To the Editor:
Ed Bialas '01 is probably about 18 or 19 years old. But even were he a wise "old" '98 of 21 or 22, he would still not be fit to analyze trends in music history over the past ten years or to compare current music to music from 30 years ago. In his Monday, April 6 column [The Dartmouth, "On Steve Miller and Other Things"], he referred to "music [which] has dwindled over the past ten years." It is interesting to note that any music released ten years ago was first heard by Bialas when he was seven or eight years old. Such music probably seemed like pretty revolutionary, bad-ass stuff to a third grader, and as a disillusioned sage, now in his teenage years, he may feel that today's music has less of an impact than did music in 1988, music by such powerful songwriters as Duran Duran and Tiffany.
Few professional historians feel qualified to objectively analyze trends which are still in the making. It is especially irksome to read opinions regarding music and social currents from thirty years ago by someone who did not exist at the time and who could not possibly have any realistic ideas about what that music meant to youth in the '70s. Furthermore, accusing the current generation of apathy is at this point not only cliched, but also widely recognized to be a claim without foundation. A good writer knows that he should stick to writing about topics and themes of which he has some direct knowledge and not merely misplaced nostalgia. An apt quote by an unidentified author reads, "Things just aren't like the good old days. But then again, they never were."
