Things Your Parents Say/Said About Music

DAD: "I'll say it's easy."

He is very pleased w/this and repeats it a lot. Also anything shouty then gets "Is this that its so easy band?".

I took my father to see a performance of Bach's "Goldberg Variations" in a fairly intimate setting. During the intermission, he commented: "I like piano music." I noticed someone sitting near us look at my father with a confused expression on his face, like where did this guy come from.

'this is really lovely'

[derek starts improvising]

'and this is noise'

also, my mother and brother (SOUNDLY) tried to discourage me from buying an ace of base tape because "they're nazis"... only one reason i should have saved my allowence...

"He doesn't tie up women does he?"

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Circa 1987, in the car, my uncle driving, with my cousins and my Black Flag Who's Got the 10 1/2? cassette in the stereo.

Henry Rollins: "...Can you help me? Can you help me? Can you help me? Can you help me?"

My uncle: "I CAN HELP YOU!"

(ejects tape and throws it at us in the backseat)

My Mum, walking into my bedroom while I was playing "Atmosphere" by Joy Division.

related: my husband and mom-im-law were driving somewhere and "Conduit for Sale" came on the college station (WREK!). She says, "He's sure trying, isn't he?"

sure, but I bet they're FUNNY!

my mom: "the Beatles were okay, but we didn't listen to that. We were into Motown. We liked to dance."

"I'm sure the 'A' stands for anus!" - My mother upon seeing a video by the long-lost "punk" band, The A's.

"Listen to that harmonizing...wow." My mom, re the Beatles.

My friend Rob's dad upon hearing Bauhaus' "Stigmata Martyr", reaching breaking point and then forcibly removing the vinyl from the stereo.

"Slut!" -- My father, strangely, upon flipping channels and catching five seconds of "The Barbara Mandrell Hour"

My mom would always say something like "Ugh, how can you listen to this funeral parlor music?" to just about everything I used to listen to in high school, from Depeche Mode to REM. She may have had a point.

My father on my request for The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust for my 12th birthday in 1972.

I don't know what was worse: the disappointment at being denied this strange but beautiful thing, or the knowledge that he'd put himself through going into Berg's and asking them to play the whole flipping thing while he stood there trying to discern lyrics likely to corrupt my fragile adolescent mind.

nates mom is such a mom

One of my favourite threads ever. More words of wisdom from moms and dads than the average music blog/column. Also, Nate Carson's mom is 100% correct.

I am very proud of my Mom. She saw the Beatles, Hendrix, Iron Butterfly, Led Zeppelin with Grand Funk, etc.

We saw Korn open for Ozzy in '95 and she was complaining about them. My younger brother was in a sort of proto-metal-core band called Gunpro (think Bloodlet, Deadguy, Today is the Day). After two Korn songs, Mom says "this sucks. Why didn't they get Gunpro to open?"

Oh--also I recall being about 16 and playing Einsturzende Neubauten really loud on the home stereo. My dad walked through the room and paused for a second to say "great drummer". Then he headed outside.

You seem to live the life of a Wes Anderson movie that's actually good.

Yes, a very low budget Wes Anderson movie.

Just recalled another time when my dad mentioned how he liked the new Smashing Pumpkins single. "Rat in a cage. That's me!" he says.

The Clash - "The Guns of Brixton"
Mom [voice dripping with disappointment in me]: "Oh dear..."

i have too many of these to name. anyone who has met my father understands my obsessive musical geekiness a lot more. so, my father.

-Dad: You know, I'm glad that we're listening to ABBA right now. I was wrong about them all these years. (during cross-country road trip)

-Dad: Who is this?
Me: the Gang of Four.
Dad: This is great. (pauses). But except for the girls, it's too white.

-Dad: So guess what happened today?
Me: What, pops? (i do call him pops)
Dad: I was listening to that disco mix you gave me, and that really long version of 'Get Down Tonight' came on, and I was sitting in the parking lot blasting it. And my secretary walked by, and just stared at me as if I was crazy.
Me: Rofl.

my dad is a lawyer. hates the beatles, loves the stones, has an abiding love for disco, soul and juke-joint music. really great.

on the other side, my mom.

