Brilliant … But Bouncy

What’s Your Favorite Modern Song?

Shane is all about numbers. He likes lists and statistics and categorizing things based on numeric value.

He also likes music. So when Shane discovered the Daly Download on the radio – the modern version of Casey Kasem’s Top 40 – he was thrilled.

Every Sunday morning, Shane rushes to turn on the radio. It plays twice (thank goodness) so if he misses something because of church, he can hear it on the second run-through in early afternoon. He tries hard not to miss it. The radio plays for six hours straight on Sundays.

But this is not quite enough for Shane. The countdown only happens once a week! Shane needs more. So he spends the rest of the week making his own lists of favorites: Shane’s Top 10 Favorite Modern Pop Songs, Top 14 Favorite Bands, Top 13 Favorite EDM Songs, Top 10 Favorite Country Songs, Top 15 Favorite New Modern Pop Songs (when the old list is defunct). The possibilities are endless.

And all of this is fine with me. I’m happy that he’s happy. But sometimes he expects me to choose my favorite songs, too. So I try desperately to keep up with today’s music, so that I can relate to my children.

I am a child of the seventies, who devoured pop, country, heavy metal and new wave through the eighties. I have a jukebox that plays 45 rpm records. So to say I am not “modern” would be an understatement. When the kids were born, I turned off the radio and put on Toddler Tunes instead.

So it’s a bit difficult to answer Shane’s questions sometimes.

“Mom, what’s your favorite modern song?”

“FourFiveSeconds!” I practically shout, because I adore this song as if it came from my own era. Indeed, Paul McCartney, who is 72, plays acoustic guitar on the song – which explains a lot.

“It’s way down in the countdown,” Shane tells me. At six months, this song is too old. “What’s your second favorite song?”

“Oh, I like All About That Bass,” I say.

“Well that’s really old. Do you like Dear Future Husband?”

“I do!” I say, excited to recognize Meghan Trainor’s follow-up hit. Both songs sound like they were written in 1958.

“Well it’s been out for like three months. What are your other favorite songs?”

“Is Uptown Funk still popular?” Uptown Funk is practically a remake of Jungle Love from 1984. “I like that one a lot.”

“Yeah, but it’s going down on the countdown. What new songs do you like?”

I was feeling so proud that I’d chosen songs from this century. I had to think hard, but I finally remembered a new song I liked. I could hear the tune in my head.

“I like Bagdad!” I said.

“What?!” Shane asked. “What’s Bagdad?”

“No, sorry. It’s Bangladesh! I like Bangladesh a lot. Is that still on the countdown?”

“What’s Bangladesh?” Shane asked. Clearly, he had no idea what I was talking about.

I sighed. “You know, that song? It goes like this.” I sang a bit of the tune for him.

“You mean Budapest?” Shane said.

“Budapest! Yes! That’s it! I like that one. Is it still popular?”

“Yes,” he said.

Whew. Finally!

There was a short pause.

“What other modern songs do you like?”