Why I like the Sultans of Swing

Music and Family Life

I would like to share some things that my family does on a daily basis that I really enjoy, and I think are really important. Some of them, on the face, might seem a little bit more on the unimportant side, but I think that they are things that are really important to do.

In short, what I have to say is that we listen to music a lot. Sounds like kind of a silly thing to write about, maybe. But hear me out.

When I was young, I wasn’t really into music. I would listen to things my parents put on: basically the kid music that they liked, and didn’t annoy them.

We really began cultivating a taste for music as a family when we started listening to Irish and Scottish Folk music. It is rather interesting to listen to, because often it tells a story. Sometimes (especially in the case of Scottish music) it is historical, and very sad. Irish music can be that way too. But, some of the best are the Irish drinking songs. Seriously, these are so funny, often containing hilarious and catchy choruses. One recent one we found is simply called Beer, Beer, Beer, and is a song in praise of Charlie Mops, the man who invented beer (a drink made out of hops).

This was the beginning of our music kick.

After a little while, we started branching out, listening to songs from our favorite musicals, and even some rock (Sweet Caroline being one of the first). My sister took some time in winning over for this one, she often does not like things she considers “modern”. She should write about it. I tell ya, she is good.

Anyway, we slowly started getting more and more songs. We would either buy an album and play three songs from it over and over, or just buy individual songs.

Later, as I got interested in music, I found some of my parents CDs. Whole albums of Cat Stevens, George Strait, the Hollies, and others started to appear in our library.

Then my sister and I went to a dance, where I heard a lot of good country music. I still only know two songs that were played that night (for all I know, I might have a few now), and those where Take Me Home, Country Roads, and Sweet Home Alabama. After asking around, I found a few other good country songs to add to a growing Spotify playlist I had made (free account, of course).

Now, I have 60 different songs ranging from Irish to Country (also Outlaw Country) to Rock to Punk to Big Band to Easy Listening.

All this is to say one thing (in a round about sort of way): I love listening to music as a family. While it is fun to listen, for example, to Hotel California or Rock the Casbah while I am doing lawn work, there is really nothing better than singing together, and being able to point at each other and say “You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave!”.

Once, I heard about someone asking for music recommendations for their teenager. They wanted some good music for them to listen to… I guess… on their own. My answer, personally, to that is whatever you (the parent) enjoy. Of course, we all have our different tastes. My sister loves to hear Paul Robeson sing Old Man River (the more recent versions he did, with his changed lyrics). I like it too, but not as much as her, while she is not crazy about Cat Stevens.

But those are minor differences of opinion. Our spheres of preference are so similar that we can listen to the same playlist and both enjoy it equally, and that is what is important.

Another thing that I think you miss if you listen alone is just the appreciation of the music. Take one example: after seeing videos of some of the songs from Dire Straits my father played, I added Walk of Life and Sultans of Swing onto my list of favorites. I listened to Sultans of Swing by myself, and thought it okay. A few days later, my father and I are working out together (a whole other thing to write about!), listening to music, and this song came on. I saw how my father liked the song, and that just made me feel good. It made me like the song better.

This is all leading to a point that I have touched on before: doing things as a family is important. Each of us also, of course, is an individual, who has their own opinions, preferences, etc. But not only do we agree on the essential things, but also the non-essential things, those things that are not really important till they are gone.

Doing things as a family is so important, more important than things like youth fellowship or adult fellowship. Because even the parents (and the youth I know, I think), don’t want to live in a world where the kids are separated from the adults: the “lost boys” always needing each other to live, even though they have parents, siblings, and families ready to hand.

Everyone who hears Cats in the Cradle, enjoys the song, but are sad at the thought of the father and son who are estranged. This father and son probably agreed on the essential things in life. They loved each other. But they didn’t do unimportant things.

Those who don’t know how to do unimportant things together don’t do important things together

I am, of course, not saying that everyone should listen to music ten times a day, but I am thinking about ways to engage with popular culture and things of that sort. I don’t know a lot about what is out there in terms of popular music today. I don’t listen to “Top Music From the 2020s”. But I do think that sometimes the problems you get with the culture are not so much in the content, as the way is is consumed. There are a lot of people who like Lynyrd Skynyrd or Frank Sinatra who have a broken family. I don’t think it was very likely that the music influenced it. It could, though, have been the way they listened to it. 

Music can be isolating. That is kind of my point with the parent earlier who wanted to know what her child should listen to. A “teenager” (as someone who falls into that stupid category, I deliberately use quotes), honestly, does not need his own playlist all to himself. I don’t think that is what music is for. Music has the power to bring people together, across generations—if it can only be shared horizontally, within your age group, it is necessarily isolating. If it is shared vertically, with the older ones and the younger ones, it brings generations together.

I must confess, here, that my mother did buy us an album of music just for us.

It was a pop-group: Claude Debussy¹:

This has been a rambling article, but my point is, I think that the family should hang out together, and have fun things that they do casually together. I personally think that my family’s taste in music is the best (yes, Fly Me To The Moon is only sung right by Nat King Cole! … Okay, my mother and sisters like this version as well…), and that everyone else should hear my list.

Honestly, when I have played my full list on shuffle, people seemed to like it. I can make a good playlist.

In closing, remember that the family is the main building block of society. One thing I can tell you: every successful person had a family (so did every un-successful/bad person), and what they did effected him. Only good families can fix society in any meaningful way.

The ball is in your court, what are you going to do about it?

I must remind you, I am a 18 year old homeschooler who has never been to college, and (of course) has never married. Everything I say comes from my observation and deduction. In other words, I cannot boast like Mrs. Leila Lawler, that I have proof that my ideas work. I just like talking about what I want to do. Who knows? Maybe I am right…

Also, I am not endorsing every song by every group I have mentioned… there is such a thing as a bad song.

1. Okay… it was the theme music for the play we were in… but its pop, right?