Justin Bieber. Seriously? Why?

I know I am old and have no clue what good music is. But seriously. Justin Bieber? I know that back in the day when I was sneaking inappropriate clothes out of the house, slathering on the makeup and teasing my hair up to high heaven and listening to metal in the 80's my parents had no clue what good music is. I am well aware that each generation has its particular fads and parents roll their eyes and tolerate the "noise" their kids are listening to. But seriously. Justin Bieber?

Now, 20 years removed from the fad metal hair bands my tastes have evolved...and at times stayed the same. I appreciate every genre of music from classical to thrash metal. There is typically at least one artist or piece of music I can truly enjoy from every genre. I can look back at the noise I listened to pre teen and teenager and see there was some garbage and some bands that stood the test of time. Truth be told, even back in the day I was pretty aware of which hair metal bands were not all that great musically even if they were particularly popular. But seriously. Justin Bieber?

As much as I want to acknowledge the right of this generation of kids to pick out their own version of noise, something about Justin Bieber just makes me balk. It makes me balk to a point of wanting to forbid his music from being played anywhere in my home or around my children. Finding bad Bieber bop in the home is punishable by hours of immersion learning where truly good music is piped into headphones continually. I tried to ignore Justin Bieber. I tried to avoid Justin Bieber. But Bieber is everywhere. He's like a plague. So, I did the thing any good music lover would do. I sat down, alone and listened to a string of Justin Bieber music. Certainly there is something I am missing, right? Wrong. Seriously? Justin Bieber?

So here's how I did it. I went to YouTube and searched on Justin Bieber. The top videos that came up were Baby ft. Ludacris, One Time and Somebody to Love remix ft. Usher. I took a deep breath. I started in on video one: Justin Bieber's Baby. What possessed me to assault not only my ears but my eyes I will never know. I couldn't finish that one. On to the next. Justin Bieber performing One Time. One time was enough. OK, next. Justin Bieber's Somebody to Love. I didn't love it.

Maybe there is more Bieber out there that surpasses the garbage I just forced myself to listen to. But I wouldn't know because I am cringing, with a slight twitch. So, I am queuing up some good tunes right now to try to erase the memory of Bieber from my brain. I hope no permanent damage was done. I suppose he's harmless but I don't get what anyone sees in this child. Justin Bieber. Seriously?