Opinion | A Trip Down ‘Penny Lane’

Our connection to music can span genres and decades, so let’s not forget about the oldies. Photo collage by DANIEL PEARSON, Photo Editor

A typical question someone might ask to get to know another person is, “What is your favorite type of music?” or “Who is your favorite artist?” 

Though these appear to be easy questions with short and quick answers, I am immediately confronted with a loss for words.. After a few moments of deliberation, I usually reply by saying, “I like songs from the 60s, 70s and 80s but also current genres like pop, rap, indie…” I could go on and on.

Sarrah Wilkes, Web Editor

Then I tell myself that probably sounded much more confusing than it needed to be. But when so many different genres of music have made an impact on my life, it's hard to give an easy answer. 

Don't get me wrong, I love Taylor Swift as much as the next person, but I’ve found that earlier genres of music — the “oldies” — have proven influential to my life dating back to my childhood. 

Flashback to when I was a little girl sitting in the backseat of my parents car: whether it be on one of our road trips to Tahoe and Yosemite, or on the way to school, my dad would always be playing the classics. I would gaze out the backseat window, singing along to songs like The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” or “Start Me Up” by The Rolling Stones. 

I grew up listening to classic rock and folk music of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, because that's what my parents loved and passed down to me.

I remember when I was a little kid having dance parties to the discography of Paul McCarney, Van Morrison, Elton John and countless other Rock and Roll Hall of Fame icons. Being an avid fan of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, my dad wanted to make sure I explored all realms of music and knew where the birth of classic rock and other genres began. 

Fast forward to March 2020, where everyone and everything was on lockdown. Living in your home was taken to a whole new level, and you felt like you could never leave. 

But quarantine made my parents and I enjoy sitting in our backyard more; we would eat dinner outside and enjoy the fresh air. Part of this routine included my speaker serenading us with a playlist I made full of music from my parents' generation. It currently comprises 223 songs (and growing), incorporating my mom's favorites — such as James Taylor — and my dad's love for The Rolling Stones. 

Thanks to listening to that playlist almost every day, I not only memorized Don McLean’s 9-minute song “American Pie,” but I found it brought me and my family closer during such a chaotic time. 

Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, The Rolling Stones, Billy Joel and more became the friends that made isolation a little more bearable. My parents loved reminiscing with each song, and my love for that music continued to grow. 

My relationship with music has been my outlet for stress. Whether it be playing it or listening to it, I am transported into a different world. I let creativity flow and relieve stress while I play the piano, saxophone or guitar, as I put my mind at ease. 

And to this day, when the world feels overwhelming, when I'm at the gym, when I’m on a walk, when I’m relaxing, when I want to reminisce or when I just want to listen to some good music, I’ll turn to my friends from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. 

Music is a form of self expression. Whether a song is a reflection on oneself, a historic event, a memory or simply just for fun, its intent is to invoke emotion from the audience. Because music is a way for people to express themselves, the diversity in genre is a further reflection of individuality: I can go from listening to pop to folk music within seconds and feel like I'm time traveling with just the tap of a finger on Spotify. 

I travel to “Vienna” with Billy Joel, go “Into the Mystic” with Van Morrison, walk “Penny Lane” with The Beatles and embrace my love for “California” with Tom Petty. I will even have “Dreams” with Fleetwood Mac, strive to be “Jessie's Girl” to Rick Springfield, “Take it Easy” with the Eagles and always know that “Time is on my Side” with The Rolling Stones. 

It's more than just about liking the music from these decades; listening to these songs stirs up a nostalgia within me — memories of my family and growing up listening to the oldies on repeat. 

Trust me, I like music from our generation too and look forward to seeing the mix of both pop and classic rock on my Spotify wrapped each year. But hey, throwing a few Beatles songs into the mix doesn't hurt anyone. 

So the next time I am asked the loaded question of “What's your favorite type of music?” know that it's not going to be an easy answer. You will most likely get a long response where you probably didn't need to hear about my expansive music taste, but in the wise words of The Beatles, “In my life, I’ve loved them all.”