Anthem

I heard "Beautiful People" by Marilyn Manson yesterday.

I found myself having a profound appreciation for the song, whereas I remember when it first came out, I was decidedly unimpressed by it. Back then it seemed to me to be clutter in a popular culture that was already so riddled with shock value tactics of being noticed; piercings, tats, clefts... I remember thinking that the 90s was simply the 60s version of disenchantment with authority, however through a filter of angst and directionless rage.

I still feel the same way about piercing and tattoos for the sake of the act; I feel like they have been so thoroughly diluted as statements of individuality that they have an adverse affect. It is almost more original now to be devoid of markings and brands as such, the absence of these statements being a statement of its own.

What really held my attention about the song (as I found myself unconsciously cranking it up louder and louder) is that it brought me back to a period of my youth where the music really did have a resounding effect on the authority figures who stood above us. I was still in high school when the song came out- and I remember that if you made your support of Marilyn Manson or any such artist known, you were putting yourself at risk of expulsion. Similarly, I remember one girl being told that she was not to wear a shirt that had Alice in Chains written on it, the penalty being suspension. Of course, these ridiculous threats only served to have an adverse affect on us as students; essentially they were proving our point. The prior generation- that had once been known for standing up against he Vietnam war and protesting against ignorance and violence- had grown fat and lazy, they had lost their spark, they were irrelevant, and they were just plain wrong.

What got me to thinking, however, was the fact that the prior generation's anthems of upheaval and rage against the system was manifested in songs that seemed vanilla by our standards- our music was heavier, more shocking, it had rows of sharp teeth- shit, it had fangs.

My wife and I were in a music store the other day and there were some youngsters (12 - 15) looking at CDs, a phenomenon unto itself. I was quite surprised to hear one of them say "He's my hero!", noticing that they were holding and referring to a copy of "AntiChrist Superstar". A first I wondered- how do they even know about Marilyn Manson, and then I wondered- does the music we listened to have staying power- will it continue to be the defacto standard for anthems of frustration for future generations? If so, what will that say about the way we are perceived by our students, as we become teachers and people in authority roles? Will it make us any more relevant? Will it thin the barriers between us- the fact that we listened to music that had fangs?

Now, with my wife being seventeen weeks pregnant, I wonder whether the tendency will be for our child to revolt against the music we listened to while growing up. But it begs the question- where can it go from there? How much more shocking or cutting does it need to be? Or, will our kids also pick up copies of Marilyn Manson albums (digital versions, of course) and refer to these artists as heroes?

As the song frenzied its way to a close, I turned my volume down and then wondered about whether we would end up borrowing the music our kids will listen to, to exemplify a whole new era of distain for the system. After all, there's nothing that states that every subsequent generation has to feel like the music their parents listened to was vanilla. And if they do, it begs the question about just how hard that music will be.

In the meantime, I covet my time with tracks like "Beautiful People", because at least for me, the music hasn't gone soft or lost any relevance. If anything, it has improved with age.