There has been something on my mind lately that has nothing to do with the recession, the upcoming climate change conference in Copenhagen, the recent military coup in Honduras or the upcoming year of the Inuit.

Nope, this nagging something only has to do with AM Radio hits, one smash wonders and something well-meaning-gray-gouteed djs like to call “classics from the 80s.”

Well, it has to do with that and a little something I like to call the ‘unforigiving mercy of relentless time.’

I am now in my 30s.

And although I haven’t really noticed too many signs of aging, I have definitely heard one. Loud and clear.

The other night my main squeeze Jordan and I were driving home in one of the cars from the Co-operative Auto Network, I was scanning through the radio dial to find something playing other than a booming voice selling a sandwich when I coincidentally landed on Jack FM.

No, I take that back. I didn’t just land on Jack FM, I did a double-foot-guitar-kick-jump-roof-punch because of the song playing….

You might ask was that song old school Rage Against the Machine or maybe the new Mother Mother single?

Nope.

It was Rock You Like a Hurricane by The Scorpions.

And man did we rock out in traffic like our car tires were on fire and our hair was teased higher than the rotating KFC bucket we were driving by.

And the rocking didn’t stop there, oh no:

We were so happy listening to these hits! As happy as I remembered being when I first saw The Constantines play in Canmore, Alberta in a bar with six other people. I mean that was the historical music event of my life!  How on earth could the Scorpions make me feel just as happy?

Aging.

There is a reason it’s called easy listening. It is easy to listen to.

There is no clever wit required to process the irony, no angst to wade through, no political subtext or secret message only nerdy critics with dark glasses can uncover. When the Scorpions sing “Here I am/rock you like a hurricane” they mean exactly that: there they are and they are going to rock you (or preferably your ladyfriend) like a hurricane. And that’s without the stuffed sock.

Jerry Rubin, Jack Weinberg, Bob Dylan all at one time said “Don’t trust anyone over 30.”

The reason?

Easy Listening.