What ever happened to retirement?

I have to say, and I might be in the minority of opinion, that I don't quite understand the devotion to old musicians who have reunited after 20 years, to play the same songs in the same ways as they did when they were first popular. It was cool to go see a band when they were first popular, before they broke up. I was watching the TV coverage of Live Earth yesterday, and all I really wanted was a glimpse of David Gray, which of course I knew I wasn't going to get. Closing some of the shows were Madonna and The Police. (Madonna is probably a different subject for a different time, but suffice it to say that she was once cool, and is no longer cool - let alone a relevant musical artist.) But the Police come on in the medowlands, and everyone cheers. There are a significant number of young people, I'm sure, whose only conception of The Police is the fact that they downloaded Roxanne from mytunes. These people never enjoyed an original relation to the band and the music and their enjoyment is purely retrospective. I have no problem with young people liking older music, it's merely the idea that they present it to you as if it's not something that's come and gone. Old folks can like the police too, and go to their concerts and hear the songs of their youth as well, but it seems weird to see them stuck in the past of their youth and to not pay attention to the wonderful music being created today. If the Police want to play, fine, but make a new record and support it. Otherwise, you're just a Police tribute band. People have come to pay money to see you play the old songs. Don't. Write a new record and support it. But let's be honest, anyone who thinks they or any other group from the past have reunited for anything less than the money are mistaken. It's cool now to dig the music of the past, and these guys are just capitalizing on it.

Don Mclean, writer and singer of "American Pie" was on CBS sunday morning this morning. Here's a guy who has one hit song, that's probably 30 years old. A woman being interviewed said "it's Don Mclean, it's bye bye Ms. American Pie, what else do you need to know?" Well, it seems odd to me to go to a concert to hear one song. To be there not caring while the other songs are being played, lest they be covers. Here's a song you can get anywhere. There's a lot of good music being created today, you just need to know where to look and where to find it. Paul Mccartney keeps making new records and then he supports them on tour. He plays his new songs and his old songs. He's not a Beatles cover band. Let's face it, the Police are just doing really good covers of Police songs.

If you can still play, go for it. Just don't ask me to keep listening to the same songs over and over again. Songs lose their effectiveness and going to see the person who wrote a song 20-40 years ago play it again merely for the money doesn't interest me.

Whatever happened to retirement? What ever happened to working at something for a long time, and then when you're old and financially secure calling it a career? Maybe you work a little on the side to keep active. Whatever happened to golf and traveling?

They say there's no good parts for older actors. That's true. Entertainment, generally, is a young persons game. I don't think anyone should discriminate based on age. But yet, we must look at movies as being, in some sense, a way of a looking at the world through new eyes, of seeing things in a new way and enjoying a new relationship to the world. I think that is why entertainment is a young person's game - also why older musicians don't write and play new songs. The songs of their youth, of the audience's youth, are what are important.

I think there's also a little something to older folks, actors included, who feel the need to be relevant, to be popular, and to experience the limelight of their younger days. We have an aging Bruce Willis in Die Hard 4, we're going to have an aging Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones 4. Do we really need sequels of things with older actors playing men who wish to continue to be action stars? It's about money. A brand promises something stable - something known. These guys can capitalize on the branding and the fact that people are going to go see it - because they want something familiar, something easy, that's not new, that's not going to be challenging.

So, you don't have to retire, but at least try to do something new. Don't let ego or money force you to keep doing the same thing year after year. Change it up, do something different. Be original.

-cjfer