Redux You

Here's a scary thought...

If you retain a good amount of your lifelong personality traits before the age of 5, what's the possibility that you retain your lifelong emotional traits as a teenager? Very likely, according to Dr. Drew. He's on TV, so you know it's true!

We develop the personality before 5. That I can agree with. I knew a lot of assholes at 5, and guess what? That's right, still assholes. But things got better when I was able to expand my world, in kindergarten. Then, I knew a lot of emotionally warped assholes in high school, and guess what? That's right, I'm still an asshole...oh....I mean...uh... Things got better when I got to college (or should I say, the first college). I was able to pour all that no good emotional crap onto a whole bunch of other people who poured all that no good emotional crap onto me. Why? Because college is the cesspool of no good emotional crap. Nobody needs to admit it, cause it was fun. And wrong. But fun! And we immoral. And fun! And when our minds finally plugged in, we pushed all that stuff deep down inside where no one can remember or find out about it. I'm told.

But this is about High School drama. The idea that all of that stuff was new, and our parents hated us enough at that point to not give us any guidance in that field. It was all icky and they didn't want to soil their clean white shoes. So, we turned to the next logical source to educate us in that matter: each other. We learned about love, hate, good, bad, evil, kindness, rudeness, and most of all, funny. And we put it all to music. There is more music about being angry in love teenager angst than any other form of music, including Classical (sorry Lynne). And Classical has had a good 800 years head start! There is a song and a mood for every one of the teen pains, and teenagers are the only ones with the time to listen to it!

That said, most adults have two or three albums that define their teenage lives. Think about it, you know if you had to sum up your teen years with some music, what would it be? There are probably three of four significant albums that were so important! That were indispensable! That were listened to so many times that the needle wore the grooves down or the tape stretched.

But what if that was the development? What if that is how you related to your life ever since? That that piece of music encapsulated the feelings and associated the very tension of your painful emotional development within it's layered notes? It makes send if you think about it. You're teenage emotional angst could be found within Pink Floyd's The Wall. Or perhaps you connected your youth to Michael Jackson's Thriller. Maybe you were a little shallow and you found peace in Paradise Theater by Styx. Maybe you were over dramatic, and Journey spoke to you. Or melodramatic and it was REO Speedwagon. Perhaps you were a bit disconnected and
Led Zepplin was your twist. Could your angst get any more of a workout with Motorhead or Scorpions?

If you were to go and put them on now, I bet all that emotional termoil would come right back, be very familiar, and also be very present. Hearing those songs are now anthems to you development. They are the soundtracks to your disfunctions, the musak to your mood, the tempo to your termoil. And most adults have three that they still hear the hook, basic riff, or drumbeat when things get tense. I know that I hear the piano of Quadrophenia following me around most every day. Or the violin from Love Reign O' Me as the 'how did my life get like this?' question kicks in (but only about noon, 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, and only when I wake up in the morning). Sometimes I hear the sound of Clash when I get philisophical, or the Talking Heads when things get surreal (what is that beautiful house? Where does that highway go? Am I right ... am I wrong? My God! ... what have I done!). I hear the Ramones when things pick up, and The Kinks when they start decending down.

There are many teenagers where Linkin Park and the Weezer will hold that for them. Then there are the deeper guided kids where the Diddy Bops and Gershwin will hold that for them.

Why should I care? Whyyyyyy should I care? Bewwhew bweeeheww beweehwoo bweeewhoooweeee.