Old World is the young Jonathan Richman's ode to the people and things that came before: parents, 1950s apartment houses, and the whole traditional world they represent. At first listen, it might sound like a deeply conformist tune, but in our conversation, we argue that it's actually quite the opposite. There's almost something radical about a young person singing lines like "I still love parents" so openly, especially in the highly countercultural historical context of the moment Jonathan was living in. Old World can be seen as an act of cultural rebellion, one so deeply uncool that, as co-host Jonathan Mann puts it, it sees Richman "swing back around to being the coolest ever.” 

Listen to Old World.