At some point, it just makes sense to feel bad for the youth. They really did not ask for the world in which they were born, the world in which many of us want so badly to shield. We want them to believe that they are born in a world where kindness, positivity and such will prosper, but unfortunately, this world isn’t Playland. The kids of today don’t even know what Playland is. But us adults? Gen Z, Millenials and so forth and so on? We remember what it is like to just be without a care. We remember the video games we played before or after we did our homework. We remember eating fast food because our parents didn’t want to cook, and it was delicious. Now, a kid literally cannot pick a flower without facing jail time.
So, listening to Childhood Dreams by Russian composer Nikolay Pashkovets can hit different based upon current perception. “Our Happiness is Scattered Around, We Just Need to Learn to Notice It” plops you in the middle of birds chirping and kids loudly laughing and playing, evoking magical thoughts of when kids could just play outside and never have to worry about responsibilities. Major key piano, guitar and synth combos emerge like the morning sun shining within the summer time. It does so as if to say, “See? Life was really good. You do not have to worry about what is right now. Think about what was and realize that you could always have this. Your future kid, baby sibling, baby cousin, anyone you know that is still a kid right now? They can always have this. It doesn’t have to be a faraway memory”. Even if it may be how it feels. Warm, sunny, almost affirming of your own inner child. And all that is just the first track of a 5-song EP.
“Hello World” is sure to evoke feelings for any listening parents of the first time you have ever seen a baby function. The first time they learned to speak, they learned to move and they got a bright view of what the world was like for the first time. That isn’t to say many of us remember what it was like to be a baby, but it is a memory, an idea that grounds you at its most necessary time. On the flip side, as sounds of kids playing in a pool, it can also evoke a sense of melancholy because babies never stay babies for too long. We all eventually grow up.
I like to think “This moment may never come again” is a three-minute reminder that though childhood memories are important, it is always important to just be in the present as every child is. After all, what is will eventually turn into what was. “Never Resist the Noise of Spring Inside You” bursts like a fire within you of relentless positivity, while “Pure” is the woozy sound of those memories just being what they were. The halcyon days were amazing. But we now live in a time where children have every right to be worried about the world that we live in. They shouldn’t. They should be playing with Hot Wheels or Barbies thinking about science experiments and wacky cartoons. Instead, now, kids are protesting the antics of our current administration. We have failed the kids.
So, as optimistic and inspiring as the album is to look back on happier times, it should also be a motivator to make sure the kids of today can have those happy times, too.
Written by mynameisblueskye
