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Let's talk about glam metal and its downfall - and how it fits in with the pop radio doldrums of the early 1990s.
Top 40 radio is often said to have been in a malaise in the early '90s. It's not nearly as bad as now, but back then, it was the worst that had been experienced in the history of the format to date. In the early stages of this period, however, there were some outposts of the format that could be said to have had a reverse doldrums, if you will. It could be because the format was splintering at the time.
We weren't decrepit enough for the adult contemporary tendencies of some stations, but we were too mature for stations that went in the opposite direction. That's in addition to the fact that our attention spans were wide enough that we also liked bigger and broader playlists on top 40 radio. Remember, that was in the days when people had the radio on all day at gatherings and the like, instead of just during 5-minute car trips (if they can even afford a car or gas now).
Poison's now-lost hit "Life Goes On" seems to represent the reverse doldrums. Glam metal was becoming so clichéd that we now considered ourselves too sophisticated for much of it. It had gotten to the point where it seemed to appeal to a less mature crowd, maybe a couple years younger than me.
There were some weird things going on around that time too - in addition to the other weird things I've already discussed at length. This song somehow seemed evocative of these occurrences. The early '90s weirdnesses now have the same feeling as the mid-'80s weirdnesses in that they're buried in a remote part of my brain. Now I think there's actually some late '10s weirdnesses stored in those same cerebral caverns, which is especially stunning considering I was well into middle age then.
Another symptom of the reverse doldrums was stations putting 9-year-olds on the air to dedicate songs.
Life goes on.
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