Should Elders Rock and Roll?

Should elderly people rock and roll? I should hope so! And we will.

Disclaimer - I’m in my late fifties and still crank up the loud music several times a week. But I remember my parents at my age now were very different. Their youth had been pre-rock and roll. As such, they didn’t much like it. Mum was a classical music fan. Nowadays, pretty much everyone under eighty or eighty-five grew up with rock. It only differs with the period. If you are eighty, it was Elvis et al in your seventies. The Beatles, Stones, and Dylan, and so on. I grew up with a bit of a punk fan, and even now I still raise a racket listening to the Sex Pistols, the Stooges, and the MC5. I can see myself in a few years time in an old people’s home, still listening to ldquo;Anarchy in the UKrdquo; while charging people in my wheelchair and sending their oxygen bottles flying...

Rock and Roll Through Decades

The phrase ldquo;rock and rollrdquo; dates back to the '50s and is still used today. I believe it was Alan Freed or Murray the K who often are credited with it. Even during the psychedelic phase, soul music age, rap, industrial, disco, and on and on, the phrase was/is still used.

Cool Elders and Their Stories

I've known a few ldquo;eldersrdquo; who were pretty cool people. There's no one size fits all rule in such things. I once met a remarkable neighbor lady in her 70s who kept ldquo;boy toysrdquo; and put one of them through college while getting happily and frequently laid until he graduated. Then she gently cut him loose and took up raising German Shepherds. I've often wondered how she fared in the rest of her life.

And remember the advice of Ben Franklin to young men on the selection of older women as mistresses. Life's funny, and people are strange.

Defining Elders

Define ldquo;eldersrdquo; in your mind. Regardless of age, the spirit of rebellion and enjoyment of life's simple pleasures transcends generational boundaries.