The Musical Wasteland

I try not to get too heavy and deep into subjects (reminds me of my college
days when we used to sit around and talk about the meaning of life) but
tonight, I couldn't help but sit down and think about all the music I have
heard in my 51 years on this planet.

I started to think about the thousands of songs that, maybe at one time,
were big hits and then suddenly, nobody hears them anymore. In some
cases, it's almost a joke to admit that you used to like that song.

I could sit here now and give you examples until this thread reached over
10 pages, but that would just be an exercise in typing. I'm sure we can all
name hundreds of songs that are long gone and forgotten...some that
maybe never even got heard at all.

But all this got me to thinking, even for the "hits", what happens to these
songs? Do they really go forgotten? Will a day come when nobody is
going to remember "Good" by Better Than Ezra (just off the top of my head)

I mean, I remember when that song first came out and all the airplay it
got.

Today???

Is there anybody who even plays it anymore?

I don't remember the last time I heard a Renaissance song on the radio.

And some CDs...you can't even buy them anymore.

OK, I know I said I wouldn't start rattling off the long lost and forgotten
so let's get back to the philosophical discussion and where I'm going with
all this.

All these songs, big hit or small cult following, will there come a day when
it won't have even mattered that they were made at all?

I'm not talking about the end of mankind. Of course when that day comes,
nothing earthly will matter. I'm talking long before that day comes.

In 2112, should we even make it to that day, will it matter at all that
in 1970, "Something's Burning" By Kenny Rogers and the First Edition just
barely made the top 100 of that year?

Will the people of that era even know the song ever existed?

And if not, does it matter that it ever did beyond the instant gratification
that people of that era got from that song?

Sure, some songs will stand the test of time. But those songs are few
and far between. Even much early classical music has been lost to the
ages.

When was the last time you heard Schubert's 5th Symphony on the radio?

Many of my grandfather's 78s were never reprinted in CD format.

They're gone...forever.

The musical wasteland that is...it could fill up a black hole the size
of 100,000 of our moons.

And that would just barely scratch the surface.

And when I think of all that has been lost, or will be lost, it makes me
wonder what it's all for.

Yeah, that's why I try not to get too philosophical about this stuff because
ultimately...

It ends up taking me back to those college day rap sessions on the
meaning of life.

And that's when my head starts to hurt...big time.

PS - If you want to share some of your long lost and forgotten
tunes, I'm sure there are some here who would love to hear them.