Oh, Bush. Where Art Thou?
It was the spring of ‘98. I was a young lass of 14 on the cusp of discovering new uses for hormones and cleavage. Ninth grade was drawing to a close and with that a year of revelations on the subject of teenage liberation. I was looking for a place to channel what I define now as a new sense of “I don’t have to do what people in charge tell me to” frustration. At the head of that movement was Gavin Rossdale and his band Bush, my catalyst for self discovery and rebellion. They sang about life-a dark and confusing abyss and as a young girl trying to find my nitch, they were just what I needed.
Grunge Rock Grandness
Their music was edgy, well arranged, and, most of all, dark. It struck a chord in my young heart. I clung to 16 Stone like new flag to wave and listened to it on my walkman whenever I could. Their brilliance was cemented farther in my mind by my parents disapproval of the somewhat dismal and drug-laced lyrics. Bush lead the way in my musical repertoire for other bands like Tool and Silverchair to score my young rebellion. I now had a collection of anthems to serenade my wannabe teenage angst.
The Moral of the Story
So why the childhood ramblings? Well, as I listen to music written for this generation of youth, I shudder at what they have to choose from. Bush’s grunge rock fare can be criticized for many things but at least they had more than one chord progression and theme to their songs. Bands like Nickleback and Good Charlotte, groups probably considered the sound of the new generation, have little to offer in the realm of originality or even talent. They all sound the same, look the same, dress the same, and write lyrics that could have come from a cheap grocery store anniversary card.
I realize this argument could be made by anyone looking back. People in their mid-twenties probably hated Bush during their hay-day and longed for the time of Billy Idol and Oingo Boingo (I too wish we had the 80’s back-only for the music…not for the fashions). But I see new music deteriorating as song writers sell out for the modern pastiche of the popular music culture (Rihanna anyone?). Rarely am I impressed with a new main stream band- although indie rock does still continues to turn out pretty decent “nubes”.
Moral of the story: my youth rocked. Yours sucks. Sorry.
I close with these lyrics from “Machinehead”
Deaf dumb and thirty
Starting to deserve this
Leaning on my conscience wall
Blood is like wine
Unconscious all the time
If I had it all again
I’d change it all
Pure genius.
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:38 pm
i thought that cd came out earlier than 1998. oh well.
i remember being in my room around 1 am and i had these huge headphones on my ears and i was laying down lsitening to the radio when machine head came on and it blew my mind. literally, that is why i’m now slow on the uptake!
March 9th, 2008 at 4:35 am
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