I believe we’re staying young longer because of rock and roll. Because of the generation that decided they weren’t going to die before they got old. Instead of dying young, they just didn’t get old. Fifty is the new thirty—or, twenty-nine, really—because the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Iggy, and Motörhead keep touring. They provide a template for the rest of us. They show us how good, how seasoned we get as we age. They show us how many good times can be had after our forties.
The trick to staying young in any era—and in any profession and relationship—is to have something to strive for. I’ve seen Aerosmith many times since the Rocks tour, and every time you can just tell that they are pushing themselves to play that perfect show.
We all have our down moments. We all have that thing in the middle of the night that my mom used to call the “3 a.m. blues.” You can’t always kick ass. I’d be a liar if I said I was batting anywhere close to a thousand. But you have to try. You have to recognize the times when you’re falling down and pick yourself back up. For me, that means going to see Motörhead, Iggy, and Aerosmith—guys who have saved my butt time and again.
Aerosmith have somehow kept themselves current and relevant through countless fads and eras in rock and pop music, and they do it by constantly writing songs. They definitely have that “thing” to strive for, and they are, at seventeen or more years older than me, ageless.
The Stones are almost a generation older (in age, that is) than the boys in Aerosmith. But they were still filming high-definition concert films during their 50th Anniversary Tour. We in the audience can see the creases, scars, warts, and all. They don’t give a fuck, and they are a quarter of a century older than I am. I’d be an asshole at this point to think fifty was anywhere close to old. The Stones have single-handedly raised the worldwide bar of how we, as men, think about ourselves in terms of age.
CHAPTER 22 – DON’T DIE YOUNG, YOU’LL MISS OUT ON BEING FIFTY
How to Be a Man: (and other illusions)
Duff McKagan, Chris Kornelis