Being out-of-touch & too mainstream

[Jambalaya]

Does life ever make you feel this way? I feel ridiculously mainstream, which I realize whenever I go on the internet or whenever I'm with certain friends. In life, there just seems to be reference after reference after reference that I just don't get. Mostly to do with music and sometimes comic-book characters, manga, some books, and sometimes TV shows. In the thread about the Grammys, I had never heard of most of the music in the links, and I had to look up Monnie's reference re. the lyrics of Baby Got Back. I had heard of the song but only because it was featured on Friends.

My name is Jambalaya, and I am mainstream! I like the novels of Alison Weir and Elin Hilderbrand. I like Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, and Meghan Trainor. And Madonna.

But there are just so many references in the written word and IRL that I feel half the time, I just don't know what people are talking about. It makes me feel as if others are consuming an entire canon of music and culture that I don't even know exists. How do people know what to watch and listen to outside the mainstream? How have I never heard of so many of the songs people mentioned in the Grammys thread? Are they played on the radio? I don't listen to the radio much, if at all.

Via a friend I discovered Matt Maeson's song Cringe, and I really liked it. That made me feel cool. Is he fringe, or mainstream, or what?

Does anyone else ever feel too mainstream and old-fashioned for our society?

 

[lilmosun]

In recent years, it has hit me that I am becoming my parents when it comes to awareness of current/popular trends.

On the upside, I have Google

 

[lala646]

Meh. I'm more likely to listen to NPR than music radio, so while I'm still young(er), I'm fairly out of the loop too. Certainly doesn't bother me! *shrug*

 

[Snowdrop13]

This is just a consequence of ageing, is it not? It creeps up on you. I’m mid 50’s now and am feeling increasingly disconnected from my younger colleagues, not just in terms of cultural references but in attitude, work ethic, dress and so on. I’m much less collaborative and not such a team player. My kids keep me a little up to date but I know there’s a ton of stuff they’re not sharing!

And PS, my favourite band of all time is ABBA!

 

[Karl_K]

I honestly dont care what the latest fad or music, tv, cloths or whatever is in these days.
To my ears there is little to no music produced since the 80s that is even worth listening to.
I don't care about the Grammys or any other pat themselves on the back 90% politics over talent shows.
Geez im a grumpy old man LOL

 

[Jambalaya]

I feel better now!

About the reference to Google above, well sure, I have google, but what would I google? "Latest fringe music"? How do you know what to ask for if you don't know the names of the artists/shows etc.?

 

[Jambalaya]

Certainly doesn't bother me!

It bothers me because I get fed up not getting so many references. It's like listening to a foreign language sometimes. I sent my nephew on a course about 11 years ago, and when he texted that the course was sick, I thought "What an odd way of saying that many attendees are out sick!" and "Has the course been canceled?" I still have no idea how "sick" came to mean "good." Seems like it should be the opposite.

 

[lala646]

I feel better now!

About the reference to Google above, well sure, I have google, but what would I google? "Latest fringe music"? How do you know what to ask for if you don't know the names of the artists/shows etc.?

You could always use Spotify to explore new music. Go to the Browse tab, and it will offer you a bevy of options. You can explore by genre, what's topping the charts, Discover will give you recommendations based on your prior listening.

 

[lala646]

 

[Jambalaya]

Thanks, Lala646! I might just do that. I wondered if people were exposed to music via Spotify. For us kids of the Seventies, radio was how you discovered new songs.

 

[seaurchin]

Here's an age-related meme that got me recently. Does anyone else not understand it? My grown kid had to explain the humor to me.

 

[Karl_K]

Here's an age-related meme that got me recently. Does anyone else not understand it? My grown kid had to explain the humor to me.

no clue.

 

[seaurchin]

Thank you, Karl_K! I feel better now.

 

[Jambalaya]

I have no idea. Can someone explain that meme to me?

 

[Jambalaya]

I miss the days when I was young and everyone would talk about Madonna and Spandau Ballet et. At least I knew what they were talking about. I guess the internet has enabled pop culture/fringe culture to massively expand.

 

[seaurchin]

I have no idea. Can someone explain that meme to me?

As it was explained to me, the funny part is that a young guy would actually want to borrow such a very uncool shirt. Going to Chili's as a date night event is a secondary funny part, I'm told.

 

[stracci2000]

@Jambalaya
I feel the exact same way.
I frequently don't understand new terms or sayings, and I guess that's normal for a 56 year old?

When I talk to 20-something's, I get the feeling that they think I am some old granny. They make me feel ancient.

I cannot stand rap music. I don't get it, and it grates on my ears.
I will even say that I hate it (referencing another thread about the Grammys).
But I really love progressive rock, and I listen to that all the time.

 

[stracci2000]

As it was explained to me, the funny part is that a young guy would actually want to borrow such a very uncool shirt. Going to Chili's as a date night event is a secondary funny part, I'm told.

Whaaa? That's not even funny.
I'll tell you what's funny. Andy and Barney, now that's humor

 

[seaurchin]

Whaaa? That's not even funny.

That's what I said!

 

[Jambalaya]

But I really love progressive rock, and I listen to that all the time.

What on earth is "progressive" rock?

