More and more examples have cropped up where my steadfast opinions have slowly eroded over decades. Songs I disliked in the 1980's (Phil Collins' "Against All Odds", Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In the Dark") are now beloved classics, for instance. Sometimes this applied to artists as well as songs. Take Cat Stevens. Even though he had left the music industry years before I had ever heard of him, in the mid to late 80's he was a hugely popular name and remained popular with classic rock fans under the age of 20. I couldn't stand him. To me he seemed like a poor man's Don McLean at best, taking himself far too seriously, bland post-hippie peace theorizing for the people who couldn't get enough of the "sensitive bearded guy with acoustic guitar"-type in their life.
It took me a while to come around. I became more acclimated to early 70's singer songwriter megastars in general (Carole King, Paul Simon, Gordon Lightfoot). "The Wind" was used to devastating effect in the 7th season finale of "How I Met Your Mother". I had kids, and songs like "Father and Son" took on new, sentimental meanings. I still don't like some of the big hits (e.g. "Wild World") but overall the man just gets it, displaying wisdom far beyond his years at the time. He could capture a distinct feeling -- a brief moment -- with a simple lyric better than just about any of his then contemporaries this side of Lightfoot.