*blasting Lucio Aquilina in my room*
MOM: This is quite entrancing. People dance to this?

driving her to work when her leg was broken:
Mom: Who is this?
Me: They're called Low. The guy and lady singing are married.
Mom: I hope they're in counseling.

On Gorecki:
Mom: I just want to drift into nothing when I listen to this. (languishes drammatically on the sofa)

My dad never appreciated rap until I played him Buck 65.

Also, one time I was playing Aesop Rock in the car and he asked me if he plays live because he can't imagine anyone memorizing all those words.

i was home the other weekend and my 66-yr-old dad (who plays guitar, piano and a little accordion and a few years ago sent me about 50 burned cds of pre-1960 roots rock, blues and country music) said, "i don't listen to music anymore."

but then he mentioned that he'd probably buy the latest dylan bootleg volume. so i don't believe him.

(oops, he's only 64. sorry dad.)

My mom has asked me several times which rapper it is that does "the mama song," in reference to 2Pac's Dear Mama. She also experienced a heightened respect for Snoop Dogg when she learned that he also recorded a song for his mama.

Whenever I'm in a car with her playing something and ask if she likes it, she'll often say, "It's pretty mellow/It's not too crazy" which is a positive response. But I thought she would like TVOTR's Family Tree and she said it "sounds like Pink Floyd." She hates Pink Floyd.

If Justin Timberlake ever comes on TV, my stepdad will start making "gay fag" comments.

My dad once described something as "like a heavier Jesus Jones(!)" I can't for the life of me remember what it was.

I love this thread. Totally forgot that I posted on it five years ago!

my aunt says that people like to copy bob dylan

like, everyone

Your parents' comments are all so dear.

driving her to work when her leg was broken:
Mom: Who is this?
Me: They're called Low. The guy and lady singing are married.
Mom: I hope they're in counseling.

^how did this go unappreciated

Dad, on Basement Jaxx's 'The Singles': David what is this *crap*?!

on David Bowie's 'Let's Dance: easily on my top songs list, easily

I turned to the internet/older first cousin for my musical education.

Last night we were talking about bands/musicians that ate in my parents old restaurant. He said "The Kiss" when he really meant New York Dolls and then announced that "Meatball" had been there too.

"what the fuck is that?"

"this is slit your wrists shit, this, son"

"fuck's sake turn it off it's doing my head in"

"keep it down son your dad is trying to sleep"

"what a racket"

"is there any need for that" etc

My parents have been pretty great at keeping their opinions to themselves, although my dad did give a very literal face-palm upon seeing me rent some Kurt Cobain bio VHS way long ago.

upon hearing a mashup I did, mom asks, "so where are you in here?"

My mom was conservative but when I went out she always asked if we would be dancing. Her view was that dance music was better for kids than other kinds of music (angry, depressed, crabby) and that it was good to go to a dance club or a dance concert, even if it was some place where people dressed funny or had weird hair.

my mom just sent me her xmas list and asked for a "Pete Seeger CD (one with "Old Fashion Rock n' Roll" on it)"

<3 my mom

Mom: "What's that song, that one that reminds me of David Lynch? Something about never falling in love? Isaac Hayes, isn't it?"
Me: "Chris Isaak, mom. 'Wicked Game.'"
Mom: "Oh, you didn't have to tell me, I'd have got there in the end!"

LOL @ "Meatball"

"Pete Seeger CD (one with "Old Fashion Rock n' Roll" on it)"

For a split second, I thought "My gawd! Did he really cover that??"

a few years ago I had to drive my dad to and from his workplace for 90 days (draw your own conclusions...) and I normally played my own CDs/iPod while driving. these are some of his most memorable comments:

[some Biosphere track with a jazzy drum loop...maybe "Birds Fly By Flapping Their Wings"?]

dad: "where is this from? it sounds like it's from somewhere tropical!"

