PHILADELPHIA -- Even though I'm only 41 years old, there are many signs that I'm starting to get old.

My knees ache from arthritis and I limp like Walter Brennan after I try to play basketball. My eyesight and hearing are diminishing, as is my hairline.

But perhaps one of the clearest signs that I'm getting older is that the music I grew up listening to has evolved into elevator music.

During the past year, while eating at various fast-food restaurants, I've heard Muzak versions of Eric Clapton's "Let It Rain," Jethro Tull's "Bungle in the Jungle" and Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven." The music that we considered radical, cool and hip has now been sanitized and repackaged as bland background music. The music that kids inhaled marijuana smoke to is now the music we inhale French fries to.

Twenty years from now, will Burger King be playing Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" (sample lyric: "I want to [bleep] you like an animal")? I haven't heard the Beatles' "Helter Skelter" yet, but that might be coming to a mall or grocery store near you soon.

When I'm at the optometrist, I don't want to hear a Muzak version of "Doctor My Eyes" by Jackson Browne. I'm not sure what would be more painful during a dental visit -- the drill, or listening to a Muzak version of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday." "Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie and the Beatles' "Revolution" just don't have the same effect when they're being played by violins instead of guitars.

When I was growing up in the 1970s, the oldies radio station would play artists from the 1950s like Elvis Presley and Fats Domino. Now, the oldies stations are playing the music from my youth -- The Who, the Police and Bruce Springsteen.

I suppose that some of today's pop music will lend itself well to Muzak in the future. To my old, jaded tastes, the Backstreet Boys and N'Sync sound like Muzak already. Even with current groups that I like, I can still see Muzak potential for songs such as U2's "Stuck in a Moment" and Train's "Drops of Jupiter."

Rock 'n' roll is supposed to be wild, subversive and controversial. It arouses passion, emotion and memories. It breaks my heart to hear it in its neutered form. It's also a slap in the face to realize that the music you thought was so cool isn't cool anymore and is now considered Jurassic.

I recently attended a wedding of a couple who were in their 70s. At the reception, they played Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand CDs. While most of the guests were in their 70s and 80s, I was at the kids' table with people ranging from teen-agers to around 40. While the oldsters were singing along with the tunes, the music was making us youngsters gag and we had to restrain ourselves from getting up and hurling the CD player against the wall. This wasn't our party, and we just had to deal with it.

Thirty years from now, young people will be sitting at a wedding listening to Sting and Dave Matthews Band CDs and griping about how lame the music is.

Larry Atkins is a lawyer and writer who lives in Philadelphia.