Music. Most people, at the very least, like some form of it. But what puts a certain type of music over another? Among other reasons, the ones I've heard the most include “the fact that it’s popular with others, the sound quality, the message”. But I beg to differ. If those are the reasons, why then do many people today still enjoy, and connect with older music? More specifically, music from the 1970’s and back. Some of my favorite artists include people like Bobby Darin, Glenn Miller, and Simon and Garfunkel. In fact, I’d choose dusting off an old Ella wax and throwing it on the turntable over pulling up Spotify and starting the newest Taylor Swift album any day. It’s not the quality, recency, or even message of the tune that resonates with people, but the way a song speaks to the human condition, and the sense of community it comes with. Good music exercises the appetites, the nostalgia, the relatability of the deepest parts of the soul. There is a reason why old music is often described as having a special sense of authenticity. With the coming of new technology, (like the popularization of synthesizers of the 80’s), and the simultaneous turn to transhumanism and postmodernism, creators lost the ability to use music to connect with the human nature of everyone. Take The Era of the Big Bands for example. Listen to Glenn Miller sometime. After just one song, you’ll hear the difference. The real instruments, the raw voices, the familiar feel of people listening with you. It’s also what hides under the music notes that contributes to the genuineness of the big bands. Although the jazz-type swing groups of the late 30’s to the late 40’s formulated separately from the commencement Second World War, many groups saw the widespread exasperation among Americans (whether at home or overseas), and in turn, shifted to recording patriotic and enthusiastic sounding themes we recognize today. The success of the Big Bands’ shift in theme has been historically documented as indeed, boosting the American public’s sentiment concerning the war effort. So what does this have anything to do with today? After all, Glenn Miller died 80 years ago. But here’s the surprising part. Music this old is still wildly popular today. Not only does Miller have a monthly listener base of almost 300 thousand people on Spotify alone, but we can still find songs today that are produced in the same way as those from the War Era. 

Oliver Anthony’s recent hit single Rich Men North of Richmond wasn’t exactly created with the same call for enthusiasm as the ballads of Artie Shaw, and neither is it a lyrical masterpiece. What it is, is a man, his guitar, and his dog. It’s his voice. No autotune. It’s his fingers plucking the instrument. No soundboard required. His originality seeps through every line, pure and untouched by machines. Not only is the piece insanely relatable to many Americans, but it makes people nostalgic for the America that used to be. Although she has always had her faults, a man “Livin' in the new world, With an old soul” will only naturally long for the more united, fiscally stable times of yesteryear. Hearing someone belt out these concerns with a raw, true voice brings nothing but an extraordinary sense of community, and pure connection. 

Although Frank Sinatra is from the same(ish) time period of Mr. Miller, his iconic name has never been forgotten, and won’t be anytime soon. Countless millennials grew up with Sinatra’s tracks undulating from their grandparents’ record players whenever they would visit and make cookies, or play checkers on the porch with lemonade. When he’s  sometimes heard by those millennials today on Christmas radio they inevitably think back to the days of Gramma and Grandpa with a fond, and again, nostalgic perspective, renewing that childlike innocence, and making them feel as if they were on that porch again. 

While many kids today are immersed in the more mechanized works of Cardi B, or Harry Styles, there is still something to be said about the importance of valuing purely human creation. Though this isn’t a call to obliterate any song created with the help of a computer and autotune, it is a call to expose today's youth to music that strays from modern culture. Despite the difficulty of distancing yourself, let alone another person from the constant stimulation of today, you never know.  Maybe one day, they’ll discover a love for the music you, or the boomers grew up with, the stuff with less of a modern twist. For now, let us all remember some wise words from the maestro himself, Glenn Miller:

“A band ought to have a sound all of its own. It ought to have a personality.”