MANY readers have written to me over the years to say how much they enjoy the posts of “Alan,” my correspondent from St. Louis who has never lost his love for his home city or his indignation over the decline of the little, wholesome pleasures. 

I wrote to Alan a few weeks after the Covid shutdown began because I hadn’t heard from him and was concerned about his welfare. He wrote back and told me he had no access to the Internet because of the closure of the local library. He referred to the general situation as a “nightmare.”

I hope to hear from him again soon. In the meantime, here is a post by him from March of 2012.

ALAN writes:

The descent of modern culture into decadence can be traced through much of American popular music.

It was common fifty and sixty years ago to hear new songs that reflected virtues like honor, hope, optimism, romance, loyalty, good-natured humor, and the joy to be found in simple pleasures. All of that music incorporated a set of virtues that added up to what Ayn Rand called “a benevolent sense of life.”

Examples include Patti Page’s “Mama From the Train (A Kiss, A Kiss)” (1956), Paul Petersen’s “My Dad” (1962), Bobby Darin’s“18 Yellow Roses” (1963), Paul and Paula’s “Hey, Paula” (1963), and Johnny Crawford’s “Cindy’s Birthday”(1962).

Loyalty to American men in uniform was reflected in “Soldier Boy” (The Shirelles, 1962) and “Navy Blue” (Diane Renay, 1964).

The joy of simple pleasures like sunshine, rain, laughter, the stars, candy bars, and carefree summer days was reflected in “Vacation” (Connie Francis, 1962), ”We’ll Sing in the Sunshine” (Gale Garnett, 1964), and “Popsicles and Icicles” (The Murmaids, 1963).

The memory of romance was reflected in Nat Cole’s beautiful “That Sunday, That Summer”(1963). Lovely melodies became popular without English lyrics, as in Kyu Sakamoto’s “Sukiyaki” (1963).

“Telstar” (The Tornadoes, 1962) and “Round Every Corner” (Petula Clark, 1965) were recorded by British artists but became popular in America and reflected the confidence and optimism that could be felt among most Americans even in the early 1960s.

That was then. Today, Americans see fit to purchase songs like “American Idiot,” “Jackpot the Pimp (Skit),” “Wurrs My Cash,” “Sample Dat Ass,” “Super-Hoe,” “Criminal Minded,”“Open Up and Bleed,” “Gimme The Loot,” “I Don’t Give A F*k,” “Who Shot Ya,” “Me and My B*tch,” “Cock in My Pocket,” “Ten Crack Commandments,” and “Your Pretty Face is Going To Hell.” Odds are that these “music” CDs can be found at any large municipal library; I found them at the St. Louis Public Library.

This “music”reflects dishonor, depravity, degradation, cynicism, profanity, black humor, violence, contempt for women, and ugliness. These things add up to a malevolent sense of life.

This is “music” that American librarians in 1959 would never have considered adding to their collections but that American librarians in 2012 applaud themselves for purchasing. It is what Americans now agree to put up with and permit their tax-supported libraries to buy. It is an example of the “diversity” that Americans are now stupid enough to believe – as none of them in 1959 would have believed – enriches their culture and their nation.

Librarians in 1959 upheld the traditional ideal of a library as a storehouse for the best that has been thought and written. But hip, cool, cutting-edge librarians have long since betrayed both that ideal and the honor of their predecessors.

People who will purchase undiluted garbage in the name of “music” will swallow any kind of political or ideological propaganda. And they, along with the conniving opportunists who manufacture and promote such garbage, are two of the reasons why modern culture is an insult to American heritage.

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