Pop is making me feel old

[jackbox]

I have a feeling this post is going to be a long one. If it sounds like a load of self-indulgent, sentimental junk, well frankly... it is.

On the 11th I turned 22. Since the weather is unbelievably crap and I have far too much spare time on my hands I decided to listen to my favourite albums of the last few years back to back. I'm talking about albums by Amy Winehouse, Alphabeat, Annie, Bloc Party, Dragonette, Fever Ray, Friendly Fires, Girls Aloud, Goldfrapp, Hot Chip, Klaxons, Ladyhawke, La Roux, LCD Soundsystem, Lily Allen, Little Boots, MGMT, Noisettes, Passion Pit, Robyn, Roisin Murphy, Sugababes, Ting Tings, The xx and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

It jumped out at me that almost all of the albums were released between 2006-09. Some of them sounded quite adventurous, like a blast of fresh air, coming after years of cheesy boybands and girl groups, landfill indie, bland r'n'b and hip hop. I remember seeing the video for With Every Heartbeat on one of the music channels and wondering who the cute girl who looked like a pixie was.

I've always been quite introverted so almost all of my memories are of music in particular places rather than nights out or festivals. One of the best memories is walking around the city centre at 4 on one June morning with my boyfriend at the time for no particular reason (we were both total night owls), dressed like Skins rejects while blaring MGMT's Oracular Spectacular out of this headphone thingy he had while behaving like general twats. There was nobody around to disturb us but I think I'd feel too self-conscious to do it now.

I guess I look back on those three years so warmly because of all the usual changes, first relationships and breakups, college, along with some other less pleasant stuff that I won't get into. Problem is, I seem stuck in 2009. I look at PJ and think "Who the hell are Florrie and Azealia Banks?" I don't want to get to 40 and be like my uncle, who bangs on about how great The Jam and Led Zeppelin were. I don't want to be clinging to The xx and Lily Allen, or constantly reliving that night with my ex, with Electric Feel blaring from his loudspeaker. And it isn't as if these albums are decades old yet I'm almost certain that my 15 year old sister wouldn't think of playing any of them.

I still look forward to new releases but I don't connect with music the same way anymore unless it's music that brings back memories. The lyrics in Words And Music By Saint Etienne hit the nail on the head, and for some stupid reason I feel "over the border" at the age of 22. Does anybody else feel at all similar? Not necessarily about being over the hill at 22, but about connecting music to periods or events in the past, and using that music as a warm blanket, unable to let it go and move on.

*Sigh*

Ben and Jerry's time.

[Bleu Noir]

It'll pass, I find getting thrilled about pop music comes and goes all the time. It sounds like you might have connected intense emotional times in your life with the music you were listening to at the time, not the other way around, maybe. I'm almost double your age and I get the thrill from the music on it's own which is great as my life can be dead boring at times! The new Hot Chip album gave me a definite buzz this week for example, other recent manic pop thrills include Madonna's Love Spent, Gaga's Marry The Night and my most played track ever.....Little Boots Every Night I Say A Prayer - it's a very private thing usually, I never enjoy music in clubs now, usually enjoy it most having a few drinks at home with my bf and friends.

[Eric Generic]

Music is my blanket, oh yes. It's all I got. It has served me well, and will probably continue to do so. I'm mostly hooked on the 80s, but not exclusively so. New music can set off the inner fireworks in me, it's just that it doesn't happen very often because, well, I don't seem to like what passes for new music very much!

[KhiaShamone]

I'm the same but with early 00s music.

Liberty X slays all your faves etc.

[miklc]

Music evoking memories is a positive thing I think. I don't think you'll cease finding new music to enjoy forever though.

[Gasoline]

You're lucky you're not a Spice Girls fan. I'm still stuck on those days haha.

[PantoponRose]

And if it makes you feel better, I don't know who the fuck Florrie is either.

[jackbox]

Yes, I do feel better knowing you don't know who the fuck Florrie is. High five!

Perhaps I should just embrace my Xenomania and Skins-era memories instead of allowing them to make make me feel old. I still spend a hell of a lot of time checking out new music but it's almost always folk, indie or electronic (ie, not pop), music which makes me feel relaxed and mature rather than full of energy.

