Inspiring ageing - gracefully and disgracefully

Madness tribute - disgraceful

They were once disreputable. Loved for giving us a voice and hated by our parents for being loud and badly behaved. Today, I would say Iggy Pop is not an easy viewing, but Eric Burdon, The Who, The Stones and others are more than acceptable ambassadors for ageing gracefully and disgracefully. "I hope I die before I get old" was, for some, a prophetic line from My Generation. In the 50s and 60s, being elderly was not an aspiration and the black and white images of retired couples sitting in front of their coal fires with knitting, pipe and slippers listening to a valve radio would seem to confirm why. My parents were born in and after WW1 and retired in the 80s by which time the ageing stereotype was changing. For example, the U3A, beginning in the 70s, was flourishing. Retirement came to be seen as an opportunity to carry on what you always did, but more fun, or try something new.
The surviving ageing rockers are doing just that and this is a lovely film. Clic on this link for BBC 4's take on what our rockers are doing in their 60s and 70s - Forever young - ageing rockers.


Clic on the link for Charlie Chaplin's song on Radio 4's Soul Music - Smile

'What is a human being? Objectively, nothing of consequence ... I don't understand it. Nobody does, but it makes me smile.'

'Our existence is a ridiculous affront to common sense ... our civilisation is the combination of seven billion individual affronts. This is what my smiling seems to say ... Our existence is necessarily temporary ... and this makes us all the more precious.' (both Brian Cox, Human Universe)

He is referring to Homo sapiens, but I think it also goes with ageing, gracefully in his case (He is only 50).