Impact of Music During Various Decades

¶ … Media Has Shaped the Ages through Music:

Music is a medium that has shaped the ages in relation to its significant role in social movements. Actually, music has acted as one of the various methods and vehicles through which social movements have existed and developed. The role and significance of music in shaping the ages is primarily attributed to the fact that it represents more than entertainment as it has spoken for generations and exemplified belief systems. Generally, music has had a tremendous relationship to and impact on social movements in every decade from the 1960s through 2000-2010. Music has been used as a means of exemplifying the mood of the decade in terms of high profile events or movements that took place in the respective decade.

Music through the Decades:

As previously mentioned, music has played a significant role through the ages by shaping social movements and exemplifying the mood of the decade. During the 1960s, there were winds of change that blew a considerable varying collection of musicians. These winds of change came after the post-War expansion, the assassination of an idealistic president, and America's involvement in the Vietnam conflict. Bob Dylan's seminal, "The Times They Are a-Changing" can be considered as a song that encapsulated the message and mood of the 1960s decade (Holz, 2010). The song reflected a musical genre that was influenced by issues like poverty, nuclear disarmament, war, racism, and environmentalism. Through this song, Dylan encouraged his listeners to open their eyes, highlighted problems, and demonstrated his feelings of outrage and compassion. Media outlets helped the song's popularity or representation of the 1960s' events by helping listeners to share Dylan's feelings and to find them within themselves. The lyrics of the song that represented the changing times include "Come gather 'round, people; Wherever you roam; And admit that the waters: Around you have grown."

Edwin Starr's song, War, represented the mood of the 1970s since it was a blatant anti-Vietnam War protest. This decade was characterized with controversies surrounding the debate on whether to release war. The media promoted the popularity of the song and its representation of the events of the decade through using it as a tool to reflect the general anger and dislike the antiwar movement that was demonstrated towards the Vietnam War. Actually, upon its release, Starr's song quickly became a runaway hit and was position one on pop singles chart for nearly a month. As the most successful protest song, which was a pop hit, the song exemplified the belief that war is not beneficial since it brings pain instead of peace. The protest is quite visible in the song's lyrics such as, "War… What is it good for?; Absolutely nothing & #8230;; War I despise; Cause it means destruction of innocent lives."

Redemption Song by Bob Marley was the song that represented the events and mood of the 1980s. While the song abandons the reggae components for a direct folk feel, the folk classic focused on the general idea of freedom. Bob Marley's song was used by the media to inspire and celebrate social change to an extent that it became an important part of the protest movement. Some influential people during that period carried the song to every meeting with politicians, presidents or prime ministers. As a popular folk song, Bob Marley's Redemption Song focused on slavery in the new world and acted as a reminder that freedom usually comes with a cost (Hector, 2013). The lyrics that show the then world of slavery include "Old pirates, yes, they rob I/Sold I to the merchant ships/Minutes after they took I/From the bottomless pit."

The song of the 1990s was Fight the Power by Public Enemy, which is considered as one of the most influential and famous songs in the history of hip hop music. The authors of the song were renowned for expressing the concerns and frustrations of African-Americans. As the media continually played the song, it became an anthem for many youths from the black community and those living in inner-city ghettos. It was used to demonstrate the social and psychological conflicts at a time when the United States was struggling with racism. Fight the Power was used to encourage the African-American community to stand up for their rights amidst racial segregation. The encouragement is evident in its lyrics such as "Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps." The song was primarily an attack on the personifications of the white American ideal and its discriminative culture.

Lil Wayne's Georgia Bush is a song the reflected the mood of the 2000s and rivals any anti-Vietnam song in the 1960s. Lil Wayne produced the song as a sarcastic critique and attack of President George W. Bush and his administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina. It was a representation of the disaster's victim who felt that their country deserted them at their point of need. The hit song was used by the media to represent the discontentment that some victims of Hurricane Katrina felt, especially the affected African-Americans. While the song did not necessarily change the minds of many people, it forced them to acknowledge the plight of millions of people undergoing difficult periods while the government ignored them (Suddath, 2011). With lyrics like "The white people smiling like everything's cool / but I know people who died in that pool / I know people who died in them schools," the media used the song to criticize President Bush's handling of the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Summary:

Mass media has become an important part of today's culture that not only entertains but also educates and informs the public to an extent that it is integrated into people's lives (Vivian, 2012). One of the major ways in which the media informs and educates the public is through music. This is primary because of the role of music in social movements and definitive events within a particular period. Generally, music is a medium that has shaped the ages by acting as a representation or reflection of social movements that have existed and evolved. The role of music in shaping the ages is evident in its use to speak for generations and exemplify the existing belief systems.

As evident in this analysis, music has been used to represent the social context in each decade and reflect the primary mood of the public during the specific decade. The lyrics in each of these songs are influenced by the events taking place during the decade. Musicians not only produce the songs to represent their beliefs but also use them as a tool for speaking on behalf of others who share their feelings. In addition, these songs were used as mediums for influencing other beliefs and speaking to the generations in each of the decades.