No one ever asks me to give commencement speeches. The one I wrote this morning is probably a good reason why. Well, that and I’m not famous. But if I could give a commencement speech based on the thing I love the most – music, of course – this would be it.
So you’re graduating high school. Congratulations.
This summer will be all about partying. It’s a wonderful time in life, isn’t it? You’re in that naive, stupid stage between celebration and the realization that life after high school pretty much sucks. You will party this summer. You will party like it’s your job to be reckless and idiotic. And that’s ok. I’m not here to talk to you about alcohol poisoning or safe sex. I’m here to talk to you about the choices you will make regarding music. Oh, it is too important.
See, one day thirty years from now you will be sitting at your desk listening to music and a song will come on. Let’s say it’s Justin Bieber. You’ll chuckle to yourself and think “Man, did I ever really like this song? Did I really think this was good?” But that matters not. Because you will sing along with it. You will smile. You may wince a little bit at the induced nostalgia and melancholy. You may sigh and long for the days when you felt free and full of hope. But you will sing, because you will have some awesome memories tied up in Justin Bieber’s wretched little voice.
Photo by Michele Catalano 2008
I’m not going to tell you to not like what you like. Go ahead. Listen to all the Ke$ha and Bieber your heart and ears desire. Listen to pop punk and wistful emo and some indie band that’s made up of two guys playing the spoons over a barking dog. But don’t let that be all you listen to. There’s so much out there. There will be moments in the future where memories will pop into your head unannounced and you’ll start reminiscing. Reminiscing comes with a soundtrack. Songs will pop into your head. Whether you’re thinking about the night you lost your virginity in the parking lot of Chuck E. Cheese’s or the day you realized you’ll be paying forever for a useless degree, you don’t want it all to be set to the same music. Do you really want MGMT to be the sole artist on the soundtrack to your life? Do you want Lady GaGa to be the voice of every recollection? Do you want your future playlists tilted “Summer of FUN” to sound like the same All American Rejects song played over and over?
Let me answer that for you. No. You want more. You want some diversity. You want to mix it up. It’s all well and good to have a favorite genre of music, but if you don’t mix it up a bit, you’ll be using the same song for your wedding slideshow that you’ll use when you upload to YouTube the video of you burning down your trailer when you attempted a career as a meth dealer. Yea, life is going to suck sometimes, kids. You may have great moments of achievement. But you’ll also have your share of moments of despair. And you’ll need music for all those occasions, for the weddings and births, for the AA meetings and sentencings, for the job promotions and unemployment checks, for the day you buy a house and the day you move back into your mother’s basement. For every party there will be a night spent in the house crying that the world hates you and you’ll die alone. For every weekend fling with a dozen friends and a truckload of beer there will be a summoning to the boss’s office. When these things happen you’ll be glad you had different music marking the occasions.
Listen, I know you’re really into chillwave right now. Or maybe it’s synth-pop or noise pop or dance punk or good, old fashioned heavy metal. Whatever you are into, recognize that there’s a lot more out there. There are all kinds of waves and cores and pops. Diversify. Get out of the musical rut you don’t even know you’re in. Switch from the top 40 station that seems like all Timbaland all the time. Just go down the dial and find something else. Switch iPods with a friend. Browse through a record store. Listen to your parent’s music.
Trust me, you’re going to regret it some day if all you have to go with when making a playlist called “Remember That Summer After High School When We Got Wasted Every Day At The Beach House?” is a 40 minute loop of Ke$ha being featured on other people’s songs. If you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for your future self. You don’t want to be like my 40 year old coworker who just discovered The Pixies last week.
Life is going to be tough, kids. There are going to be many challenges ahead. There will be death and despair, joblessness and hopelessness. There will be breakups and loneliness, hunger and empty wallets. Yea, sure, all these things make you tougher. What doesn’t kill you and all that. Oh, there will be good things, too. There will be parties and paychecks and clandestine sex and drinks with names you can’t pronounce. You’ll fall in love, maybe you’ll get married, have kids, wear a suit and tie. Perhaps there will be trips to Europe or box seats at Yankee Stadium or a bit part in a music video (you’ll be the one in the first row flashing her tits). All these things, the good and the bad and the ugly will stay with you forever. It’s up to you to make sure the movie of your life (usually titled Regret, Part I) has an awesome soundtrack.
So go out there and listen. Make a decent playlist for your memories. Metal, indie pop, lo-fi and alternative. Hip-hop, teen pop and hard rock. Hardcore and sludge metal and crabcore.
Wait, no. Don’t listen to crabcore.
And don’t forget your sunscreen.
