Okay, everybody settle down...


Why does everybody get so outraged over Ashlee Simpson? Is it really some sort of groundbreaking concept that *gasp* teenage girls may not listen to music you like?? I mean come on...Ashlee is not my favorite artist out there, but since when are older people supposed to LIKE the garbage teenagers listen to? If there’s one thing I’ve learned while following local bands and stuff like that, it’s that not everybody likes the same shit, no matter how amazing or how awful you think something is. My favorite band of the minute may not appeal to even the people whose musical tastes are the most similar to mine, let alone someone nearly half my age. And likewise vise-versa. So whatever. I think where you gotta draw the line is at the point where you are able to recognize WHY someone is popular, and appreciating that for what it is. What you look for in entertainment is not necessarily the standard for everybody.

Take Ashlee…Now I don’t think she has a very good voice, is particularly attractive, or sings about anything interesting. But I didn’t watch the Ashlee Simpson show. More importantly, the Ashlee Simpson show was not made so that people like me would give a shit. Ashlee is still a star because she has been properly sold to the people who will buy her albums. Is it some sort of groundbreaking story that little girls will respond to whatever they are told is cool, rather than what they may actually like? I hope not, cause I kinda go into this stuff assuming that’s how it works.

So yeah…You know what? I burned a copy of Turn on the Bright Lights for my parents. They are both extremely open minded music listeners. And they hated it. Weird? That parents and kids don’t always agree on their musical tastes? Hardly. I think for people in their quarter-life stage are having a tough time grasping the idea that they are closer to their parents now than they are to highschoolers. We still feel like we can relate to 16 year olds, so when we see them listening to stuff we don’t like, it frustrates us, but that's the way it's supposed to be. Whether we like it or not, we don’t have all that much in common with those kids anymore. I guess alls I’m trying to say is a plea for everybody to chill out, grow up, and stop caring what people 10 years your younger are listening to. It shouldn’t affect you in any way.

Besides, if your favorite band was hip with the kiddies, you prolly wouldn’t listen to them anymore…So be glad they’re listening to shit you don’t like anyway.