I'm in my mid-to-late forties, and I just don't get all the cool references. But maybe it's just a matter of personal taste, because the few times I've experienced art outside the mainstream, I haven't really liked it. I always remember when I was at college and there was some art-appreciation seminar, and it was a film of a man bouncing up and down on a trampoline, in the nude, with some red lighting, and his member flopping all over the place. I really wasn't impressed, and to this day I don't know what I was watching.

 

[kenny]

People vary.
Most are mainstream.
Nothing wrong with that.

Born a gay baby in America's 1950s Christian Midwest my earliest memories are of finding out I was the polar-opposite of mainstream.
Good bad right or wrong, the older I've gotten the further I have drifted from the mainstream.

Some things just are.

 

[Jambalaya]

Kenny, what are your musical tastes? Do you get all the references and the YouTube links from the Grammys thread?

I'm focusing on music because it's an area I'm very weak on. I feel like the whole world listens to a bunch of music that I don't even know exists.

On YouTube the other day, I saw a video entitled "100 Positive Songs" or something, so I clicked on it and found Fight Song by Rachel Platten, which I really liked. I'd never heard of her or the song, but I'm guessing everyone else has!

Can anyone recommend lists of classics (can be new or old) in various genres that I can find on YouTube? Rap, hip-hop, bluegrass, modern country, garage. I really need to take a music appreciation class or something.

 

[Begonia]

I'm hopelessly out of touch (mod 50's) now. My kids fill me in when necessary. Sometimes it bothers me, when things are being discussed and I don't understand the reference. Largely I find I'm ok with the unknown as I age. I hold on to what is important in life.

 

[Jambalaya]

The thing is, if you don't have kids to keep you at least somewhat up-to-date (like I don't), I feel as if I'm running the risk of becoming TOO out of touch. I'm in my forties (post-45). Will I feel completely isolated from large swathes of society by the time I'm 60, yanno?

The trouble is, I don't really enjoy a lot of fringe culture (it's probably not even fringe), so that's why I don't consume much of it. But I do get frustrated with not knowing what people are talking about so much.

 

[MrsBlue]

Some of us were born outside of the mainstream.

I, for example, have never seen a casserole in real life lol

 

[kenny]

Kenny, what are your musical tastes? Do you get all the references and the YouTube links from the Grammys thread?
...

First, here's how I feel about most of today's music.



I have no interest in the Grammys or modern commercial Hollywood films for that matter - too much garbage to suffer through to get to anything I like.
I don't listen to radio, or watch TV.
I only use Youtube much like I use Google, just to look up something.

In the car I used to listen to the classical radio station or NPR newscasts but these days the commercials, EXCUSE me underwriting , takes up too much air time.
For the last 5 years when I drive I prefer silence to be alone with my thoughts.
IMO constantly consuming media can be like consuming a drug to escape the reality of our lives.

I've never downloaded, paid or stolen, music from the Internet.
The audio quality is vastly inferior to CDs, so I don't bother.
I have never owned an iPod or MP3 player or a smartphone.

At home the only music I listen to is on CDs.
Audio technologies gradually improved for 100+ years, peaked with CDs, and has declined ever since.
90% of what I listen to is classical, mostly solo piano.
Favorite composers: Chopin, J.S. Bach, Debussy, Ravel, Satie, Mozart, which I also play butcher on my piano.

The other 10% is music from my prime, 1970s and 80s stuff - James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Pat Metheny, Beatles, Steely Dan, Linda Rondstadt.
Then some early jazz like Hal McKusick and Ella Fitzgerald and the beautiful romantic old Mexican ballads by Los Tres Ases.
My CD of Florence Foster Jenkins also gets lots of airtime.

 

[ringo865]

Uhh, my husband has 8 (maybe more) hawaiian shirts. From the 80s probably. Pre-Covid at work we had a ”luau” with a contest for “best dressed” ... so, I brought in the shirts for each of my friends to wear. We didn’t win a prize, but the eight of us were stylin. I think I’d pass if hubster wanted to wear one of them for “date night” egad. I’m trying to get him to recycle them

 

[MrsBlue]

The other 10% is music from my prime, 1970s and 80s stuff - James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Pat Metheny, Beatles, Steely Dan, Linda Rondstadt.
Then some early jazz like Hal McKusick and Ella Fitzgerald and beautiful romantic old Mexican ballads by Los Tres Ases.
My CD of Florence Foster Jenkins also gets lots of airtime.

This is the very last place I expected to see a reference to Los Tres Ases. Phenomenal stuff.

I used to have a player made by this company. You could rip your cds and load them up, if the spirit ever moved you to create a portable listening experience.

JetAudio

JetAudio is an integrated multimedia player. It plays various multimedia files in one player. JetAudio will satisfy both convenience and expertise. It can play more than 20 kinds of music data including WAV, MP3, RA, MID and MOD, video data such as AVI, MOV, MPG as well as audio and video CD...

www.jetaudio.com

 

[Jambalaya]

I, for example, have never seen a casserole in real life lol

Too funny! You talk of casseroles as if they were rare white tigers!

 

[Jambalaya]

Kenny, thanks for your reply. Great photo!

Your remark about having to get through too much bad stuff before you find something good resonates with me. With the radio, I always found that there were five bad songs to one good one, so I stopped listening. And with studio albums, they'd contain a couple of hits, and then the rest were very blah.

Am going to listen to Pat Metheny, Steely Dan, Hal McKusick, and Los Tres Ases. I've never heard of them. Nor Florence Foster Jenkins.