Recently I conducted a small survey in a high school, asking a relatively simple question: Which band was the song "I am
the Walrus" written by?
Apparently not so simple. The resounding cries of "What the hell is I am the Walrus?" left me bemused. Out of over 100 people asked, only 23% of these young people could tell me the original writer of the song. This, one of John Lennon's lyrical masterpiece's, seems to have been lost with time. My question is, what chance do the songs of today have of withstanding the test of time, if songs by one of the greatest bands of all time are slowly fading away?
What about great rock bands like Led Zeppelin and The Sex Pistols who, along with The Beatles, helped to create the face of music as we now know it? Are they the next to go? Will the children of tomorrow have the same ignorance about the
origins of the noise that blares out from there speakers or iPod headphones as the children of today? No, of course not. There ignorance will be greater. After all, who is going to teach the next
generation, when the current generation hasn't been taught themselves?
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not calling for the kids to be strapped to chairs and everything from Sinatra to The Sex Pistols being forced into their brains, but maybe giving them a little bit of knowledge about where todays music comes from would do them good. I mean, what harm could it be telling them that Working Class Hero wasn't written by Green Day, and that I am the Walrus isn't the latest mix from DJ Whatshisface?
The kids of tomorrow need the kids of today to be able to teach them about the culture of yesterday. If they can't do that, then it won't be "What the Hell is I am the Walrus?" I hear, it will be "Who the hell are The Beatles?"