Zack’s last post on the subject has inspired me to tackle my own personal thoughts and reflect on nostalgia, music and culture in general. Anyone who knows me (and probably readers from seeing the music I’ve posted in the past) knows that a fair amount of my music taste is retrospective, lagging, or just plain out-of-date. Maybe I don’t know good ways of finding new music, or maybe there’s more to it.
Nostalgia is becoming a more common feature in our culture. Between TV show remakes and blockbusters being based on oh-so-many prior works (Transformers, G.I. Joe, and any comic book franchise) it seems to me like less emphasis is placed on creating original works with more being produced based on what we know and “love.” This happens because they sell. A lot. Music also is just as saturated with nostalgia and prior works. Look at Girl Talk, Rihanna, or even ATG-fave Wale. Not that I love their music (ok I love Wale) but their careers, and many others, utilize nostalgia from other people’s songs to make their own
Now, this isn’t going to be a rant on what I see as a lack of original thoughts or capitalism at work on culture. I know that even the most out-there art is still a derivative in some ways; there’s always been something that came before it. A lot of my music taste is based on music that reminds me of, surprise, other bands that I like. The Thermals remind me of younger years with their simple post-pop-punk. I admit that I like the Libertines because they remind me of a LONG string of British rock (read: The Clash, but not too much). And I gave the last Bloc Party album a listen in the hopes that there was something similar to Silent Alarm. I never knew one album could give a band so many chances.
Ok, I’ve rambled on long enough though. Here are some songs that make me nostalgic for different reasons
MP3: Q and Not U – “Wonderful People“
An easy choice. This song instantly reminds me of DC, and of summer days spent with nothing to do, driving around with the windows down, and trying to match the catchy falsetto. I can’t begin to describe how much I miss this band and their great combination of the “Dischord” sound with pop.
MP3: The Weepies – “Wish I Could Forget“
I could write on and on about this song or this group and why they matter to me, but I’ll save that for another day or a different audience. All I have to ask is, how do they write songs that perfectly capture every emotion? Each song brings back memories, good and bad, and that’s an amazing feat.
MP3: The Clash – “1977″ (Link Unavailable)
HA. Never thought I figure out how to post the Clash again, did you? Well this is their take on nostalgia. It might as well be a four letter word in this song lambasting retrospective music taste, but when you listen close, you hear them deriving their own song from The Kinks. I’d like to think it’s not coincidence, but that this song is what the original punk wave was all about. No Elvis, Beatles, or the Rolling Stone.
So whatever you think about nostalgia, one can’t argue with the fact that it’s powerful because everyone has experiences and relationships that songs can remind us of or help articulate. While nostalgia isn’t everything, I feel bad for people who don’t have that.
-Ryan
