Everything is now looking back?

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Boqurant
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What do you think is specifically driving the overwhelming need to "look to the past" in this present time?

Everything that seeks to be futuristic and promising is unable to deliver on so many levels now, who cares about Mars if Earth has never not been at war between differing factions.

I just cannot help question what type of "nostalgic" signature is being made right now, or what is currently special about "now" in context of what should be fawned over to the degree it is now like say the 80s clearly is etc, I grew up in the 80s so I can say at least I experienced it in some way by memory, certain things look to be clearly above average on many levels than they do today, not everything perhaps but outside of materialism life did feel more fun, more loving, more exciting and certainly less troublesome in many aspects, but I dont want to be biased for bias sake. I just haven't heard much laughter in this future we are now in.
Is it just me that sees just about "everything" fashion, music, furniture, tools, computers and whole plethora of societal things that are stagnating?... My better half and myself have become absorbed by the need to get out and enjoy the decaying infastructure that is around us, researching, finding then walking disused railways, canals and ancient woodland...because the shiny pristine retail parks offer nothing but opportunity for some form of parasitism dressed up as retail heaven, while the surrounding areas are looking like an anemic host struggling to keep up anymore, which strangely becomes the appealing part, looking how well made things were, how much effort went into things etc or looking how nice things are when they have been forgotten but were not maintained because the promise of something better was more appealing!
Got me thinking, is nostalgia driven by everyones need to reminisce over "better" times, our own unique time on earth being somehow better and carrying that distinct bias beyond any logical reasoning, or is there a sense of nothing new anymore being the overwhelming realization, by reaching a milestone in age or maturity?

Or are we looking back because we see no future being created?

Will the 90s receive as much revisiting as the 80s?

Is it a generational thing?


Not really trying to emphasize a need for a collective existentialist mindset or just to over analyze or throw negativity onto the future generations even, but all Im hearing is "new music" that tries to sound old or not expanding much further beyond what has already been "done" in previous decades. 60 70 80 90s musical ideas that in a sense make up the sound of the 2000-2020s or do I need to purchase a pipe and some slippers now. I still enjoy new music but I keep being reminded of people 20 years younger than me living in the present saying they wished they were born in earlier decades.
I don't fully understand it properly.

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Eagle Minded
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Too much information, not enough interaction with others. Everyone gets confused, no cultural identity forms. Those who were around when there was some sort of coherent culture reminisce about how simpler things were and create culture that mirrors those from their past. The ones who were born afterwards consume the aformentioned mirrored culture and create an idealistic image of what the world was like. The cultural vaccum fills up with inherited nostalgia.

At least that's what my sociology teachers told me :?

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Dayvan Cowboy
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Elwyn_Hayseed wrote:What do you think is specifically driving the overwhelming need to "look to the past" in this present time?

Everything that seeks to be futuristic and promising is unable to deliver on so many levels now, who cares about Mars if Earth has never not been at war between differing factions.

I just cannot help question what type of "nostalgic" signature is being made right now, or what is currently special about "now" in context of what should be fawned over to the degree it is now like say the 80s clearly is etc, I grew up in the 80s so I can say at least I experienced it in some way by memory, certain things look to be clearly above average on many levels than they do today, not everything perhaps but outside of materialism life did feel more fun, more loving, more exciting and certainly less troublesome in many aspects, but I dont want to be biased for bias sake. I just haven't heard much laughter in this future we are now in.
Is it just me that sees just about "everything" fashion, music, furniture, tools, computers and whole plethora of societal things that are stagnating?... My better half and myself have become absorbed by the need to get out and enjoy the decaying infastructure that is around us, researching, finding then walking disused railways, canals and ancient woodland...because the shiny pristine retail parks offer nothing but opportunity for some form of parasitism dressed up as retail heaven, while the surrounding areas are looking like an anemic host struggling to keep up anymore, which strangely becomes the appealing part, looking how well made things were, how much effort went into things etc or looking how nice things are when they have been forgotten but were not maintained because the promise of something better was more appealing!
Got me thinking, is nostalgia driven by everyones need to reminisce over "better" times, our own unique time on earth being somehow better and carrying that distinct bias beyond any logical reasoning, or is there a sense of nothing new anymore being the overwhelming realization, by reaching a milestone in age or maturity?

Or are we looking back because we see no future being created?

Will the 90s receive as much revisiting as the 80s?

Is it a generational thing?


