By Jenni Kenel ’14

All my life I have been listening to “oldies” artists like Billy Joel, Elton John, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, The Doors, Three Dog Night and a ton more. The reason being that from the prime age of 5, my father would test me by asking, “Who is this artist, Jenni?” and when I was younger I had no idea.

Now that I am older (debatably wiser) I learned to love the music that my father does and realize how horrible most of the music of our generation is. It is filled with, according to my father, “songs by cookie cutter artists that produce bubblegum music.” It’s not like all of the music from this generation is bad, but compared to music from the 50s to the late 80s it is quite inferior. I won’t bore you with my opinion of how bland the more current music is, and how writing songs seem to take no more than two simple words like “Mmm Yeah.” This is not my purpose. No, my purpose is to thank the music my father introduced to me that have helped me over the years and taught me lessons. It also is to show to so many other teens that your “old man” who listens to “old music” can actually teach you a strong lesson. So, here goes:

I was in my house and listening to the lyrics of “Stairway to Heaven,” by Led Zeppelin and realized how content I was to continuously repeat this ten-minute anthem the entire night. I would have enjoyed listening to Robert Plant sing his heart out all night, but the song got to me, and I noticed something about the line: “Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run there’s still time to change the road you’re on.” I sat down and replayed the line, and I realized that I make mistakes. Also, that I will continue to do so throughout the duration of my life, but it is what I do afterwards to change, so I do not repeat said mistakes, is what Plant and the rest of Zeppelin wanted me to take away.

Thank you Hall & Oates for showing me that another person can help my dreams come true. Thank you Freddie Mercury and the rest of Queen for helping me to remember the definition of “fastidious” and inspiring my horse’s show name. Thank you Aerosmith for telling me to get back in the saddle so I can move forward. Thank you ZZ Top for shaping my expectations for a man─a sharply dressed one. And finally, thank you to my dad for introducing me to all of these wonderful artists and songs, which have taught me so much, at such a young age.