When we pick up Joan, our now 10 year old granddaughter, from her school, the first thing she likes to do is to grab my phone and play music. Usually, her choices have been songs from films targeted at children, like songs from Disney films and the like. But yesterday, something different happened. She played a song by a group called Matchbox 20. I can’t tell you the name of the song, but it wasn’t a children’s song, and it was pretty good, I thought. The lyrics (I didn’t listen too closely) were clever – maybe something about the end of the world? I am not sure. But it seemed to me that it was one more step in growing up.

Of course, I had never heard of Matchbox 20, a four man group from Orlando. They have only been singing for 30 years. That is probably why. Wikipedia characterizes them both as “pop rock” (I think I might understand that) and “post-grunge” (which I don’t understand at all). Wikipedia defines post-grunge as “an offshoot of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge” that became a designation for groups popular in the 1990s. Well, that was 30 years ago, about the time that Matchbox 20 got its start. (You wonder if I know what grunge itself is. Wikipedia says that grunge comes from the 1980s and that it fuses “punk rock with heavy metal” and uses a “distorted electric guitar sound”. None of that means much to me.)

Of course, I don’t know where Matchbox 20 stands politically.

I do know where Bruce Springsteen stands politically, as he has been very outspoken against our Great Leader recently. I guess that may be influential for some people and I am sure it was a very brave stance for Springsteen to have taken. I don’t, by the way, know what 10 year old Joan thinks of Springsteen’s music; my guess is that she has never heard of him, or at least can’t identify him.

But, guess what? I couldn’t identify him, either. I know that there is such a person and I know that he is called The Boss and I know that he comes from Asbury Park, New Jersey. Am I right? But could I identify Springsteen if he was standing in a police line as part of a group of possible perpetrators? I’d give myself a 50/50 chance. Not more. And what do I think of Springsteen’s music? I have no opinion there, because I don’t know that I have ever heard any of it. And if I have seen, say, a snippet here or there, it certainly didn’t sink in at all. Could I name a Springsteen song? No. Is his music heavy metal, punk rock, grunge or post-grunge? I have no clue whatsoever.

I have said this before, but I basically tuned out the music that everyone else (or at least the majority of everyone else) listens to. I do listen to classical music (not as much as I would like to), and real oldies (pre-1960 or so), some show tunes, and klezmer, and I am always interested in music from far away parts of the world (say Africa or Latin America, although most of that doesn’t enter my memory bank, either). If you asked me, in fact, I would tell you that I do think music is an important part of my life.

So, why is this, and what does it mean? For example, if I listened to Bruce Springsteen and all those other folks (who is Shakira, who canceled her concert here this week? She was going to fill 40,000 seats in National’s Park?), would I understand America better? Would I know why people voted for Trump?

One thing is clear to me. I don’t regret not having listened to any of this kind of music for the past 60 years or so. And I really don’t think I have missed anything in my life because of my lack of attention. I guess that if I were interested in any of this, I would have more to talk about with people, and I would want to attend a concert here or there. But…..so what?

Before I sign off this morning, a few questions. First, what is going on in Boulder, where the Feds have picked up Mohamed Soliman’s family and put them in detention,  although at this point there seems to be no evidence they were involved in his crime? And whether or not they were involved, while he might be spending decades in an American prison, they may immediately deported. Why? Because they are related to him? What will we do next? Start blowing up defendants’ houses?

How will we get out of this mess? At what point will it be clear that the Trump administration cannot last.

And finally, Musk’s “I just can’t stand this any more”. His DOGE work failed, his auto business is crashing, his rocket business is really crashing, he is living on a combination of legal and illegal drugs. There is more that he can’t stand than Trump’s beautiful bill. I think the mental health professionals ought to keep a close eye on him before he does something irreversible to himself.