My Spotify account recently reviewed my year’s listening and I was shocked to learn I’d a preference for what they called ‘Adult Contemporary’. After researching online I was relieved to discover this is the new term for music previously called ‘Easy Listening’.
I’ve found that the older I get, the more my taste in things has reverted to my childhood. My home resonated with the music of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, so it’s not surprising I find comfort in returning to the ‘old classics’.
I’ve always preferred the golden oldies rather than whatever was the ‘new thing’ in music. I remember the first album I bought – for younger readers these were 12-inch vinyl discs which emitted music when placed on a record player.
A record player was.... aw, forget it, look it up yourselves. The album was Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water. My contemporaries at the time were punks with safety pins in their noses, proof that I’ve never been ‘current’ regarding music.
As a teenager I could be found sneaking along the ‘Easy Listening’ section of record shops, feeling like a clergyman attempting to buy a dirty magazine. Thankfully I’ve arrived at an age where I no longer need feel embarrassed by my musical tastes.
The music hipster in our family is my wife who adores U2; I find it amusing that my children think she’s a dinosaur, not being fans of the band.
My confusion over changing terminology in music is understandable, considering the slew of new words entering the English lexicon. The Collins Dictionary in November announced ‘artificial intelligence’ as its word of 2023, though I’d have thought that was two words.
This week, the Oxford University Press announced their choice as ‘rizz’, deriving from ‘charisma’ and meaning style, charm, attractiveness, or the ability to attract a romantic partner.
While not common in everyday use, the term is used extensively online with billions of views of the hashtag ‘rizz’ on TikTok, a platform I seldom use which, no doubt, is why I’ve missed the many occurrences where the word has been used to describe me.
Words such as ‘hallion’ or ‘buck eejit’ are more likely to be associated with my name; not that I’m complaining – the only thing worse than being called names is not being mentioned at all.
I’m certain our local words will long outlast words like ‘rizz’, having been used for decades rather than months. My father called me a ‘buck eejit’ as his father called him a ‘buck eejit’ as his father called his father...
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THE disgraceful riots in Dublin after the horrific attack on children leaving school was a shock to a nation which has always prided itself on becoming welcoming to all.
The thugs involved were opportunistic thieves motivated by looting rather than any political cause. I doubt few of them were in employment, yet they’d be the first to condemn migrants for taking jobs they don’t want.
The online commentary of Conor McGregor before and after the attack has forever besmirched his legacy. His declaration a few days ahead of the incident that ‘Ireland, we are at war’ would no doubt be seen as vindication by the Dublin rioters.
Read more:
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Of course, like all armchair generals, McGregor was nowhere to be seen, leaving it to others to pay the price for his call to arms. For a man who made his millions as a migrant fighting in the UFC in America, it’s the height of hypocrisy to condemn other migrants with similar dreams of making a better life in Ireland.
Despite his fortune, McGregor is finding it difficult to re-adjust to normal life and obviously sees a move into populist politics as his way to remain relevant.
Thankfully, most will view his comments as the vanity of an over-the-hill fighter with a bloated ego, rather than a potential future President of Ireland.
Real Irish men and women proved where their loyalty lay by donating more than €370k for Caio Benicio, the Brazilian immigrant who bravely disarmed the school attacker.
Another €240k has been raised for creche worker Leanne Flynn, who was badly injured as she attempted to protect the children – nor should we forget Filipino nurse, Leo Villamayor, who treated the victims.
These heroes – one Brazilian, one Irish and one Filipino – are the real Ireland, not the hate-filled thugs who looted Dublin, or the egomaniacal ex-fighter, desperate for attention. There’s even a new online term for the likes of McGregor: they’re called ‘rage farmers’.