(I had to explain to him that Geir Jenssen lives some distance north of the Arctic Circle)

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[Neil Young - On the Beach]

dad: "is this one of the Beatles?"
me: "no, it's Neil Young"
dad: "oh, I thought he sounded familiar!"

(he was a huge Neil Young fan in the '70s)

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[The Sundays - Blind, about halfway through the final track "Wild Horses"]

dad: "is this Jewel?"

(Jewel was just about the only singer he listened to between 1995 and 2005)

---

[the opening seconds of Cornelius's "Mic Check", where it sounds like someone is opening a soda can or crinkling a candy wrapper or whatever]

dad: "what's that sound!?"

(he thought there was something wrong with the car)

---

[some Colleen track with sampled wind chimes or music boxes]

dad: "is this a church bell choir?"
me: "uh idk, I guess"

(he went off on a tangent about how much he loves church bell choirs)

My 70-year Dad trying to recall if he saw Bob Dylan live in New Brunswick NJ, circa 1964, "Would he have had a harmonica around his neck." Yes Dad.

Now he is really, really into electronic music, he listens to the Sirius XM BPM station exclusively, and he is trying to get me to listen to Armand Van Helden. I played him Robyn's Dancing On My Own the other week and he said "I like that a lot. Are there any remixes? They're usually better."

Strange, but awesome.

wkiw your dad

Today my dad told me I should set up my drum set on the sidewalk and lure people to come closer with a lemonade stand.

"I don't like rap. It doesn't have any rhythm." -- My mom, today.

^peak mom

In high school whenever I mentioned the Doors my Dad would say "Never heard of them. I've heard of Diana Dors though." He found himself hilarious
u_u

My niece was super into the Jonas Bros - her grandma could never remember their name & called them "The Framas Brothers"

still a family joke to this day

Upon hearing anything I was listening to "Ah but it's not as good as my old Johnny Horton record is it?"

^ my dad

My parents and I have never really talked about music much because we're from completely different worlds on it, but there was one time when I was a teenager that I was having some friends over for a birthday party and among the things I'd rented at the store was the Every Breath You Take: The Videos vhs compilation of videos by The Police. My dad gave me a frown and said "I'm not really comfortable with you kids watching those heavy metal videos."

He said "The Kiss" when he really meant New York Dolls and then announced that "Meatball" had been there too.

I am cracking up at every part of this sentence.

i just read this whole thread. A+++¥¥¥¥•¥

My father, on William Basinski's Disintegration Loops: "you wait 40 minutes for fookin' nothing to happen"

Can't say I disagree. My Dad probably has a more respectable taste in music than me as far as most people are concerned, but he's totally OTM with this

My mom:

RE: David Axelrod: "This isn't. . . cohesive."

RE: Kid A: "It's so dissonant and that singer is so whiney."

RE: John Lennon 'Mother': "Did you pay for that CD? You got ripped off."

RE: Bitches Brew: "This sounds like a bad hangover."

"...Locust Abortion Technician? Is that really necessary?"

RE: Kid A: "It's so dissonant and that singer is so whiney."

Mom OTM

he is trying to get me to listen to Armand Van Helden

kornrulez6969 you should listen to your father

My mom, walking by as "Lick My Decals Off, Baby" was playing:

"What's this jerk's problem?"

My dad, hearing me listening to a CD of Fred Frith solo guitar stuff:

"This music is depressive... MANIC DEPRESSIVE."

After an interminable Yes concert in 1984 (that my brother and I dragged our dad to since we were too young to go on our own), dad said, "You know...they just didn't swing." He was right.

My Dad doing an impromptu impression of the Streets circa '04: 'Then I called up my mate who said do ya wanna come around / I said no, I'd rather jus' fuck around dahn town'.

Although he also once said that Dry Your Eyes was the best song he'd heard, lyrically, since Dylan, so