The Grandfather Clause

Just read a nice post at Soundboard about the importance of music to youth. August Brown wonders "if the music you fall for between 18 and 22 is hard-wired to be the only music you really love in that insane, possessive, identity-crafting way for the rest of your life. Do we lose our capacity to be devastated by art as adults? What does it mean when you stop listening to the songs that sent ice up your spine at that age -- does that make your youthful music lust irrelevant today, or is all art meant to have a time and place you're supposed to grow out of?" I haven't an answer for Brown but I do know that even as tastes change, the music of your younger days retains its hold. When I hear raucous music now I usually don't like it. This dismissive tendency cannot be reconciled with the fact that I will happily listen to Hole (Celebrity Skin particularly) for example, and not find it at all over the top. It's grandfathered, as most youthful predilections are.