People who refer to music as a universal language are ignoring the fact that it can be a point of division between people and, at times, between whole generations.  As such, it's worth noticing, as a Pew Research Center report did this month, that there's a comparatively small musical generation gap these days, with rock 'n' roll exerting a cross-generational appeal.

When respondents to Pew's polling were asked how frequently they listen to various kinds of music, rock got the highest "often" vote (35 percent), putting it ahead of country (27 percent), rhythm and blues (22 percent), rap/hip-hop (16 percent), classical (15 percent), jazz (12 percent) and salsa/Spanish rock (6 percent). Rock's overall strength stems from the fact that it won the top "often" score among all of the poll's age groups aside from the 65-plusers. Forty-five percent of the poll's 16-29-year-olds said they often listen to rock, as did 42 percent of the 30-49-year-olds and 33 percent of the 50-64s. (The 65-plusers were outliers, with just 8 percent saying they often give an ear to rock.)

It's not just that younger people have been attracted to newer bands working in that genre. As Pew remarks in its analysis of the data (gathered in July and August), "one of the most compelling findings in the survey is the extent to which the Millennial Generation (ages 16 to 29) embraces the music of the '60s-including the work of groups that stopped performing long before anyone in that generation was born."

That's reflected in the findings when Pew solicited opinions about specific performers. Michael Jackson had the highest "like a lot" vote among the 16-29-year-olds, at 46 percent. But the Beatles were right behind (45 percent), with the Rolling Stones coming in third (35 percent). The long-dead Jimi Hendrix tied with the very-much-alive Kanye West (32 percent apiece) among the 16-29s.

Among the 30-49-year-olds, The Eagles won the highest "like a lot" vote (54 percent), followed by Michael Jackson (44 percent) and the Beatles (42 percent). The Beatles were tops among the 50-64-year-olds (65 percent), trailed by The Eagles (54 percent) and Elvis Presley (53 percent). Atop the standings among the 65-and-older respondents were Frank Sinatra (64 percent),  Johnny Cash (54 percent) and Elvis (53 percent).