B.B. & Billie: A Beautiful Thing

I was listening to, or rather my dad was playing "The Thrill is Gone" by B.B. King. Normally, I would’ve complained but today B.B’s music moved me. He sings about losing the thrill of something you once loved. I’m guessing he meant it romantically, a love that gradually loses its spark over time until it is nothing but ash. But I like to think of it more generally. Losing the passion for something you once held dear. Getting your dream job and eventually dragging yourself to the office. Losing interest in an activity or art form that used to consume every waking hour. I think Billie Eilish says it best in her song "Getting Older:" “Things I once enjoyed/Just keep me employed now/Things I’m longing for/Someday, I’ll be bored of.” Then it struck me how these two completely different artists, with contrasting genres and personalities, and totally different fans, are saying the exact same thing. They both sing of this feeling, this strange pain of drifting away from the things you once knew. And that is music. This thing that bridges time frames and cultures to find the common thread. It warms my heart to know that my dad, a strong Billie dissenter, and me, a B.B. King tolerator, are really searching for the same thing. We still find the same message, just in our own way. And isn’t that a beautiful thing? To know that some cowboy in Kentucky, listening to B.B. on his portable radio, is also listening to Billie, like me, on my iPhone 7. And that is a beautiful thing.