1968 Musical Breakthrough

The war in Vietnam to do this day has gone down as one of the influential and controversial wars in United States history. The war lasted from 1955 to 1975.The nation as a whole began to uproar over the war and the major consequences of the war. There were many reasons why so many Americans were against the war. Public opinion steadily turned against the war following 1967 and by 1970 only a third of Americans believed that the U.S. had not made a mistake by sending troops to fight in Vietnam (Wikipedia). Not to mention, many young people protested because they were the ones being drafted while others were against the war because the anti-war movement grew increasingly popular among the counterculture and drug culture in American society and

Pop Culture during the 1960s A new social and political wave came over the United States in the early 1960s. There had been many changes since World War II in domestic life, economic standing, and politics. 1960s America was much more economically stable and felt responsibility for global affairs.

“Politics can be strengthened by music, but music also has a potency that defies politics.” This quote by Nelson Mandela summarizes the relationship between music and politics, and how important and unique their connection is. “This relationship is important because music has the power to enforce and the power to challenge politics”. Music has this power because it contains the potential to influence individuals, which can result in political movements, and even cause cultural change. The influence of music genre, Rock ‘n’ Roll, has heavily impacted the culture and society of America in several different ways.

Issue 1: The deployment of the atomic bomb in World War II was an unfortunate necessity for the United States. In a total war situation, using nuclear weapons was a solution that made the best of a bad situation. American leaders recognized the opportunity cost in terms of American lives versus the consequences of dropping the bomb. As Maddox writes, the Japanese “meant to fight the war to a finish” (5).

The 1960’s was a decade of social and political activism. This generation was swept off its feet by song writers who were not afraid to sing in protest of the government. A simple song, can have the power to change the minds and heart of a country, and how they affect or reflect our thoughts about the government and our experiences as American citizens.

Formed in 1960, The Beatles were one of the most famous rock groups to this day. The Beatles consisted of four group members: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. In the beginning, The Beatles were playing in clubs in Hamburg, Germany until they returned to Liverpool where they were noticed by Brian Epstein, their soon to be manager, in November of 1961. This sparked their decade long impact that they made on music from the 1960’s to today. The Beatles’ style was of significant importance to the evolution of music.

I. Punk music, it has a reputation for being chaotic and rebellious. But how did punk music start? In the 60s, rock music was “feel-good”, which young adults did not enjoy. These young adults wanted to take a stand against the status quo, and be themselves. They wanted to go against the mainstream music scene and all that it stood for.

The 1960’s was one of the most tempestuous decades in American history, remembered for its nationwide protests against the vietnam war and strive for political change. During this decade, a group of people called hippies, emerged and created their own liberal counterculture by refusing to participate in mainstream society. Hippies were white, well-educated, middle class adolescents who were products of the “baby boom” generation. As Hippies entered their early twenties in the late 1960’s, they began to advocate for individual freedom and highly promoted people to “do their own thing”. At the same time, they rejected any ideas of conformity and materialism that their parents had constructed and abided by the decade before them.

Identity, geography, business, and tradition have contributed to American popular music by, making things diverse. Identity makes it different by having different types of people like the music, geography gives off different sounds due to being in different places of the world, business makes things better, look at Phil Spectre making the sound wall, and tradition has kept the old ways around, and not let them die out. American popular music has reinforced stereotypes by the things that are said in their music. Like with country, since it is mostly whites or caucasians, it reinforces the stereotype that all whites like country or are country.

The sixties was a decade unlike any other. Baby boomers came of age and entered colleges in huge numbers. The Civil Rights movement was gaining speed and many became involved in political activism. By the mid 1960s, some of American youth took a turn in a “far out” direction. It would be the most influential youth movement of any decade - a decade striking a dramatic gap between the youth and the generation before them.