I'm getting old, and possibly losing my mind...
When I was a teenager, I adored bands like The Smiths and The Cure. They weren't referred to by the genre names they're known under now - they were just called "aternative music", and the kids who listened to them were considered a little edgier than mainstream. I just enjoyed the sound of "alternative" music more - I wasn't really worried about labels. But I did enjoy the feeling of being a little "edgy" (stop laughing, smallfurry - I know you were much edgier than I ever was!), and loved that my music wasn't mainstream.
Flash forward 20 years. I'm sitting in the bookstore, indulgently watching my 3-year-old playing with the train set in the kids' section. I become aware of the bland muzak playing in the background. I know that tune...what is it?
It's "How Soon Is Now", by the Smiths.
What the...?
I'm still feeling shellshocked, wondering how you even go about turning an angsty song like that into "easy listening" music, when I realize I recognize the follow-up song.
"Lovesong". By The Cure.
I feel so old. My edgy music of high school has become elevator music.
When I get home and online, I try to find reference to this remake of both songs, and I find nothing. Is it possible that I hallucinated it? Two songs, one of which has the most distinctive guitar riff of any song I know? That seems like a much more welcome answer than the truth, which is that I am probably not insane, and Morrisey, Johnny Marr and Robert Smith are sitting back collecting the money some muzak company paid to remake those great songs into schmaltzy old-folks-home music.
On the plus side, maybe it'll make the nursing home more appealing when I move in. Apparently that will be happening sooner than I think.
Flash forward 20 years. I'm sitting in the bookstore, indulgently watching my 3-year-old playing with the train set in the kids' section. I become aware of the bland muzak playing in the background. I know that tune...what is it?
It's "How Soon Is Now", by the Smiths.
What the...?
I'm still feeling shellshocked, wondering how you even go about turning an angsty song like that into "easy listening" music, when I realize I recognize the follow-up song.
"Lovesong". By The Cure.
I feel so old. My edgy music of high school has become elevator music.
When I get home and online, I try to find reference to this remake of both songs, and I find nothing. Is it possible that I hallucinated it? Two songs, one of which has the most distinctive guitar riff of any song I know? That seems like a much more welcome answer than the truth, which is that I am probably not insane, and Morrisey, Johnny Marr and Robert Smith are sitting back collecting the money some muzak company paid to remake those great songs into schmaltzy old-folks-home music.
On the plus side, maybe it'll make the nursing home more appealing when I move in. Apparently that will be happening sooner than I think.