I was having lunch in a local tavern the other day, when Randy Travis’ 1987 country hit “Forever and Ever, Amen” came on the jukebox.Wow! That song sounds as good as it did 40 years ago! Maybe better!Why is it that some things have a timeless quality and other things don’t?My friends and I often argue about if a song, or a book, or a TV show “holds up”? Does it still retain that original freshness and quality it seemed to have when it first appeared?Of course, when you’re young, you’re not the best judge of artistic quality. You absorb whatever you see or hear around you. You like this song or that TV show, but it’s not based on anything substantial. When you get older, you notice that some of the stuff you liked as a kid was not very good.Think of all the bad music you listened to in your parents’ car growing up. Or the terrible TV shows you watched when you were 10. Nobody’s watching reruns of “The Six Million Dollar Man” or “Kung Fu” nowadays, two TV shows I loved as a kid.Poser punksA couple of years ago, I spent an evening at a college friend’s house where we went through his extensive collection of old punk records. It was many decades past the prime of punk rock, and a lot of the more outrageous punk music sounded pretty stupid. It didn’t “hold up.” We liked it at the time. But we would never listen to it now. In some cases, you could tell the musicians were just playing at being punk. They had the goofy sunglasses, spiky hair, simplistic music. They were imitating more than creating. They didn’t actually address what the real punk kids were feeling. There was an authenticity problem. You can’t be great if you’re just following the latest trend.RELATED: I was a ‘problem student’ — until all-male Catholic school let me be a boy Alex_Bond/Bettman/Getty Images’Hey, I used to like that song!’My college friend and I unearthed a 7” single by a local new wave band we had liked when we lived in Boston. These guys had good songs. A good sound. A good stage presence. Their single was genuinely catchy and played regularly on our college radio station.But when we put that same single on years later, it wasn’t good. It sounded cheesy and embarrassing. It was dated. It sounded a lot like another Boston band, The Cars, who were also very popular around the same time. The Cars songs are also dated and a little bit cheesy, but they still sound great on the radio. They sound classic. So what did The Cars have that the other band lacked? Talent? Presence? Craftsmanship? Why is it that some things have a timeless quality and other things don’t?Scantily cladI think about current pop music. There seems to be a new “pop star” every week. These are mostly singers and mostly young women. People like Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo, and Sabrina Carpenter. They come and go so fast, you can barely remember their names. Most of their music is made by highly paid music producers. These people know how to make hit records. All the girls have to do is sing and look cute.Even country music, which tends to reward quality over slickness, has become so popular that there is a certain disposability there as well. There are a lot of “one-hit wonders,” just like in the pop world. Morgan Wallen is one country star who seems to have staying power. He sounds fresh and original, but you can hear the echoes of classic country in his songs. Also, his attempted cancellation, back in 2021, has given him an underdog status among fans. Talent on loan from GodBut beyond politics, beyond competing styles and industry trends, there is GOD-GIVEN TALENT. Which is where legendary singers like Randy Travis come in. Of course, Travis fans know about his struggles outside of music. They understand the pressures and temptations of being so good at something that you become world-famous. Travis has definitely had his ups and downs.But oh, if you could have heard “Forever and Ever, Amen” coming out of that jukebox! Here was a song that was once a No. 1 radio hit, but now sounds like a timeless American classic.Randy Travis, we salute you, brother! Especially on a hot summer day, in the cool darkness of a half-empty tavern. YOU HOLD UP. And we appreciate it!
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