Blowin' in the wind

"Wanna hear my favorite song. It's by Eminem."
The fifteen year old sat herself down at the lunch table and produced her i-phone.

"Sure, why not?"

What eminated from Eminem was a set of obscene lyrics embedded in some cacaphonous noise masquerading as music.

"Have you ever listened to folk music?" I asked naively.

"What's that?

"Music of the '60s with a message--antiwar songs (It was Vietnam in those days), human rights, rebellion, love, home, railroads, prisons, poverty, country, mountains. Beautiful melodies."

"I don't know."

"Have you ever heard of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Peter, Paul, and Mary, the Weavers, the New Christie Minstrals, John Denver, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Simon and Garfunkle, Harry Belefonte, the Kingston Trio?"

"No!"

"How about the Beatles? You must have heard of them."

"Sort of."

"Folk Music had a message. Not just sex."

"If it was so good, how come it's not popular now?

"Good question. The Beatles, Elvis. Rock and roll took over, followed by hip hop, rap, hard rock, God knows what else. Country and Western is still current. I wonder whether anyone will remember Eminem fifty years from now. It led to Neil Diamond, Billy Joel and others you would recognize. Type some of those names into Pandora.com. and listen to "Where have all the flowers gone?" "If I had a hammer," "The sound of silence," The times they are a changin'," Kisses sweeter than wine. "Blowin' in the wind," "Rocky Mountain high." You might find that you like it."

"I doubt it."