Henry Rollins

All of the original Ramones

Paul Westerberg

Bob Mould

Elvis Costello

Morrissey (but he’s a couple years older than the rest of the Smiths)

All of the original members of the Clash

All of the original members of R.E.M.

…and on and on.

So what, you ask? Well, aside from the fact that I now feel much older than I did an hour ago, I think it signifies a much more significant generational shift than anyone has really discussed. When considering the things that Obama is not, the overwhelming majority of commentators have focused on the fact that he’s not white while glossing over the fact that he’s also not a Baby Boomer — or, if they’d noted it, it was more as a lament that the torch of presidential power is passing from their generation with their latest standard-bearer being George W. Bush.

Much has also been made of the idea that it was the “youth vote” that put Obama over the top, while not noticing that in many ways Obama is the youth. People born after about 1960 (give or take) seem to have less in common with their elders than they do their juniors, partly due to a greater comfort with technology and partly due to a certain alienation from the self-congratulatory Boomers. Yes, there really is a generational divide, and it represents significantly different ways of seeing the world.

When Obama made his infamous “excesses of the 60’s” remark, I knew exactly what he was talking about, and it had nothing to do with feminism or the civil rights movement. It had to do with the perceptions of those who were children in that era, who saw the adult world turn increasingly self-absorbed and self-indulgent (and it wasn’t just Woodstock: watch The Ice Storm sometime). The general consensus among those born from about 1960 to 1980 (again, give or take) is that the 60’s were a party to which we were not invited, but we had to clean up after it and we got stuck with the bill.

After the last 16 years of Boomer presidents, it’ll be interesting to have a president who sees the 60’s neither as the greatest thing to happen to the country nor the worst, but rather as a pain in the ass that certain people won’t shut up about. And the Flower Power years notwithstanding, it’ll be interesting to see how the generational differences among those in power manifest themselves, because they most definitely will.