The 1960s: cultural and political transformation

Music of the 1960s

Whenever the decade of 1960s is discussed or analyzed, it is almost impossible to ignore the popular music of the period and the profound impact it had on Western society -- an effect that continues to be felt to date. In this essay, I shall discuss how the popular music evolved in the sixties and the ways in which it influenced the society.

The 1960s was a time of change; it was a period when the baby boomers came of age, and challenged the conventional "wisdom" of the older generation by embracing free-sex, drugs and outlandish fashions, confronted racial injustice, and opposed the unjust war in Vietnam. All of these changes and pressing concerns of a disgruntled youth and a counter-culture lifestyle were reflected in the popular music of the time. Some people have even gone as far as to suggest that the music of the sixties did not just reflect the changes but was in fact responsible for the youth culture and societal behavior of the time. In any case, there is little doubt that music was in the forefront of a number of influential movements in the sixties. Martin Luther King's Civil Rights movement for example, was in the words of one writer, "clearly a sing-in as well as a sit-in campaign" (Rodnitzky, 105) and it is difficult to imagine that the civil rights marches would have been as emotionally stirring without the singing of anthems such as "We Shall Overcome."

Even before the use of music by the civil right movement for change, American folk music had a tradition of "protest" and socially relevant songs. Woody Guthrie, for instance, roamed the American landscape during the Great Depression in the 1930s and sang about the poor, the plight of migrant workers and America's natural beauty. Before the start of the 1960s, however, protest folk music had been pushed into the background due the anti-Communist hysteria and the purported links of folk music with the political left. Western popular music at the time consisted of little more than catchy melodies and lightweight "boy meets girl" themes.

At that point in time, young folk singers such as Bob Dylan entered the arena and filled the vacuum by providing socially relevant music that the Western youth was yearning for. In songs such as "Oxford Town," "Masters of War," "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" and "Blowing in the Wind," released in 1963, he commented on issues that were close to the heart of young people. In "The Times They Are a-Changin'," released in February 1964, he encapsulated the spirit of the times, and issued a timely warning to the older generation to accept the changing times or be drowned in a youth-inspired social revolution. (McWilliams, 32)

While Dylan was introducing protest folk music in the mainstream popular music in the early 1960s, bands such as "The Beatles" had captured the imagination of the Western youth on both sides of the Atlantic. By accepting the influence of each other's music in their work, these artists revolutionized Western popular music. The power of such music in shaping the direction of the youth culture was immense. It spread the message of peace, love, racial and gender equality and challenged the hypocrisy of the existing social order.

Not all aspects of the sixties music were positive. Many of the sixties rock musicians adopted a hedonistic lifestyle and indulged in excessive drug use and casual sex. Much of the psychedelic rock music of the late sixties was created under the influence of drugs such as LSD or described the acid trips. Several prominent rock stars such as Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Jimmy Hendrix died tragically young due to drug abuse. (Degrazia)