We have resisted. We still have albums, CDs, hell, we have 8-Tracks. Still, today we have succumbed to the 21st century. This evening my sons each got their own mp3 players. For the price, I got a lot of features and won’t cry if (when) they accidentally destroy it. I loaded The Rolling Stones “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” onto it as the debut song (good message to learn in that chorus…”but if you try sometimes, you might get what you need”). Even as I type my sons are falling asleep to Queen.
The purpose of the mp3 players was to help the boys learn the music of their generation so that they would have more to talk about with their friends (at least that’s the reasoning they used when asking for the mp3 players). Yet when I asked them for a list of songs they wanted downloaded to their mp3 players, these are the lists I was given.
Older son: “We Will Rock You”, “We Are the Champions”, “Gangham Style” (no, not going on the mp3 player), Justin Bieber songs, One Direction songs, Queen, The Beetles (I explained how to spell it when referring to the band, remember he’s a science guy, but for accuracy that is how it was written on his list), any songs by Batoven (Beethoven), Bach, and Motzart (Mozart).
Younger son: Michael Jackson, “We Will Rock You”, “We Are the Champions”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, The Beatles, Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Beautiful Boy (by John Lennon). (He’s not necessarily a better speller than his older bro, but he dictated his list.)
I feel we have done a fine job of building their musical foundation. As we explored the stacks of CDs, they also chose Earth, Wind, & Fire (particularly “that song from Night at the Museum“) and Brian Setzer Orchestra. I also pulled Billy Joel, a 70s compilation CD, and Peter Gabriel’s So. I’m smart enough to know to let Daddy pick the Sinatra that they need. We’ll keep digging through the CDs and we’ll keep buying from Amazon (who graciously load it directly into the cloud for me).
So here we are joining the 21st century and they only ask for two or three artists that originated in this century.
As I played “Bohemian Rhapsody” for younger son, I felt such joy teaching him when to headbang, when to play air guitar versus air drums versus air piano. We discussed cross-hand pieces for the piano. I told him how the song was recorded without any synthesizers and the urban legend that surrounds how thin the tape got as they kept re-dubbing it to get the full chorus sound just from their four voices. Ah, tradition in the 21st century is not so different from the traditions of yore.
I feel a certain peace knowing that my sons are drifting into sweet dreams listening to the beautiful vocals of Freddie, the amazing bass lines played by John, the extraordinary drum solos played by Roger, and the Red Special strummed by Brian.
And imagine the joy in our home when my sons discover that Queen has been Lego-ed. 
ohbloodyhell8 