Name: Brian Alves
Message: My wife is pregnant and all I can think about is what music I am going to pass on to him, or her! I know it's selfish to only think about that but I think it's a really important thing that my mother did for me. What music is good enough now to pass on to my kids?
Dear Brian,
Congratulations on your future addition! Babies are wonderful and I’m so so excited for you! So you want to know what music to pass on?
Honestly, I think it should be whatever you LOVE. Whatever music moves you, and you feel passionate about, is what you should be passing on. We may have different ideas of music suitable for passing on. For instance, I find Dave Matthews to be incredibly boring and would never subject a human whose upbringing I’m responsible for to that snoozefest. You, on the other hand, possibly a Dave fan (sorry!), may detest Bright Eyes and think Conor Oberst is a whiny bitch, while I will totally listen to him for hours, while lying in the dark and crying. JUST KIDDING, no crying! (but the rest is accurate).
Anyway, I think as long as it’s music that means a lot to you, that’s good. I grew up in a musical home; we had a record playing at dinner most nights, whether it was Bob Dylan or the Grateful Dead. I remember being very young and going to bluegrass festivals, as well as falling asleep to the sounds of my dad’s band practice drifting up from the basement.
“Good enough” seems kind of relative. Personally, I would suggest staying away from anything with any kind of derogatory message, or anything misogynistic. I wouldn’t want to ever pass those ideas on to my children, no matter how “fun” that hip hop song is in which the artist repeatedly calls women “hoes.” Also, maybe no ICP? Unless you’re already a juggalo, and in that case, apologies! They’re a very nice people, but again, not what I’d want for my child.
For real though? My non-existent kids would be exposed to lots of genres and artists because music is wonderful and how could it not be a huge part of my future spawn’s life like it was mine? -TM
REWIND to this...
The Beatles - Dear Prudence: I don’t know, of course I’ll expose my kids to newer music. But The Beatles are classic. They make me smile, and this song does especially. It’s also on The White Album which is so damn good it’s silly! I would probably have my baby listening to this while still in the womb. It makes me think warm happy thoughts, and wouldn’t that be nice for your rug rats? In a world that’s so scary, a little happy is okay.