When music connects generations and love becomes something you can hear
It was time for another music blog. Usually, I have a particular song on my mind, something that has been occupying my thoughts, a song that brings back memories or lyrics that make me reflect on life. This time, however, inspiration wasn’t really coming. I was listening to music, as I almost always do, wondering which song I should put in the spotlight. Plenty of songs came along, yet that one particular song I wanted to write about simply didn’t present itself.
Interestingly enough, I had been completely immersed in music from the eighties for the past few weeks. Radio 10’s Top 800 had certainly contributed to that. All those familiar songs from my teenage years, the music I grew up with, still sounding just as wonderful after all these years. One song brought back a memory, another made me turn up the volume. What incredible music was created during those years. And how remarkable that so many of those songs can still bring so much joy more than forty years later.
While I was still searching for inspiration, a video of Raized Wrong appeared on my Facebook timeline. Two young guys making music together with their father. And what were they playing? Exactly, wonderful eighties music! A medley filled with familiar songs, performed with so much energy and enthusiasm that I immediately stopped scrolling. This was my music, the soundtrack of my youth, played by two young men who hadn’t even been born when many of those songs dominated the charts.
I watched another video, and then another. I was enjoying the music, of course, yet something else was happening as well. I became increasingly fascinated by these three musicians. A father playing alongside his two sons, two brothers visibly enjoying their shared passion, and music effortlessly bridging the distance between generations.
And suddenly, I knew what I wanted to write about.
This time, I wouldn’t write a music blog focusing on one particular song. It wouldn’t be a story about the meaning of certain lyrics or the memories a melody brings back. I wanted to turn things around for once. Instead of writing about what one song does to me, I wanted to explore what music can do to people.
How music connects generations. How a father can share his passion with his sons, how two brothers find each other through a shared love, and how music written decades ago comes alive again in the hands of a new generation.
A slightly different kind of music blog, then, although music remains the beating heart of the story.
And all thanks to a band with a name that could hardly have been more fitting: Raized Wrong.
The Music of My Youth, Their Music of Today
Raized Wrong consists of father Donny Goldberg and his two sons, Landon and Lyric. Together, they perform music from the eighties, among other things, a decade that holds a particularly special place in my heart.
I was born in 1972. The eighties were my teenage years, the period when music began playing an increasingly important role in my life. The songs released during those years were new and exciting. You heard them on the radio, recorded them onto cassette tapes, and played them over and over again. Some songs became connected to friendships, first loves, holidays, or moments you never entirely forget.
When I listen to that music today, I hear so much more than a melody. A piece of my own history comes back to life. Memories of who I was back then, the people who were part of my life, and a world that now looks very different.
And then I see two young guys playing exactly that same music as if it had been released yesterday.
I absolutely love it.
For them, these songs aren’t memories of the eighties. They never experienced that decade, and they know the world in which this music was created only through stories and images. Yet they have discovered the music, embraced it, and made it their own. While I travel back to my youth whenever I hear those songs, they experience that same music in the present.
I find that a beautiful thought. The same melody can awaken completely different memories and emotions in different generations, while the joy they experience through it can be remarkably similar.
We tend to divide music into decades. Music from the sixties, seventies, eighties, or nineties. As though a song belongs to the generation that happened to be alive when it was released. Yet music doesn’t recognize boundaries defined by birth years. A beautiful melody can touch someone born sixty years ago just as deeply as someone born twenty years ago.
Raized Wrong demonstrates this in an incredibly engaging way. Their reference to Gen Z Does Gen X says it all. A new generation embracing the music of an older generation and breathing new life into it. The original songs remain recognizable, while the boys bring their own energy and enthusiasm to them.
And in a way, I find that reassuring. What once mattered to us doesn’t have to disappear as we grow older. It can find new meaning in the lives of people who see the world from an entirely different perspective.
A Father Who Lets His Sons Shine
Yet there is something about Raized Wrong that touches me just as deeply as the music itself. And that is the presence of their father.
Donny Goldberg plays alongside his sons. He is part of the band, supports the music, and often remains a little more in the background. In the videos I have watched, the spotlight frequently falls on the two boys. They are given the freedom to showcase their talent, share their energy, and develop their own musical personalities.
I don’t know what life is like inside the Goldberg family home. I don’t know their personal history, nor do I know exactly how their musical journey together began. Still, what I see fills me with a wonderful sense of warmth.
Because how extraordinary must it be to make music together with your own children? To see something that once played such an important role in your life reflected in the interests and enthusiasm of your sons. To discover that they enjoy the same melodies that once moved you, while building their own musical world around them.
Parenthood is, to a large extent, about passing things on. We pass on values, experiences, memories, and our understanding of the world in which we grew up. We try to teach our children something about life, gradually discovering that they will make their own choices and find their own paths.
To me, one of the most beautiful things a parent can achieve is helping their children develop enough confidence to follow their own path, while maintaining that connection to home.
And there stands a father, making music with his sons.
He doesn’t need to be the center of attention all the time. He can enjoy their talent, their enthusiasm, and the way they continue to grow. At the same time, he remains part of what they create together. His musical past becomes connected to their musical future.
