The Brutal Honesty Of Perspective Accepted.

I was running an errand for She Who Must Be Obeyed today, and as I was waiting in reception, I could hear the dulcet tones of Mick Jagger over the speakers in the office. I was tapping out the rhythm on the counter as I waited. It was taking the receptionist a long while to complete our request. As I was grooving to the Rolling Stones, I turned around to face the reception area, and my eyes fell on an older gentleman who also seemed to be grooving on the tune. His feet were tapping to the music. A broad smile crossed my face as I realized that The Rolling Stones were to me what Perry Como or Frank Sinatra was to my mother. Taking that thought a little further I realized that another way of looking at it is that Katy Perry is to my daughter what the Rolling Stones are to me.

Surprisingly, as I thought more about this, the more I realized that the music of these very divergent styles have something in common (Ok. Maybe not Perry Como, but mom really liked him!). If you've ever read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, you might recall the author's discussion of an aspect of Art that he referred to as "Quality." It was the distinguishing thing between art and not art. As I recall, it was a very confusing thing to a 17 year old boy. I prefer to call it "lasting power." If music is revered over a couple of generations, it has lasting power. For me, it is Mel Torme, Tony Bennett and a lot of the Big Bands. It is music that transcends "pop culture," or maybe it just translates well between generations. Will Katy Perry be well known 30 years from now, in 50 years? Who knows! I have the feeling that she just might be one of the few in a generation that is remembered. After all, Firework is a great piece of pop music.