You know what’s worse?

Rosemary

You know what’s worse than hearing the music you listened to in your teens  being referred to as “Oldies?”

Hearing it referred to as “Roots music.”

Yah.

I am now officially older than oil shale.


12 Responses to “You know what’s worse?”

  • Wilson Says:

    “Roots Music” in my mind refers to a PBS special from the 70s. So that would make you younger than the New World.*

    *3 out of 7 shaky chronologists agree

    • Rosemary Says:

      I’m figuring Roots Music must be a moving target. Whatever the current music is, it grew up from something else… and when that was current, it came from something further back. I ought to have realized that, if you push that trend into the future, the stuff that was new to me and my peers would eventually be the roots of someone else’s new music.

      But it is kinda like the first time you hear a kid say “Hey, lady!” (or “Hey, mister!” if you’re a guy) and realize that the kid means you.

      Inevitable — and yet, completely unanticipated…

  • Linnea Rowlatt Says:

    Oh, yes, and then you see the styles of clothing that you wore as a young adult return, as “Retro-cool”.

    Igh

  • Linnea Rowlatt Says:

    Ah, it just occurred to me that I just sort of drop in on your blog, and perhaps it would be courteous to introduce myself to you…

    I’m a middle-aged grad student in Toronto, pursuing an MA on the topic of how the Little Ice Age affected later medieval English culture, as traceable by changing metaphors for the natural world.

    It’s fun, and connects to part of the reason that I enjoy the Steerswoman books so much – you show very nicely how Rowan and her community have different organizational metaphors than Bel and the Outskirters; I’m looking forward to meeting the Krew, who, I imagine, will have yet another worldview.

    At least, that’s how I think about them all!

    Happy weekend to you.

    • Rosemary Says:

      I’m happy to be living in a world where a person can get to study how the Little Ice Age affected medieval English culture —

      “…Traceable by the changing metaphors for the natural world”? My mind boggles when I consider this.

      I like it when my mind boggles!

  • Brian Says:

    There are many ways in which music makes one feel old.

    It happened to me in the late 60s. I was 28, dating a 21 year old. When I found out that she didn’t know the name of Elvis’ backup group I realized that I had achieved the status of relict.

    You can also use music to find the age of other people. It is a well known fact that the best Rock ‘n Roll ever recorded is the Rock ‘n Roll that they were playing when you were eighteen. So just ask that interesting person, who you just met, who are their favorite artists.

    This method works for everybody except me. That’s because my evaluation is purely objective. It can be scientifically proven that Buddy Holly, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis recorded the best Rock ‘n Roll in history.

    • Rosemary Says:

      It is a well known fact that the best Rock ‘n Roll ever recorded is the Rock ‘n Roll that they were playing when you were eighteen.

      Sez you!

  • Brian Says:

    Wow. That’s some serious guitar heroism.

  • Ellen Kushner Says:

    OK, that’s weird. To me, “roots music” means traditional ethnic acoustic folk. Blues is roots music. Irish fiddle is roots music. Zimbabwean mbira and Ghanaian kora and Bulgarian women singing in the fields.

    What the hell kind of world is this where anyone can call anything not written & performed 5 minutes ago “roots music”?

    Sheesh.

    • Rosemary Says:

      That’s what I’m sayin’!

      Apparently very old rock and roll is sneaking in.

      Blues is roots — but rhythm & blues? Starting to cross the line.

      Delta blues, yeah — but Chicago blues? Well… well.. maybe…

      This not to be confused with the increasing phenomenon of folkie artists doing their own twists on oldies pop songs. Which, come to think of it, might accelerate the process.

      (And hey, Ellen! Thanks for showing up!)

  • Marith Says:

    My two most recent “older than dirt now” moments:

    – Writing what I thought was quite a clever filk on the whiteboard at work, “Fifty Ways to Leave the Homepage”, only to find that not a single person in the office had heard the Paul Simon original.

    – Finding the background music at grocery stores nostalgically appealing, instead of mentally tagging it as Old People Muzak and tuning it out. Apparently I am now their target demographic.

    And squee you have a blog! Hi, I love your books and foist them on people often.

    • Rosemary Says:

      Marith —

      Those are good ones!

      Here’s my latest: I was listening to music online at my DayJob, and enjoying it, when I realized that it was exactly the same music my mother used to listen toe except that to me it was PostModern, and I was enjoying it ironically —

      HOWEVER (and this is the kicker): any person under 20 who found me listening to it would not know that fact and would thus categorize me as OLD instead of cool.