Are you jamming out to songs like “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” by Lin Manuel Miranda or “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals? Artists like Eminem, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Glass Animals and more are all very well known in our generation. However, there are artists like Phil Collins, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Clash, The Who, and many others that remain popular with older generations. Some of these artists, both from then and now, just have a one-hit-wonder and then drop off the charts. However, all of these artists, no matter the trajectory of their career, leave an imprint on their listeners.

“I consider my youth to be the 80s and so a song that sticks with me [is] ‘Just Don’t Lose My Number’ by Phil Collins. I pretty much listen to the same stuff now that I did in my youth, but definitely Phil Collins when he was with the group Genesis. I enjoy listening to the Bangles, and listening to Rock Set, which is a group out of Sweden. I freely admit that I’m stuck in my decade. I know that songs in my day could be crude, so I’m not going to say that the music of my youth was all innocent because it wasn’t. I feel like a lot of today’s music, they’re just that much more out there. [The songs are] blatant and straightforward, the sexuality, the violence, some of it talks about violence against police, and I know that’s not all today’s music. It has its place, but I am stuck in my decade. [Modern music] doesn’t do much for me.”

Travis Yoakum, English teacher.

“I will cycle through different genres every few months. I will say currently my favorite genre is 2010s to 2000s like rock. That’s the music cycle for the next few months. I listened to a lot of foreign songs, songs that aren’t in English. Many of them, even though I don’t understand them, I get the feeling that it gives off, and I think most people should listen to these sorts of songs because you may not understand them, but you can feel them.”
Elijah Jackosalem, senior.

“I honestly like most [music], just not metal. I like rap, from then and now, and older rock from the 70s to 2010. I dislike that 80s era of rock, like The Motley Crue and Kiss, but 90s rock is really good, because my mom listens to that music and she just kind of passed it [on] through me. I also like most of the pop music from 2000 from when I was born until like 2015. I’ve always depended on my [music] library for everything, I don’t even think about the music [when I pick a song]. I just look through [my library]. I also listen to a whole bunch of old folk songs and myths songs. Those are always fun. Really old music from the 30s until the 60s also have really good music honestly, and the lyrics are kind of corny. They’re a lot more default, like I can expect what they’re singing.”
Nathaniel Jackson, senior.

“I vary between some Christian music and some older rock and roll. The genre doesn’t bother me. It’s the tempo. I like rhythm and speed. I like Go Fish, Def Leppard. I like some jazz, bluegrass. I kind of like that acapella harmony stuff. I’ll let the kids kind of determine [the music in weights] as long as we are school appropriate. Typically just something that’s got rhythm and upbeat and that really kind of sets the tone for the kids, you know, you guys are pretty stimulated by that. You’d like to have that music in the background. If it’s quiet, it’s just dead.”
Jon Franks, coach.

“My very most favorite song is Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time After Time,’ but I like country. Country plus Cyndi Lauper. That’s it. [An underrated artist is] Eminem, and I think people misunderstand him. I do not like his rap songs where he cusses and talks about vulgar stuff. One of my favorite songs that he sings about is the monsters under his bed, the one where there is a young lady in the background [Love the Way You Lie ft. Rihanna], but there’s still cussing and inappropriate stuff. I feel like he’s had a really hard life and he’s trying to tell his story, to empathize with others, so other people that are having a hard life, they can look at him and say, ‘Okay, he faced adversity and made it through. So therefore, if Eminem faced this level of adversity, then I can make it through that as well.’ He’s not my favorite, but I just think he’s underrated because a lot of people assume that it’s just rap.They make all these generalizations or assumptions about it. I have a lot of respect for him, and more importantly, the message behind his music.”
Cyndi Kinder, math teacher.