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Unsung Forum » open letter to 17 year old boys who just discovered the Doors |
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Citizensmurf 1704 posts |
Sep 02, 2015, 03:08
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Like all teenage experiences, discovering the Doors is something that old men shouldn't care too much about, lest you be known as a "codger" or "cantankerous" or just "creepy". In 50 years your heirs will be writing the same crap about Kanye West, and still no one will give a crap. Circle of life donchaknow.
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Andfurthermoreagain 696 posts |
Sep 02, 2015, 08:55
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aaroneous g wrote: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-open-letter-to-17-year-old-boys-who-just-discovered-the-doors The opinions of the author do not necessarily reflect those of the undersigned, who at the tender age of 41, just performed onstage in leathers while his in-laws watched the kid . . . Love, aaroneous "No rock‘n’roll writer understands Jim, because they are so jealous that he was loose beyond the bounds of practicality and more beautiful than a man had a right to be." - Julian Cope 2000CE. Right On!
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grufty jim 1978 posts |
Sep 02, 2015, 12:57
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That letter could be much shorter. Here's my abridged version... An open letter to 17 year old boys who just discovered the Doors Dear 17 year old boys, I'm a cantankerous old fool who has allowed all the passion to drain out of his life. Please stop feeling things so deeply, it makes me feel bad about myself. Yours etc.
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fat_fleet 146 posts |
Sep 02, 2015, 17:45
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grufty jim wrote: That letter could be much shorter. Here's my abridged version... An open letter to 17 year old boys who just discovered the Doors Dear 17 year old boys, I'm a cantankerous old fool who has allowed all the passion to drain out of his life. Please stop feeling things so deeply, it makes me feel bad about myself. Yours etc. Nice.
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espsummer 340 posts |
Sep 03, 2015, 06:29
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This article doesn't really pull through and it could actually be great as its a good idea for writing. When i got to the part of the letter when the author claims that the best song the Doors ever did was L.A. Woman then i saw no need to go further. That kind of says "actually i'm no expert.".......... Perhaps in 10 years there will be satirical articles about listening to Love as a rite of passage.
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espsummer 340 posts |
Sep 03, 2015, 07:24
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I also think you could write a pretty good letter to a 17 year who just discovered Radiohead. Though you don't have the ego of Jim Morrison it still seems to ask to be taken seriously as an art form in its portrayal of the disconnect of modern life. Similar behaviors may result.......spending lots of time in your room, relishing and identifying with the alienation of modern life, thinking its profound but not really being able to identify why, and seeing yourself as being "different" in your self imposed exile from what's "normal". In short i think it does the same thing for a teenage mind which isn't to say thats bad but it is just the tip of the iceberg. I personally never listened to "Karma Police" and felt like it was a game changer or that it was something to be in awe of. In tackling similar subject matter i preferred Suede at the time. All in all i think Radiohead is a rite of passage too and later on you may think to yourself "was it really that great? Does it hold up?"
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grufty jim 1978 posts |
Sep 03, 2015, 12:32
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espsummer wrote: All in all i think Radiohead is a rite of passage too and later on you may think to yourself "was it really that great? Does it hold up?" Just to address this thought (not meaning to "selectively quote" you). Surely the whole point is that it doesn't matter if it holds up later on. I have no idea what age you are; but assuming you recall being 17... it's absolutely not about "getting into music that I will still find relevant and important when I'm 45". It's all about how it makes you feel... there and then... when you are 17 and raw and open to emotion in a way you will never be again. It's not about selecting art that you will always love; or selecting art that some old curmudgeon approves of. It's about what it makes you feel at the time. Which is why I feel that "open letter" completely misses the point, and its author comes across as an 18-carat arsehole.
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carol27 747 posts |
Edited Sep 03, 2015, 13:09
Sep 03, 2015, 13:08
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grufty jim wrote: espsummer wrote: All in all i think Radiohead is a rite of passage too and later on you may think to yourself "was it really that great? Does it hold up?" Just to address this thought (not meaning to "selectively quote" you). Surely the whole point is that it doesn't matter if it holds up later on. I have no idea what age you are; but assuming you recall being 17... it's absolutely not about "getting into music that I will still find relevant and important when I'm 45". It's all about how it makes you feel... there and then... when you are 17 and raw and open to emotion in a way you will never be again. It's not about selecting art that you will always love; or selecting art that some old curmudgeon approves of. It's about what it makes you feel at the time. Which is why I feel that "open letter" completely misses the point, and its author comes across as an 18-carat arsehole. Well said. The passion we feel as youngsters is "raw" & fills our lives. Luckily I still feel moved by most of the stuff that thrilled me back then ( & it's not just nostalgia.) Maybe that means I haven't " grown up" sufficiently; but, you know, actually I have, I've had to. Jim Morrison's voice is still my most favourite voice ever, with Van Morrison second; & I love all the obvious others like Sinatra, Buckley etc, oh, bugger & so many more!
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carol27 747 posts |
Sep 03, 2015, 13:14
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carol27 wrote: grufty jim wrote: espsummer wrote: All in all i think Radiohead is a rite of passage too and later on you may think to yourself "was it really that great? Does it hold up?" Just to address this thought (not meaning to "selectively quote" you). Surely the whole point is that it doesn't matter if it holds up later on. I have no idea what age you are; but assuming you recall being 17... it's absolutely not about "getting into music that I will still find relevant and important when I'm 45". It's all about how it makes you feel... there and then... when you are 17 and raw and open to emotion in a way you will never be again. It's not about selecting art that you will always love; or selecting art that some old curmudgeon approves of. It's about what it makes you feel at the time. Which is why I feel that "open letter" completely misses the point, and its author comes across as an 18-carat arsehole. Well said. The passion we feel as youngsters is "raw" & fills our lives. Luckily I still feel moved by most of the stuff that thrilled me back then ( & it's not just nostalgia.) Maybe that means I haven't " grown up" sufficiently; but, you know, actually I have, I've had to. Jim Morrison's voice is still my most favourite voice ever, with Van Morrison second; & I love all the obvious others like Sinatra, Buckley etc, oh, bugger & so many more! And anyway it was the Stranglers who got me into the Doors, and the Morrison connection that got me into Van the Man so..on it goes.
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thispoison 253 posts |
Sep 03, 2015, 19:42
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Yep, if music is about anything, it's fun and passion. I must have aquired a huge knowledge of popular (and unpopular) music - like most folks around here - since I first dived in head first aged 13 after hearing Bowie's "Ashes To Ashes" in 1980, BUT, it was never meant as a degree course. In fact I'd run home from school to get away from that kind of stuff and bury myself in whatever music was obsessing me at the time. I bought "Fade To Grey", "Vienna" & "Party Fears Two" on 7" around that time, and loved them all. Only one of them still resonates with me now (guess which!), but so what? I swapped a copy of "Ant Music" (picture sleeve!) 7" for a Doors single when I was a wee bit older and it seemed "childish". I should have hung onto it, as I love the Ants all over again now. The Doors were brilliant though. Still love 'em. "LA Woman" is a masterpiece LP. My love of music old and new still burns brightly, but it was life and death to me when I was a kid, and I'd never step on any youngsters love for whatever it is they're listening to. It^s a very special thing to be young and fired up by music. (Just don't get me started on the AutoTune!)
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