How Music Affects The Counterculture

The 1960’s were arguably the most influential years in American music’s history. The music helped connect people of all races, whom enjoyed visiting jazz-clubs in the early to mid-60s, to listen to the music and poetry performed by African-Americans. Much of the music from the 1960s also led to the creation and popularization of new genres and subgenres, such as rock-and-roll. These new music styles influenced the lifestyles of a large majority of Americans, particularly teenagers and young-adults, who mimicked the lifestyles of many stars of the time.

The decade of the 1960s can be said to be a subversion of the United States. From the civil rights movements, anti-Vietnam war demonstration, Kennedy’s presidency, to the assassination of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King, the impact of the surging social movements and political turmoils to the American society is extremely far-reaching. There has been a lot of researches on the various social movements in this period. However, people 's attention seems to be limited to another important cultural phenomenon of this period, that is the prosperity of rock & roll. This paper is intended to analyze the

The Sixties were an exciting revolutionary period of time with great social and technological change. Some people called it the “decade of discontent” because of the race riots in Detroit and La, and the demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Other people called it the decade of “peace, love, and harmony”. It was called this because of the peace movement and the emergence of the flower children. (Britannica) The sixties were about assassination, unforgettable fashion, new styles of music, civil rights, gay and women’s liberation, Vietnam, Neil Armstrong landing on the moon, peace marches, sexual freedom, drug experimentation, and Woodstock. All of these components caused a revolutionary change in the world of popular Music.

One of the most well-known things about the sixties is its music. Bands in the sixties started to break the conservative boundaries by talking about drugs and sex in their music; the drugs and sex revolution in this music also

One of the social changes in the 1950s was rock-n-roll music which led to teens rebelling against the social norms and being able to freely express themselves. In fact, much of the older generation looked down upon rock-n-roll because they considered it tasteless and music from the devil. While in the 1960s, music was considered a way to really express yourself and tell the world about how you really felt about the current situation. Much of the 60’s music was used to protest the Vietnam War and show the government that they did not want to go off to war to fight. The 1950s was a decade filled with change and prosperity while the 1960s were the years of rebellion and

The fifties and sixties were completely different in so many ways; the times had changed a lot in the transition of decades. The types of music, for one, were in great contrast. By the sixties the rock-'n'-roll and pelvic thrusting of the fifties had transformed into the pop, rock and folk music of the likes of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. Teenagers changed a lot over the two decades a lot, too. The tight pant, leather jacket bodgies, with their greased hair, and the widgies, with their rope petticoats and flared dresses, were replaced by the teenagers of the Psychedelic era. These teenagers preferred the swirled shapes and bright colours, with their newly found mini-skirts, and for the guys it was paisley shirts.

In the summer of 1969, a music festival known as “Woodstock” took place for three straight days in Upstate, New York with thirty-two musical acts playing, and over 400,000 people from around the world coming to join this musical and peaceful movement. Woodstock started out being a small concert, created to promote peace in the world. Now, Woodstock is still being celebrated over 40 years later. This three day music festival represented the perfect concert for the “baby boomers” during a messy political time. Woodstock significantly impacted the counterculture era of the 1960’s in a number of ways; how it began, the ideas of the concert, the sense of union and love it represented and it

During the sixties, American people saw the rise of the counterculture. Counterculture was a group of movements focused on achieving personal and cultural liberation, mainly embraced by the decade’s young adults. Because many Americans were members of the different movements in the counterculture, the counterculture influenced American society as a whole. As a result of the achievements the counterculture movements had made, the United States in the 1960s became a more open, more tolerant, and a more freer country. In 1969, close to half a million self-described hippies,peace makers, and Aquarians made an expedition from mainly San Francisco to Woodstock in upstate New York. The Woodstock Music and Arts Festival was called an Aquarian Exposition and hailed as three days of peace and music, over 400,000 people attended; it was peaceful. However, life outside of the woodstock festival was not. America seemed to be dividing as a country. The war in Vietnam went on for roughly another 15 years. American boys were still being sent to Southeast Asia by the newly elected President, Nixon. The increasingly unpopular war intensified a campus protest movement. Burning draft cards and peace marches became daily fare on the evening news. And not all of the demonstrations were peaceful. The summer after Martin Luther King was assassinated, riots broke out in 125 cities including, Chicago, Baltimore, NYC, Kansas City, and Cincinnati. Meanwhile, at the Democratic convention in Chicago, the anti-war movement tore the Democratic Party in two. Both critics and fans agree that Woodstock has become part of the mythology of the 1960s, even if the actual event didn't necessarily represent the musical or political taste of most of the young Americans adults at this time. Some say it symbolized the freedom and idealism of the 1960s. Some argue that Woodstock represented much of everything that was wrong with the sixties: a glorification of drugs, a loosening of sexual morality and a socially corrosive disrespect for authority.

