So the other day I had my nephew in the car with us (he's just 10 days older than my first son), and we were all singing along to Sheppard (that's me, my daughter, and both of my sons). My nephew seemed annoyed by this, and later on finally said that he didn't like that band, and he thought it was "weird" that we did that, all of us singing along to the iPod.
Music has always been something I shared my love of with my kids. They don't like every band I do (I'm glad, cuz that would be odd; I like that they're individuals), but we all do like a lot of them. It's what my parents did with me. I grew up listening to Chicago, Janis Joplin, Prince, and Hall & Oates, because that's what my parents liked and I liked them also. Granted, I didn't like everything they listened to (my mom was really into country until a few years ago), and some of my dad's classic rock bands seemed odd, but still, I loved that they turned me onto what they liked.
The nice thing about music is, it's its own language. I've listened to music where I didn't understand a word they were saying and still enjoyed it; I may not get the message the lyrics are conveying, but the beat, the melody...that's universal. It's crazy when you watch bands go on tours to places where they don't speak much of their language, but you still watch the audience go wild when they come on stage. I've even heard of some people learning another language just so they could understand what their favorite band was singing about!
I like the fact that my kids feel comfortable enough around me that they will sing along with the music, and aren't embarrassed that I sing along also, or even request that I play something we haven't heard in a while. To me, that's bonding, and I hope that when they get older (much older!) and have kids of their own, that they will share that with them also. A family tradition, if you will. Music may change, and styles come and go, but when music touches you, it leaves a mark on you, a permanent reminder of a certain time and place you experienced it. And that's pretty damn cool.