Not really trying to emphasize a need for a collective existentialist mindset or just to over analyze or throw negativity onto the future generations even, but all Im hearing is "new music" that tries to sound old or not expanding much further beyond what has already been "done" in previous decades. 60 70 80 90s musical ideas that in a sense make up the sound of the 2000-2020s or do I need to purchase a pipe and some slippers now. I still enjoy new music but I keep being reminded of people 20 years younger than me living in the present saying they wished they were born in earlier decades.
I don't fully understand it properly.


Simon Reynolds and Mark Fisher are very good writers on this very subject - specifically their books 'Retromania' and 'Ghosts of my Life', very much worth reading if you're trying to figure this stuff out.

I personally think 'hauntology' as Mark Fisher defined it, in the general sense, of 'mourning for a future that was promised but never happened' is still relevant because by many economic measures, the past was better, at least in the UK.
Certainly my recollection of the 80s was, despite the cold war and political troubles in my own country, of a time where the future was going to be better than the present.
I think that idea of positive progression is no longer there to the same extent and for me that's the key to why people seek comfort in looking back.

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Eagle Minded
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Remember how careless our lives were before Covid? How the hell will movies look now? Will normal romantic drama be listed as sci-fi when no one is washing/disinfecting their hands and kissing and hugging carelessly? Yuck... :? :lol:

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Sherbet Head
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With the invention of handheld internet, the Overton Window moved too far in one direction too quickly. And while some like what they see through the Window, the rest do not. They pine for a time when the things they saw through the Window were simpler and more to their liking. People were nicer and the future was brighter. They had to make less decisions and concern themselves less with others. They think if they could just slow down the Window, maybe they could get used to what they see through the Window. So they cling to edges of the Window and pull with all their might to slow the unstoppable movement of the Window until they no longer have the strength to resist. Finally, they resign themselves to obscurity and leave the pulling of the Window to those younger than themselves, to those who've abruptly realized they too no longer like what they see through the Window.

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Sherbet Head
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Boqurant
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Seeing the WHO with less original band members in a time where I cannot recognize their relevancy (not slagging off the WHO, I could equally use a TAKE THAT reunion tour etc)
Sport...

Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones Jnr.....

Film...
StarWars...watching a punch drunk Harrison Ford remain relevant by fumbling about to tick a box for a modern franchise that is so far removed from its original it may as well be a "new" film concept.

Technology..

NASA trying to rebuild the Apollo guidance consoles because they overlooked importance on specific features they dont want to admit their AI and current engineers cannot work out properly.....

If video killed the radio star, is mobile phone a serial killer?

Can't really say Im living in the past much, apart from my cassette collection or vinyl collection (little to no spotify or digital assets in my house) nor have I had much faith in promises of the future, the people giving these promises being known compulsive liars made that very easy to accept at the very moment the promises were being made, it's all certainly helped overcome the fear of death for many of us :-) because making the most of the present has to be where it is at, enduring through the myriad of lifes testing has always been the order of the day for most people on earth anyway, being followers as opposed to the minority of trend setters, but it is kinda weird how 2020s feel more retro than "live", to me it does anyway.

I wonder if Micheal Jackson's cryogenic wish has been met by the promise of a new body for his frozen head, that would be "bad" wouldn't it?

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Eagle Minded
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Elwyn_Hayseed wrote:Seeing the WHO with less original band members in a time where I cannot recognize their relevancy (not slagging off the WHO, I could equally use a TAKE THAT reunion tour etc)
Sport...

lol i thought you were going to start a rant about "the other WHO" for a sec :)

Boqurant
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kakanara wrote:
Elwyn_Hayseed wrote:Seeing the WHO with less original band members in a time where I cannot recognize their relevancy (not slagging off the WHO, I could equally use a TAKE THAT reunion tour etc)
Sport...

lol i thought you were going to start a rant about "the other WHO" for a sec :)


Nah..no point.
https://youtu.be/V6QhAZckY8w
:)

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Happy Cycler
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Elwyn_Hayseed wrote:What do you think is specifically driving the overwhelming need to "look to the past" in this present time?


We look back because we can. We now how decades of pop cultural history at our fingertips, accessible in seconds .But there are always cultural revivals - I remember being about 12-13 in the early 1990s and everyone getting massively into The Doors; possibly due to the Oliver Stone film being big at the time. A couple of years later when some kids were starting to experiment with *things* then the frame of reference Sgt Pepper era Beatles as what "drug culture" was. There was a big 1950s revival in the 1970s - presumably as the kids who grew up with 50s pop culture became the producers of culture in the 70s. I have young relatives now in their late teens who are "discovering" 1990s fashion and culture. Because *all* pop culture is so accessible and easily disseminated now, these things seem to be accelerating - cultural things last a couple of weeks before being churned over then forgotten.

