u/-nolineonthehorizon-

Storytime, (for context we’re Irish). My friends and I (all 17) recently went on a hike in Dublin. To get from the train station to the hill we had to walk past bono’s house or rather his gates. The U2 fan that I am, I was pretty stoked to know that was his house and pointed it out to my friends.

Well none of them cared. They said they’ve heard his name but wouldn’t recognise him if he walked past them on the street. One said their mental image of him was looking like ‘Gerry Adams in Say Nothing’. And another that they just know he wears sunglasses all the time.

It gets worse. One of them actually didn’t know who I was talking about. They thought we had an inside joke and made up a fella called bono. I corrected them and said um do you not know u2 the most famous Irish band of all time.

‘No who are they’. We finally got somewhere when I played With or Without You and they recognised it but mind you they didn’t know who made it or that they were Irish. Objectively u2 although not really relevant with my age group are definitely the biggest Irish band ever and if this is how they’re known in their home country then what’s it like abroad? I just can’t understand how my friends were oblivious.

Do they have any cultural relevance left at all in places like america? Of course I’m biased because they’re my favourite band ever but this really shocked me. 😔💔

Anyways we had a great hike and check out Killiney Hill for a great view of the city and the sea if anyone ever visits here.

So yesterday I was talking to my friends (we’re all 17) and I mentioned I seen Pearl Jam two years ago in the venue my friends are going to. They thought I was joking. No one had heard of a band called Pearl Jam and they didn’t understand what I was saying. I played their most famous songs and still no clue (they said it sounded emo). Granted my friends and I are probably not who you’d picture as their fans, but most of them like classic rock bands and have a generally good music knowledge. I’ve always grown up knowing them so it was a shock my friends didn’t actually know them at all. Naturally I then said thats it’s NOT emo it’s grunge. THEN they were like wtf is grunge. Then i nearly flipped. I mentioned all the big bands and they were only like oh yeah I know who nirvana were but not their music. Basically my question is do Pearl Jam have any relevance left with the youth or will they be forgotten in years to come? They just haven’t pierced cultural relevance for my generation, there’s no smash hits everyone knows even though I obviously love them you know.