Kid Critic

He’s twelve. He’s smart and talented.

And opinionated.

He told me he’d never heard a Beatles song before. I was only a little surprised, as it seems at least one might have come across his path some time since 2008. I asked him if he wanted to hear one.

“Sure.”

Two issues:

1) Is this the time to expose him to the world’s greatest band of all time?

2) Of course. So, which song?

I went to my downloads. Which ever song comes up first, I’d present. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Reprise). A fine selection. It’s only a minute long, it’s at the end of the album, and it really serves as a bit of an intro to “A Day in the Life”. So it played its minute and I awaited his response.

He frowned. “You know, if the Beatles were around today I don’t think they’d be very popular.”

I may have choked a little on my Metamucil.

He continued. “People today like a little more rock.”

“I see.”

I gotta admit, it was tough to hear. I’ve loved this music for almost sixty years. It hurt a little to hear someone younger than most of my ties pan something in which he’s just invested sixty seconds.

I could counter the Beatles’ re-releases continue to rate number one. I could argue that they have more number one songs than any artist in history. But I don’t have to convince anybody. Millions of Beatlemaniacs can’t be wrong. Besides, he’s a good kid, so I let it go.

Then I told him to get out of my yard.