Oh well. Here's to getting older.

[jinzo]

I've asked this for two years. What is a Florrie?

[jackbox]

Sounds like a skin condition to me.

"What's that mark on my upper arm? It could be eczema but it's all weepy and slimy. Uh-oh, I think it's a florrie."

[hudweiser]

I think like your hair, patience, energy and various other youthful attributes, your music taste thins as you age. It's not a bad thing, I'm 34 next week and still as passionate about pop as I've ever been. I'm just a bit pickier.

I don't who Florrie is, can't understand the fascination with Azealia Banks (she's just another sweary rapper, right?) and can feel like a martian around PJ sometimes when I hear crap where other people hear perfection and all manner of language I don't get at first reading. But there's lots of new stuff to like too!

I'll admit the years of olde start to blur and when I pick up Now 53 for example, I can't believe the songs on it are a decade old. But one silver lining is that stuff I wasn't so keen on back then can take on a new meaning. There's nothing wrong with nostalgia so long as you don't become completely entwined within it and, like you say, constantly go on about 'how it used to be'.

It's not worth worrying about - might turn your hair grey!

[miklc]

Popjustice has been forcing shite on us for years as the "next big thing" in pop though. I either get into them eventually like Marina or just don't bother and they disappear.

[marie_05]

Does anybody else feel at all similar?

Yes, I feel exactly the same way.

A while ago I attempted to make a list of my favourite albums of 2011 and 2012 (so far) and suddenly it hit me that nearly all of them were by established artists. This made me wonder one thing: who actually is my favourite artist of the last two years? I still don't know the answer to this.

Much like what you describe, my interest started to wane circa 2010 (I'm 25 now). It's difficult to explain what happened. It's not even like everything that gets released these days is crap, the problem is that a lot of it doesn't really grab me anymore. I listen to the radio and think: "Oh, that's a nice song", but it doesn't go any further than that anymore and I really hope it's a temporary thing.
My obsession with music started during the early/mid-Noughties and a lot of my favourite acts are still from those years (or before). I'm stuck in 2004 and still play the same bands to death! Weird as it may sound, I feel like new artists will never be able to compete with the 'old' favourites, even if the material is technically on the same level and most of the old favourites aren't exactly old yet.
I think it might have something to do with the fact that people really develop their own identity and taste and discover a lot of things when they are between 13-21 years old, and the music they listen to is the soundtrack to all of that. Artists who release their first albums when you're older will never have that advantage.
Another explanation could be that the more music you hear, the more difficult it gets for new artists to impress because it feels like you've already heard it all before. Who knows?

[SuckMyBean]

I feel exactly the same as Jackbox, only I have additional things disturbing me. If you feel old, try being a female and heading dangerously close to 21. I feel stupid for even being on this forum. Maybe girls just have to grow up quicker because their youth is usually cut short by motherhood. Almost all my old schoolmates are parents and one girl from my year has three toddlers already. My age group is pretty much past the clubbing stage, when I last went out in September most of the girls I met were 18/19 and the only women older than me where absolutely plastered and seemed a bit pathetic. Society makes women less important the older they get. Girls peak in importance in their teens and go downhill from there. I feel like I'm too old to get anywhere. I sometimes want to do things but I feel I'm too old for there to be any point. I missed out on all the normal fun adolescent/young adult experiences due to mental health problems and now it's too late. I still feel 18/19 and am not ready to be in my 20's. I feel sad listening to music from 2010 and earlier. It makes me feel nostalgic in a depressed way. I was suicidal age 14 but I associate music from those years with the escapist fantasies and daydream worlds I lived in. Today's 14 year olds feel the same about Nelly Furtado and Fergie as I did about Barbie Girl, in terms of how long ago that music was released and that feels weird. I loved Lady Gaga's The Fame when I was 17/18 because I was so hopeful my life would one day be okay back then, and I heard all three of her singles on my first time clubbing so it gives me good memories. Pop music is starting to become irrelevant to me. I still enjoy coming on here and dissecting it, but it feels vacuous and meaningless. Before I didn't care about the meaning but dance music would make me excited. It's all so paper-thin now. Pop is designed to be marketed at teenagers and I'm now over the hill. Plus I feel sad looking at popstars and celebrities, most of whom started their careers in their teens and they've achieved so much at a younger age than me.

