It’s so interesting to me as I listen to Billy Joel and Elton John and others from my music past. The addition of rock music and rap to my music listening vocabulary has greatly enriched my aural palette. It’s quite remarkable. I don’t love New York State of Mind any the less for having learned to love Cyanide or No Excuses or Do U C the Pride in the Panther? Or any of the other hundreds of songs and raps in my huge iTunes library that is about to get even larger as I embark on a new group of songs and artists that people have recommended to me. I’m listening to New York State of Mind right now. It’s a great song. Billy Joel is a gifted songwriter, no question in my mind of that. I’m like the matriarch of a very large family. Love each new baby as s/he comes along. Just make a new space in my heart and head for each new song and artist. But also like that matriarch, as my memory grows longer (in this case, larger), the old familiar ones remain enshrined in their own unique places. It’s quite a relief to my friends that I’m planning on subscribing to the Lyric Opera again next season and that I am still crazy about Poulenc and Mozart. A relief to me too. Like the old folk song: Make new friends, b ut keep the old; one is silver and the other gold. Really that’s a terribly sentimental thing to write but I unashamedly believe it.
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