I would absolutely love to sit down and talk with this man. I suspect he belongs roughly to my generation, although I don’t know his age. I would ask him what it feels like to make music with his sons, playing songs he may have known when he was their age. How extraordinary must it be to experience that music all over again, this time through the eyes and ears of your own children?
And above all, I would love to know how proud he feels when he watches his boys perform. Because if I can enjoy watching them this much as a complete outsider, what must it feel like for their father?
Two Brothers, One Shared Passion
Alongside that father-son relationship, there is another connection that appeals to me. The bond between Landon and Lyric themselves.
Two brothers making music together, performing together, and building something together. It may sound perfectly natural, although it certainly isn’t something we should take for granted. Brothers grow up in the same family and often share much of their childhood. Yet each develops his own personality, interests, and dreams.
When they discover that they share a passion, an opportunity arises to build something that reaches beyond the family relationship itself.
Making music requires listening to one another. You need to sense when the other person needs space, when it is your turn to step forward, and when the whole is more important than your individual contribution. A strong musical partnership develops when people trust each other and are willing to contribute their talents to something they want to achieve together.
Those qualities are valuable far beyond music.
In their performances, I see two brothers who genuinely seem to enjoy what they do. I don’t know exactly what their relationship is like away from the stage. What I do see is a shared passion that allows them to create memories together, memories that will probably stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Because ultimately, it is often the experiences we share that give our relationships meaning. The moments when we laugh together, discover something new, work toward a common goal, or simply enjoy what we have accomplished together.
Music can provide a wonderful setting for that. You don’t always need words to understand each other. A glance, a rhythm, or a musical moment can be enough to feel that you are experiencing something special together.
What Generations Can Give Each Other
In our society, we talk a great deal about generational differences. Baby boomers, Generation X, millennials, and Generation Z are frequently placed opposite one another. Each generation supposedly has its own opinions, habits, preferences, and ways of living. Of course, those differences exist. The world in which you grow up influences how you see life.
Still, I often wonder whether we focus too much on what separates generations and too little on what connects them.
Raized Wrong shows how valuable it can be when generations step into each other’s worlds.
The father brings his musical background and experience. His sons bring their enthusiasm, talent, and energy. They don’t need to be identical or see the world in exactly the same way. Precisely because they come from different generations, they can offer each other something they might never experience in quite the same way on their own.
And of course, this applies to much more than music.
Parents can learn from their children, just as children can learn from their parents. Young people can give new meaning to what older generations have created. Older people can discover that their experiences still have value, without feeling the need to hold on to the world exactly as it used to be.
It requires curiosity about one another and a willingness to listen.
Within this family, that exchange takes a musical form. The boys perform music from a generation that came before them, while their father becomes part of the way that music is experienced again today.
And somehow, this also touches on a desire I believe many parents recognize. As your children grow older, you don’t simply want to look back on the years when you raised them. You also hope to discover new ways of continuing to grow together.
To keep finding each other, even as your roles change.
Raized Wrong? Raised Right!
The more I watch Raized Wrong, the more I appreciate their name.
Raized Wrong.
Raised the wrong way. And even spelled incorrectly. After all, the English word raised is spelled with an s, while the band deliberately uses a z. Even the spelling is wrong.
And yet, when I watch these three musicians, I find myself thinking exactly the opposite.
Raised Right.
Raised well.
Of course, I don’t know how Landon and Lyric were raised. A few music videos cannot tell us the complete story of a family. Still, what I see feels like a beautiful expression of what loving parenthood can mean.
A father sharing his passion with his children. Two sons adding their own talent and enthusiasm. Two brothers building something together. And three people finding each other through music that already existed long before the youngest generation was born.
When I see that, I think about what we truly hope to pass on to our children. That they feel free to develop their own personalities, discover their talents, and find joy in what they do. That they learn to work together, listen to others, and understand how valuable it is to share something meaningful.
And that the love which grows within a family can continue to have a place as children become adults.
For me, all of that comes together in this remarkable family band.
What began as a search for inspiration for my music blog became something much more meaningful than simply rediscovering the music of my youth. It became a reminder of music’s extraordinary ability to connect people across ages and generations.
The songs from the eighties are now more than forty years old. The boys performing them weren’t even born when those songs first appeared. And yet their performances are bursting with energy, as though the music had been written yesterday.
That is the beauty of timeless music. Ultimately, it belongs to everyone who knows how to appreciate it, regardless of the year they were born.
And how wonderful when that music also brings a father and his two sons together.
I will certainly keep watching their videos with enormous pleasure. Anyone curious to discover why I am so enthusiastic can visit the Raized Wrong website or the Landon Drums Facebook page. I can hardly imagine watching their performances without feeling the urge to move along with the music.
And every time I see their name appear, I can’t help smiling.
Raized Wrong.
As far as I’m concerned, they are beautifully Raised Right.
Because ultimately, the way we treat each other, what we pass on to one another, and what we manage to share says far more about successful parenting than any perfectly spelled word ever could.
And if music can be the force that brings people together, I can only hope that many more fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters will have the opportunity to experience that same joy together.
Some music grows old. Other music grows up all over again with every new generation.
And when you get to experience that together, music becomes something to treasure for a lifetime.
Discover Raized Wrong
Official website: Raized Wrong
Facebook: Landon Drums