[letuinmybackdoor]

Try all of that and being 41!!!!

[Mvnl]

All I can say is: catch up on Florrie. Really.

[Mr.Arroz]

I can relate to this in ways. Much of the music that I now love is music that spotlighted major parts of my life - coming out, finding myself, first love, family memories, etc. But even then, music released every new day is doing that for me still, that process is never-ending for me. Music is always coming out as I am continually discovering and developing new parts of me. That sadness and nostalgia that comes from music is more joyous now, rather than depressing as it was before, because now it frees me for the future because I've since changed.

I know I always seem optimistic/positive, but I am young-at-heart (at 23) and not many things deter me.

[MissGranolaSuicide]

I think like your hair, patience, energy and various other youthful attributes, your music taste thins as you age. It's not a bad thing, I'm 34 next week and still as passionate about pop as I've ever been. I'm just a bit pickier.

I don't who Florrie is, can't understand the fascination with Azealia Banks (she's just another sweary rapper, right?) and can feel like a martian around PJ sometimes when I hear crap where other people hear perfection and all manner of language I don't get at first reading. But there's lots of new stuff to like too!

I'll admit the years of olde start to blur and when I pick up Now 53 for example, I can't believe the songs on it are a decade old. But one silver lining is that stuff I wasn't so keen on back then can take on a new meaning. There's nothing wrong with nostalgia so long as you don't become completely entwined within it and, like you say, constantly go on about 'how it used to be'.

It's not worth worrying about - might turn your hair grey!

I agree with every word of this. I'm 35 this year and I often see new acts that I know I would have been a huge fan of when I was younger but somehow only feel so-so about now, equally there is music I have a huge nostalgia for that I kind of know I would think was shit if it was released now. I'm definitely less patient. I still love throwaway pop (Katy, Britney & Glambert say hi) so it's not that I just like old person music or something but I think what has shifted is how hard it is to convert me from casual listener to fan/stan.

When I was younger I was very much the posters on the wall type who was a 'fan' of loads of artists wheras these days there are so many artists (Lana springs to mind) whose music I adore but who I'm still oddly unmotivated to follow closely or get excited about single releases etc..

But believe me the passion is still there when the fire is lit (I am currently planning my 8am start for the Monster Pit queue in September) it just happens a bit more rarely these days.

[AcerBenII]

I'm completely jaded with almost everything in the charts. Even though a lot of is influenced by 90s dance music, which should mean I love it, I hate it. I mean dubstep is just rave music brought up to date isn't it? Yet I just cannot relate to it at all. It just sounds like noise. What's wrong with me?

[Charley]

I think the main thing is just that when you're in your teens everything is more intense: love, friendship, heartbreak... and music.

[popprincess]

I feel exactly the same as Jackbox, only I have additional things disturbing me. If you feel old, try being a female and heading dangerously close to 21. I feel stupid for even being on this forum. Maybe girls just have to grow up quicker because their youth is usually cut short by motherhood. Almost all my old schoolmates are parents and one girl from my year has three toddlers already. My age group is pretty much past the clubbing stage, when I last went out in September most of the girls I met were 18/19 and the only women older than me where absolutely plastered and seemed a bit pathetic. Society makes women less important the older they get. Girls peak in importance in their teens and go downhill from there. I feel like I'm too old to get anywhere. I sometimes want to do things but I feel I'm too old for there to be any point. I missed out on all the normal fun adolescent/young adult experiences due to mental health problems and now it's too late. I still feel 18/19 and am not ready to be in my 20's. I feel sad listening to music from 2010 and earlier. It makes me feel nostalgic in a depressed way. I was suicidal age 14 but I associate music from those years with the escapist fantasies and daydream worlds I lived in. Today's 14 year olds feel the same about Nelly Furtado and Fergie as I did about Barbie Girl, in terms of how long ago that music was released and that feels weird. I loved Lady Gaga's The Fame when I was 17/18 because I was so hopeful my life would one day be okay back then, and I heard all three of her singles on my first time clubbing so it gives me good memories. Pop music is starting to become irrelevant to me. I still enjoy coming on here and dissecting it, but it feels vacuous and meaningless. Before I didn't care about the meaning but dance music would make me excited. It's all so paper-thin now. Pop is designed to be marketed at teenagers and I'm now over the hill. Plus I feel sad looking at popstars and celebrities, most of whom started their careers in their teens and they've achieved so much at a younger age than me.

