Artists get better with age, e.g., painting. Yet when it comes to pop music, the famous work tends to be written when musicians are in their twenties. So, why aren't Bob Dylan or the Stones banging out amazing tunes now?

David Bowie got old enough to contemplate his imminent death and make haunting music about the experience.

Not all popular musicians are like this. The Beatles made an effort to reach out to every age demographic. Off the top of my head, I know of no other band that was equally comfortable making silly children’s songs and imagining what it would be like to get old.

Here are 2 young women singing a hedonistic sex song. I don’t know many elderly people who want to get down in da club to EDM-pop with sexy lyrics.

Why am I sweating so much when I try to do anything?

Here’s a scrappy 60s rock song about young people telling their elders to fuck off.

Seeing a 2023 Rolling Stones video featuring some sexy Sydney Sweeney dancing on a convertible was…weird, considering Sweeney is young enough to be Mick Jagger’s granddaughter.

Most modern popular music styles, whether it’s rock, pop, rap, etc., is made by young people, for young people. It’s not necessarily well-equipped to speak to the deepest desires and concerns of the elderly.

I’m wondering about attachment and transference with the therapist and the idea of escape and fantasy? How much do you think your strong feelings, constant thoughts, desires to be with your therapist are a way to escape from your present life? I wonder if the transference serves another purpose than to show us our wounds and/or past experiences, but is a present coping strategy for managing what we don’t want to face (even if unconsciously) in the present—-current relationships, life circumstances, etc. Can anyone relate to this concept of escape in relation to their therapy relationship? How does this play out for you?

But they were outliers. Most popular music comes from young people who aren’t thinking long term about aging, and they often have trouble adjusting their music and image as they get old.

If we accept the question’s premise that Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones aren’t banging out amazing tunes anymore (I agree about the Stones, not familiar with recent Dylan music), then perhaps it’s because most popular musicians can’t figure out how to make great new music that reflects the experience of getting old.