Elwyn_Hayseed wrote:I grew up in the 80s so I can say at least I experienced it in some way by memory, certain things look to be clearly above average on many levels than they do today, not everything perhaps but outside of materialism life did feel more fun, more loving, more exciting and certainly less troublesome in many aspects, but I dont want to be biased for bias sake. I just haven't heard much laughter in this future we are now in.


It's because you were young. I remember the 1980s as a largely fun carefree time, but that's because I was a child. I was born in 1979, so find it easy to break decades down - I was 0-10 in the 1980s and didn't have a mortgage, a full time job, debt, children or a sore back. Therefore I had a great time.


Elwyn_Hayseed wrote:Is it just me that sees just about "everything" fashion, music, furniture, tools, computers and whole plethora of societal things that are stagnating?...


Yes and no. Culturally, no - there's always things bubbling away that you have no idea about. I have no idea how old you are, so I'm speaking about my own experience here, but it's easy for me to say that culture isn't as exciting as it used to be: Again, I remember being a teen in the 1990s and there seemed to be a brand new cultural *thing* every few months; complete with new music, TV, haircuts, language and clothes. I'm sure there probably is now, but I just don't know about it. I'm 41, I live in the suburbs with 2 kids and have a favourite cardigan - I'm not *meant* to know.

By the same token, I do find some things worse after being adapted for 21st century use. I don't like most modern houses; I think they look badly built and won't last. I can't stand using newpaper's websites for being bombarded with pop-up advertising and autoplaying videos. These are problems that neoliberal capitalism have created - making long term use and experience bad in favour of short term gain (profit).

Great post! I find this subject fascinating.

Boqurant
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Yeah we are similar age (im early 40s), no children or wife or house or car though, dont use a NI number or have my own internet connection, plus I have a heroin addiction as well, but you must remember the chilled 80s, Phil Collins album with his big orange mug on it and that quintessential reverberated snare drum all over it, the BMX's and if you had a dad with wonga you had a goldwave with a AM/FM radio built into the frame, if you were a bit wierd you had a Grifter (?) like our Dave did, Walkmans were getting better as well... Back during a time you could see the blue-ness of the sky instead of this pastel-washed out chemtrailed sky, winter you KNEW it would snow! Barbeques were like wedding parties are now, I could call a spade a spade, happy days!
You might remember the 87 (?) Hurricane.
Anyway back to the topic...

Boqurant
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jcnporter wrote:
Elwyn_Hayseed wrote:What do you think is specifically driving the overwhelming need to "look to the past" in this present time?

Everything that seeks to be futuristic and promising is unable to deliver on so many levels now, who cares about Mars if Earth has never not been at war between differing factions.

I just cannot help question what type of "nostalgic" signature is being made right now, or what is currently special about "now" in context of what should be fawned over to the degree it is now like say the 80s clearly is etc, I grew up in the 80s so I can say at least I experienced it in some way by memory, certain things look to be clearly above average on many levels than they do today, not everything perhaps but outside of materialism life did feel more fun, more loving, more exciting and certainly less troublesome in many aspects, but I dont want to be biased for bias sake. I just haven't heard much laughter in this future we are now in.
Is it just me that sees just about "everything" fashion, music, furniture, tools, computers and whole plethora of societal things that are stagnating?... My better half and myself have become absorbed by the need to get out and enjoy the decaying infastructure that is around us, researching, finding then walking disused railways, canals and ancient woodland...because the shiny pristine retail parks offer nothing but opportunity for some form of parasitism dressed up as retail heaven, while the surrounding areas are looking like an anemic host struggling to keep up anymore, which strangely becomes the appealing part, looking how well made things were, how much effort went into things etc or looking how nice things are when they have been forgotten but were not maintained because the promise of something better was more appealing!
Got me thinking, is nostalgia driven by everyones need to reminisce over "better" times, our own unique time on earth being somehow better and carrying that distinct bias beyond any logical reasoning, or is there a sense of nothing new anymore being the overwhelming realization, by reaching a milestone in age or maturity?

Or are we looking back because we see no future being created?

Will the 90s receive as much revisiting as the 80s?

Is it a generational thing?


Not really trying to emphasize a need for a collective existentialist mindset or just to over analyze or throw negativity onto the future generations even, but all Im hearing is "new music" that tries to sound old or not expanding much further beyond what has already been "done" in previous decades. 60 70 80 90s musical ideas that in a sense make up the sound of the 2000-2020s or do I need to purchase a pipe and some slippers now. I still enjoy new music but I keep being reminded of people 20 years younger than me living in the present saying they wished they were born in earlier decades.
I don't fully understand it properly.