Depressingly I am much older than you at 33 but I really feel the same way about a lot of things, I do not fit the stereotypical idea of a 33 year old at all, I have zero interest in having children and the general grown up things and still love my celebs and popstars to a high level. What upsets me is I used to go to loads of roadshows (kinda like t4 on the beach) and whilst I still love things like that I know I couldn't go without feeling like a washed up old bag! Its like my body is aging each year but my mind isn't. As for the nostalgia thing it would be nice to look back on stuff with happy memories but for me its depressing as I feel like those innocent days are gone and its all downhill from here (wow aren't I joyous!!)

[Baby Clyde]

Problem is, I seem stuck in 2009.

2009!!! Try being stuck in 1983.

I'm older enough to be your father but modern pop doesn't make me feel old at all, it just makes me feel superior.

[MissGranolaSuicide]

I feel exactly the same as Jackbox, only I have additional things disturbing me. If you feel old, try being a female and heading dangerously close to 21. I feel stupid for even being on this forum. Maybe girls just have to grow up quicker because their youth is usually cut short by motherhood. Almost all my old schoolmates are parents and one girl from my year has three toddlers already. My age group is pretty much past the clubbing stage, when I last went out in September most of the girls I met were 18/19 and the only women older than me where absolutely plastered and seemed a bit pathetic. Society makes women less important the older they get. Girls peak in importance in their teens and go downhill from there. I feel like I'm too old to get anywhere. I sometimes want to do things but I feel I'm too old for there to be any point. I missed out on all the normal fun adolescent/young adult experiences due to mental health problems and now it's too late. I still feel 18/19 and am not ready to be in my 20's. I feel sad listening to music from 2010 and earlier. It makes me feel nostalgic in a depressed way. I was suicidal age 14 but I associate music from those years with the escapist fantasies and daydream worlds I lived in. Today's 14 year olds feel the same about Nelly Furtado and Fergie as I did about Barbie Girl, in terms of how long ago that music was released and that feels weird. I loved Lady Gaga's The Fame when I was 17/18 because I was so hopeful my life would one day be okay back then, and I heard all three of her singles on my first time clubbing so it gives me good memories. Pop music is starting to become irrelevant to me. I still enjoy coming on here and dissecting it, but it feels vacuous and meaningless. Before I didn't care about the meaning but dance music would make me excited. It's all so paper-thin now. Pop is designed to be marketed at teenagers and I'm now over the hill. Plus I feel sad looking at popstars and celebrities, most of whom started their careers in their teens and they've achieved so much at a younger age than me.

I kind of feel the opposite. My teens were fairly rubbish and I only started enjoying myself at about the age you are now (I'm also female by the way). I'm married but don't want kids and although most of my friends are 30-40 something they are mostly not 'boring, middle aged' types.

My advice, not that you asked for it - stop worrying about the numbers and just try to enjoy life for what it is not what it 'should' be.

[AugustMoon]

This often goes in waves. Sometimes you feel too old for the current music, then some time later it's no problem again. Sometimes you can even look back a few years, and feel:

I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now

It's both to do with changes in your own life and the developments in the music. As it is, I feel like jackbox now too. For possibly similar reasons, even though I might be older than his uncle. His list of artists from a few years ago I find all OK, and they don't make me feel any particular age at all. I've got nothing particular against his examples of new music, Florrie and Azealia Banks, but if they're really the best the present era can offer, then yes, it does make me feel older than I want to feel.

[RJF]

If you can't find exciting new music, then you're not looking hard enough.