Music Ruined My Life: Classic Dad Rock

I remember my dad telling me when I was a kid that "music will never sound this good again". He was bopping about (yes, bopping) playing records on the home stereo and I had my headphones on listening to tapes on my walkman. What was weird about the whole situation was that I was listening to Jimi Hendrix on cassette while he was listening to Jimi Hendrix on vinyl. In fact, it could have even been the same recording of Crosstown Traffic for all I know. I didn't pay attention to that fact until he repeated himself and then tried to chastise me for listening to rap music or some shit.

I wasn't paying attention, I was imagining Jimi playing with his eyes closed and how that Strat sounded through a Marshall half stack. When I pulled off my headphones to say "what?" I noticed that we were in fact listening to the same fucking thing.

"What are YOU listening to?" My pops asked.

"The exact same thing." I said as I pulled the headphones off my head and handed them to him.

He pulled the arm off the record and grabbed for my headphones, pulled them to his ear, looked at me, smiled and told me to turn if off and hear it through the stereo.

At that exact moment I knew that I was fucked. I was listening to the same fucking music as my dad, and doing it IN FRONT OF HIM, and WITHOUT HIM ENCOURAGING ME. I should feel embarrassed. I like something my dad likes? BUT HE'S SO fucking OLD?!?!?!? This totally takes out the whole "Dad you gotta hear this" part of the equation now, THE DUDE'S ALREADY HEARD IT ALL, THIS shit WAS MADE WHILE HE WAS STILL A STONER!

A few years later, I'm telling my dad about Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young coming to United Center in Chicago. The day after the show I declared it as probably one of the best concert experiences of my life, and it happened next to my dad. Then a year later we're picking up free tickets to see Joe Cocker at Chicago Theater, and again, one of the best concerts of my life, and it happened with my pops.

I've always appreciated the music created before I was a chromosome in my dad's sack, but I guess I'm different in that I wasn't intent on hiding that appreciation from him. My dad and I are constantly sharing music, and I realize that the majority of my friends don't have that in their lives, but common ground isn't difficult anywhere else in our relationship because we will always have things we both love as far as music is concerned.

I guess one of the reasons I'm writing this is because with my three kids, I hope music ruins their life, and we can share our adoration for Robyn and Justin Beiber together. Then we can look down our collective nose at people who find the need to distance themselves from their parents and change who they are and what they love just because it might coincide with what their parents also enjoy.

My dad's pretty fucking cool, and I'd like to think he gets his taste in music from me.

WHAT?