The 1960’s was one of the most controversial decades in American history because of not only the Vietnam War, but there was an outbreak of protests involving civil and social conditions all across college campuses. These protests have been taken to the extent where people either have died or have been seriously injured. However, during the 1960’s, America saw a popular form of art known as protest music, which responded to the social turmoil of that era, from the civil rights movement to the war in Vietnam. A veritable pantheon of musicians, such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan sang their songs to encourage union organizers to protest the inequities of their time, creating a diverse variety of popular

During the 1960s Music was heavily influenced by the political and social events happening at the time. At this time civil rights movements were common as many people were trying to spread the emancipation of racism and segregation. As a result the music of the time tended to reflect this counterculture of peace. This “culture” encompassed civil rights, anti-establishment and, inciting revolution. This was a vital time in history for civil rights activists as well as anti-war revolutionaries and the music industry. From folk music to rock music, everyone was affected by the war and chose to express it through the most international form of art, music. Anti-war activists and counterculture enthusiast craved the music that truly expressed

I will be reviewing the website entitled The 60s and Protest Movies. This website outlines the historical and political impact of music released in the 1960s. Due to the political and social climate in the 60s, musicians used their platforms to take a political stance. I chose to review this website because I believe that music can impact the world in a very serious way. In the modern age, people place a lot of weight in what the famous say and do, especially if they idolize them. I loved this website, as it allowed me to learn about how music, an art, has effected war culture. I wish this website had included more visuals to make the content more relatable, to those who cannot remember these events happening in

To what extent can music provide a means of resistance for challenging the power relations of racism, class and gender?

To understand the sixties counterculture, we must understand the important role of Bob Dylan. His lyrics fueled the rebellious youth in America. Songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times are A-Changin” made him favorable to anti-war demonstrators and supporters of the Civil Rights movement. He was commonly hailed as the spokesman for his generation. Dylan used lyrics to allow the youth to find their own form of counter-culture. The youth generation began to see the effects racism, war, etc. effect the society in America. To combat this, the youth created their own form of counter-culture to promote a peaceful change within society. Some of their actions include forming anti-war protests that opposed America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, and supporting African Americans/women get the rights they deserve through the Civil Rights Movement. Bob Dylan’s music appealed to the young generation because he openly expresses his disapproval of the establishment in order to influenced his audience to move in a direction for change. Counterculture youth rejected cultural norms of the previous generation and their values and lifestyles opposed the mainstream culture present in the 1950’s. The folk music revival of the early 1960s, as well as the counter-culture movement played an important role in advocating change. Bob Dylan wrote songs that influenced the Civil Rights Movement, New Left Movement, and Anti-War Movement.

The counterculture of 1960 was a cultural phenomenon originating in the United Kingdom and United States and soon became mainstream throughout most of the Western countries. This counterculture bred what we call "hippies". Events of the time period that influenced the hippie's actions were the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, space exploration, mind-altering drugs, and funky music. These flower children began to question long held beliefs, everyday lifestyles, and other generational factors, while suggesting the bizarre contrasts. This was all due to their unhappiness with their current political and cultural standards. For some, it was the golden age however, others viewed it as a time of the disintegration of all disciplines. The extremes posed grew more and more stark all through the 60's and in the mid-1970's. While we see the broad spectrum of effects that the hippies' utopian society and peace loving attitudes caused, the idea to break from conformity toward

I chose this topic because music is a history, a culture and everything. Music is a very important role in our daily life. Maybe most of the people wouldn’t know it or feel it but without music everything would have changed. Music have been a big part of our lives, most of the culture has music. So can music change the world or the world will change music?