Simon Reynolds and Mark Fisher are very good writers on this very subject - specifically their books 'Retromania' and 'Ghosts of my Life', very much worth reading if you're trying to figure this stuff out.

I personally think 'hauntology' as Mark Fisher defined it, in the general sense, of 'mourning for a future that was promised but never happened' is still relevant because by many economic measures, the past was better, at least in the UK.
Certainly my recollection of the 80s was, despite the cold war and political troubles in my own country, of a time where the future was going to be better than the present.
I think that idea of positive progression is no longer there to the same extent and for me that's the key to why people seek comfort in looking back.


My copy (not new/music magpie) of Simon Reynolds - Retromania arrived today :)
Looks quite a substantial read so prob fair amount of detail.
Will write up some thoughts here when Ive finished it. Thanks for reccomendation!

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Dayvan Cowboy
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"There were never any good old days. They are today, they are tomorrow! It's a stupid thing we say, cursing tomorrow with sorrow."
-Gogol Bordello, "Ultimate"

Boqurant
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The future's bright...
The future's Orange...

Lol

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Dayvan Cowboy
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Elwyn_Hayseed wrote:My copy (not new/music magpie) of Simon Reynolds - Retromania arrived today :)
Looks quite a substantial read so prob fair amount of detail.
Will write up some thoughts here when Ive finished it. Thanks for reccomendation!


My pleasure, it's a great read.

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Sherbet Head
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Despite all the significant progress that has been made in all aspects in the world, many people are still mostly unhappy. I think that's something to think about. Perhaps more is less and vice versa.

Nowadays everything is so much about instant gratification, being connected, being succesful, literally anything we could want is available and there are a ridiculous amount of options to choose from in all facets. Simplicity is lost and this makes people unhappy. People yearn for a time where everything was more quiet and simple I guess. However this is perfectly possible right now of course, but it is certainly more challenging because the world is screaming at you from all sides.

From my own experience I can say a good starting point is to focus attention more inwards instead of constantly placing attention outwards. I think most of us have seen and experienced enough by now to realize that peace and happiness can't be found in the highly unstable and fleeting world we live in. It's a very exhausting experience.
"What you are looking for, is where you are looking from."

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Boqurant
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+++++++++++++++++++++
bandcamp

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Eagle Minded
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It's what happens when an individual, nation or world is in crisis. It looks back to the last time when things we're truly better. I honestly believe we're living in times the future will label the dark ages. A world driven by paper fantasies turning biomass into human mass and not able to see the cliff it's about to roll over. Billions struggling and falling to addictions in the west and starvation in poorer countries. Every inch of the the human world seems to operate on full speed, caffeine injected straight into the brains reward system and visually our architecture follows suite. A lot of computer games today aren't designed for fun, they're designed by psychologists to get the best possible outcome for feel good/bad factor/addiction cycles whose aim is to extract as many in game dollar transactions as possible. People living their lives through their online avatars and neglecting their real bodies.

This is the world today. Ballistic human beings full of mental problems (myself included). We secretly want it to all come to an end. Classicism usually rears it's ugly head when a nation faces a crisis. This is what happened in Germany and I believe the west is politically heading towards something similar. There is certainly a new dawn about to break and when it does you can kiss goodbye to celebrity culture, 24 hour news media, fashion and other unnecessary industries that hold up a control grid with greed and lies and the promotion of such. In the 21st century I don't believe we know what we are? We are not civilised, cultured or educated. A much needed return to paganistic values and beliefs along with the roll out of mushrooms worldwide can bring us back from the brink.

Genesis 1:28
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

yeah right?

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Dayvan Cowboy
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You just feeling your looming demise. It is in your dnr. Your culture is sick. Question, how much souls you are going to take with you?
Image

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Eagle Minded
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That's a very good question. Hopefully the vaccine will sterilise enough folk so that we don't have to commit genocide in the future. If not, then those at the top of the pyramid will look for a candidate to which they'll give complete power. It could be a person that only expresses good, kindness and wholesomeness. But like lord of the rings, when absolute power is given to someone pure and good, that's when it's most dangerous of all.

It's becoming apparent that when things get sticky, leaders of nations are elected as showmen and women by the 'real' people behind the curtains who don't want to get their hands dirty of face the blame/shame of history. But when crimes against humanity happen, everyone is responsible.

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