Dear radio stations that play 70s and 80s music,

When I listen to your station, I will hear more Billy Joel songs in one day, nay one hour, than I ever heard living life in the 80s. I even went to see him in concert a couple of times, so like, he’s fine. But please… just stop. There are oodles and oodles of amazing songs from that era — you shouldn’t whittle it all down to just a few songs or artists on repeat. It’s a crime really.

So, while you all are ignoring a couple of decades worth of great music and selecting only the same handful of choices, can you, at the very least, please keep in mind that the Eagles wrote so many more songs than “Hotel California,” Journey is more than “Don’t Stop Believing,” Blondie had a few more hits than “Heart of Glass,” and “Landslide” is not Fleetwood Mac’s only creation?

As good as any one of these songs may be, I don’t want to hear them all the time.

Listen, if GEICO can create a fun commercial using Tag Team and a parody of their song “Whoomp! There It Is,” radio can surely diversify song selections a touch more. Some of us would possibly like a little more funk and a little less vanilla in our day.

But please, at a bare minimum, I’m begging you, ease up on the Billy Joel.

Sincerely,
Avid “oldies” music listener

Thank the Lord for music apps. Kids today have no idea about our music hardships — the era of scratched records and tangled tapes. Ahhh, nostalgia.

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The whole radio thing kind of reminds me of a friend, who, for a long while, liked to bring up things I did way back when. Con.stant.ly.

Ha ha, yeah that’s funny, would you please stop? No, seriously, I don’t want to talk about that anymore.

It’s not like I did anything particularly egregious, though I could be ever so slightly mischievous in the years of my youth. Unfortunately, with this guy, every conversation devolved into reminiscing about the same old things over and over. The same old tired cassette tape wearing thin.

As good as you think all that is, have you heard the tune of my life since? The music I’m playing now? Can we maybe talk about that?

I asked repeatedly that he stop, but he didn’t.

It got weird. I stopped talking to him for a bit.

There is more in my repertoire than silly teenage shenanigans. Some of it was truly fun — I cannot lie. That doesn’t mean I want to talk about it now. Some of it was not fun because I was internally reeling from dealing with chronic illness, from moving so much and having to make friends over and over again, from this, from that, from blah blah blah, from just wanting to be free from it all — particularly from other people’s perception of who they thought I was or should be.

All that was more than 30 years ago. I’ve grown. I’ve matured. I’m not the same person anymore. I’m on to a different groove these days.

I’ve walked through a ton and cried a lot of tears on my way out of the pain. Strangely enough, I think the most emotionally healing part of my life followed cancer and chemo. Going through that helped me to relinquish a lot of stuff. Refocus. I am finally living with a peace like I’ve never known. However, since then, I must confess, I’ve also held on to dear life at times through some of the worst anxiety I’ve ever known. It is quite a strange dichotomy. Yet somehow, the strong grip of peace is palpable in the midst of my worst anxiety moment.

Our lives are made up of many different movements, changes in melody and tempo, changes in mode, mood, and feeling. Filled with crescendos, largos, staccatos, and rests. There is no need to act like none of that is happening. Sometimes we rock out, sometimes opt for Bach. Sometimes we settle down into easy listening or choose to jazz it up. Sometimes we are soulful or sometimes we cry the blues. Some of you walk those country roads and some of us avoid that journey as much as possible.

In that vein, at the beginning of this new year, may I encourage you to examine the tunes you play in your head or what others insist you listen to? For some of you, this may be good music indeed. I feel though, for a good many of us, we need to switch up the lyrics we’ve played on repeat without inspection.

You were made by God for a purpose and to have life abundant. Search out your tune in Him. Discover His song for your life. Unfortunately, the world is full of people who want the opposite for you — some will even call it love. Be careful what you listen to. Make it a goal to hear the song God sings over you.

I’ll end with a friendly reminder — despite all that is happening in these odd times, we are still allowed to choose joy as our lyric, no matter the melody being played around us. Joy is not always an easy option, but it is there for the choosing. I highly recommend practicing joy as an antidote to the constant fear thrown at us day in and day out.

A funny aside: One day while listening to something on TV, I think, my daughter said, “This song is so depressing.” I laughed and said, “The words are ‘Joyful, joyful we adore thee.” She thought the “Ode to Joy” music was depressing, hahaha.

By the way, the friend and I are talking again. He hasn’t brought up long ago stories lately.

Happy New Year everyone. May this year be a year of healing, joy, peace, and wonder for you.

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For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. Zephaniah 3:17 NLT