Hey there Delilah isn't as much a challenge to play as the numerous fast vocals but still sounds nice.

I guess I’m really, really old.

Like it says in that 70s classic, time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future.

But then there are rocks. They are really, really, really old. Older than most zombies.

Well said. And I hate to break it to everyone, but The Cranberries song was released in 1994, which qualifies it as "classic" rock. 60s/70s/80s is considered "oldies" to many. ;)

LOL. Sounds like she wasn't too good at math, and found herself in the wrong job - operating a cash register! "I can't add up and it's your fault!!" :D

My view on modern pop music is that much is too heavy on electronics and too many vocalists use way too much vibrato in their singing. I can’t listen to male and female singers whose voice sounds like a 5 year old singing, sing with your adult voice please! I hear this a lot on the acoustic channel of Sirius. When my wife agrees with me, I know I’m probably on to something.

Rap and hip hop. I’ve enjoyed some rap and hip hop music with a good beat and groove but so much of it sounds similar and I cannot tolerate lyrics with obscenities, violence, or misogyny. The recent Grammy awards performance by Megan Thee Stallion was just lude and degrading to women IMO. And we wonder why children are growing up in the wrong ways too fast.

I remember a documentary years ago about the Beatles and there was a part of it where Paul McCartney commented that for the most part they wanted to write sweet songs about peace and love and that have a sense of fun about them.

Yeah, that's a good one! This thread also reminded me of Werewolves of London. But Zombie by the Cranberries? I guess I stopped listening to pop music in the 70s or early 80s. Clearly by 1993. :p

I'm exactly the right age for the way I feel in the morning. I remember Zombie and the Zombies.

In America, The Cranberries were sort of one-hit MTV generation thing. I recall liking the song. There was a little bloomlet there on MTV for songs with political observations and points of view. Beds are Burning. 99 Luftballons, Sunday Bloody Sunday, etc. I have some soft spots for that era of music because it's where my younger spouse and I cross over musically.

The Zombies were a three-hit band, and criminally underrated. I can still recall hearing She's Not There for the first time, and that keyboard solo comes on, and...

What's that? Oh man, I want some more of that!*

The Zombies Odessey and Oracle is the best typo-bearing LP ever, and a classic in my opinion.

I'm mostly a guitarist, but I've been drawn to playing with keyboard players all my life. The Zombies' keyboard player Rod Argent was the Argent in Argent in the 70s. The rest of the band were no slouches either. My little transistor radio speaker couldn't give witness, but Chris White played some great bass parts.