Leddy Z or 1D?

I'm currently rediscovering the Flower Child Era.  I would say that my taste is eclectic at best, and borderline schizophrenic at worst, but Hippie Generation is something I will always return to.  It's true that the purists left the movement before the masses REALLY jumped on board, but something of the spirit must have remained.

I remember that I used to be completely infatuated with Led Zeppelin.  I still love Classic Rock, and Zep is my favorite all-time band, but I was obsessed.  So obsessed that I can no longer make fun of Beliebers and Directioners with impunity.

Jimmy Page, 9th grade

I could-and often did-listen to the Mighty Zep for hours on end.  I thought their songs very profound, and myself equally so, for listening to it.  It's pretty funny to me now, that I used to lay with my hair artfully fanned out across the floor, moved to tears, tracing the music in the air.  What a little snot I was.  To me, classic rock was the only music worth listening to, and Led Zeppelin was superior to everything, end of discussion.

13 year olds can be such snobs, can't they?

Courtesy of Pinterest

I remember in an interview, Slash (of Guns N Roses) denounced One Direction for being meaningless and pointless and a bunch of other less favorable adjectives.  He said that its just a bunch of shallow, recycled ideas recycled to teenaged girls-an extension of the materialism of our time.  And I don't think the Almighty Slash is wrong, exactly, but I don't think he's being fair.  Everyone has different emotional baggage and so one song to one person might mean something different to another.  Personally, my theory is that One Direction gets accused of being frivilous and shallow because a lot of people that listen to them are, in my estimation, frivilous and shallow.  But that can be said for any artist, and it's simply unfortunate for them that their targeted audience is in the throes of pubescent agony.  I went through a Jonas Brothers stage myself.  (I prefer not to think about it)

You know that one song by One Direction that everyone knows? What Makes You Beautiful?  I love that song.  In fact I love all five songs that I've ever bothered to listen to by them.  What are the lyrics? I dunno.  Who sings what part? I don't care.  What's the song's message? Went over my head.  I may not be a hard core admirerer, but I do to some extent appreciate the songs because they are like a trip down memory lane, back to my own Jo Bro days.

When I hear One Direction on the radio, it makes me feel younger and carefree.  Suddenly I'm 12 again (this being pre-Zeppelin), and I remember the things I used to say, and the things I used to like, the people I used to be friends with.

So maybe boy bands are all recycled stuff-there are those that would agree and those that wouldn't.  But does it even matter?  Eventually those annoying little girls will grow up, but that special part of adolescence will be forever preserved with those silly songs.

But Led Zeppelin IS the best. Just saying.

Robert Plant was such a Babe. (courtesy of Pinterest)