She walks Bo Diddley and she don't need no crutch.

  I'm kind of tired. I don't know why, except that I'm always tired and feel like I never get enough sleep. So we'll fill up space this evening and then, probably, go back to sleep.

 There's one of those "one of them has to go" things floating around Twitter featuring Dylan, the Stones, the Beach Boys, and the Beatles. Those things are always maddening. I wonder if I'd be as irritated at the ones for anime or '90s kids' shows if I gave a shit about them, but I am not. I'm interested and enjoy music, so this sort of thing gets up my nose.

 I'm not going to bullshit you. I used to be a music critic for years and even longer as an Insufferably Music Snob. I used to get shitty about bands and genres I felt were lesser or overrated or some such nonsense. I was wrong, and I'm really glad I'm not like that anymore and can just enjoy whatever I hear.

 Back when I worked kitchens, I'd bring in music and since I usually worked prep, no one cared what I played. When I was in amongst the rest of the staff, I tried to keep it from being too much - too much bluegrass, country music, classical, etc. - and a decent mix for everyone to enjoy. It's fairly easy. I like soul music. I like R&B. I like rock music. I like jazz. I like hip-hop. I like metal. I like reggae. I can find something from every genre that I'm willing to listen to and wait until I get home before I shut out everyone else.

 I remember in one place when asked just what all I liked, my co-worker answered for me. "Matt likes good music." And that's what it boils down to, like what's good. But what's good? We live in a world, we've always lived in a world, where a significant portion of the music listening population sneered at another significant portion of the music listening population because that latter group was listening to something "popular" or "mainstream".

 When I moved to New Orleans 10 years ago, Lady Gaga was at the height of her initial popularity. This was before she made that movie with Bradley Cooper and still freaked people out by wearing meat dresses and whatnot. Anyhow, most of my rocker/blues/country acquaintances would diss her and her fans, so I decided to check her out and see.

 I won't lie, I didn't care for it. But so what? So what if the kids want to listen to her or K-Pop groups or Selena Gomez or Luke Bryan or whatever. Why should I care? I live in a world where I can give Apple or Amazon or Spotify 10 bucks a month and have access to hundreds of thousands of artists, from the obscure to the friggin' Beatles and Madonna. Or, hell, Beyonce and James Blunt.

 Several years ago, Paul McCartney did some sort of collaboration with Kanye West. Whether they were trolling or not, kids on the internet drove their parents nuts with comments like "Whoever this McCartney guy is, Kanye will make him famous." It was hilarious, but two things about the outrage struck me. One, why should the kids of the 2010s care about a band that hasn't produced anything in over 40 years?

 Secondly, and probably most importantly, instead of taking umbrage why aren't you going to those kids and showing them just why the Beatles are worth listening to? Why are you making them mixtapes or the current iteration of that sort of thing so maybe they can understand why you dig the band so much and why they're so important?

 One thing you see a lot these days on YouTube is young people posting reaction videos to some music they've never heard. As often as not, it's young black kids but I have seen at least one British guitar player reacting to hot licks from classic rock. I've seen them listen to Merle Haggard's "Big City" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird" or Muddy Waters' "Mannish Boy." Those two twin brothers reacting to Phil Collins' "Something In The Air Tonight" that went so viral it got some mainstream media attention.

 I'm sure there have been videos of negative reactions but all I see is the kids digging it. Getting off on the part in "Freebird" where the song speeds up for the lengthy jam or they're grooving on that drum breakdown in the Collins song. Or they're just appreciating the message in "Big City," something that was supposed to connect with everyone when Hag recorded it.

 Going back to my kitchen days, I turned a lot of young people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds on to stuff they'd never even think of listening to. Or stuff their folks listened to, helping them understand why it resonates. I don't think I'm special, just in the right place at the right time with the right tunes.

 So that's word count, and I'm going to do something else now. If I have to wrap all his up into a nice, neat bow, it's pretty easy. Don't tell me what you don't like. Don't tell me who you think is overrated or "must go," because I do not care.

 Tell me what you like. Tell me what moves you and makes you dance. Tell me what makes you laugh and what makes you cry. Tell me what you play for the good times and what helps you through the bad times. Tell me about the song you always go to, over and over again, or the album you're obsessed with or the band that's always got your loyalty and love.

 Otherwise, piss off because I don't care.