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Impact of protest songs in the 60's
Impact of protest songs in the 60's
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In 1961, previous to the outbreak of Occupy Wall Streets of Greenwich Village’s Washington Square Park was filled with three–thousand young beatnik protestors. Playing instruments and singing folk music symbolized the starvation that these young folks wanted of freedom and equality for America. Protestors demonstrated mixed cultures, individualistic beliefs that went against the status quo of America after the post-war years. The Beatnik Riot involved young traditional Americans fighting not just for the musical crisis of that time, but for the social, racial, and cultural segregations that were brought on by the years of war.
Acting as a catalytic reaction, the Beatnik Riot put in motion for a new modernized America. Greenwich Village’s Washington Square Park in Manhattan, New York was previously occupied by young protestors driven by anti-war and racial aspects. “In the spring of 1961, the Washington Square Association, a community group of homeowners around the square, appealed to New York City’s Department of Parks and Recreation to do something about the hundreds of ‘roving troubadours and their followers’ playing music around the square’s turned off fountain on Sunday afternoons “ (Straughsbaugh 1). “The parks commission began issuing permits to limit the number of musicians, allowing them to ‘sing and play from two until five as long as they had no drums,’ Van Ronk writes” ( Straughsbaugh 1). Permitting the number of musicians provoked the traditionalist to become active protestors. The community around the square complained about the ruckus caused by these hippies, racial mixture, cultured young folks. In Greenwich Village an old historical dilemma was of the racial ideas having this heritage people were not in favor of t...
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...imon 3).
Izzy Young was the organizer of the riot and the supervisor of Folklore Center. “In 1961, Izzy Young was running the Folklore Center on MacDougal Street. At the time it was the heart of the Greenwich Village folk scene” (51st 2). “Young was the guy who had applied for the permit to sing in Washington Square. And when it was rejected, he helped organize the protest” (Simon 2). Izzy attempted to construct a peaceful demonstration asking people’s right to sing.
The Beatnik Riot of 1961 characterized the young Americans of the United States that were fighting for their rights. The young radicals rebelled against the milquetoast population of America during this time. The riot conveyed that the beats were not only fighting for their right to sing, but for equality of sex and race. The Beatnik Riot started a domino effect of protests across the United States.
American society and culture experienced an awakening during the 1960s as a result of the diverse civil rights, economic, and political issues it was faced with. At the center of this revolution was the American hippie, the most peculiar and highly influential figure of the time period. Hippies were vital to the American counterculture, fueling a movement to expand awareness and stretch accepted values. The hippies’ solutions to the problems of institutionalized American society were to either participate in mass protests with their alternative lifestyles and radical beliefs or drop out of society completely. The government and the older generations could not understand their way of life.
In the summer of 1969, a music festival called, “Woodstock”, took place for three straight days in Upstate, New York, with thirty-two musical acts playing, and 500,000 people from around the world coming to join this musical, peaceful movement. Woodstock started out being a small concert, created to locally promote peace in the world, by the power of music and its lyrics. Now, Woodstock is still being celebrated over 40 years later. The chaotic political climate that the ‘baby boomers’ were growing up in is most likely the reason for this event becoming of such an importance to the world. The violence of the Vietnam War, protests at Kent State and the Democratic Convention, and the assassinations contributed to an ‘out of control’ world. The fact that so many people came to Woodstock and were able to latch onto the ideals of peace, love, and community became a wonderful, joyous symbol to this generation. This three day music festival represented the ideal for baby boomers during a chaotic political time.
America was built on rebellion. This was no different for the Beat Generation whom took Americans in the 20th century, into a new way of life. Middle class free spirited people who questioned the practices of everyday lifestyle and mainstream culture, the beats lived in disillusionment with society. The fifties being a time of conservative family morals encouraged the bohemian nature of the beats for their want to experience more. The nature of this rejection is expected but, why? And how does such rebellion begin to take place, what forms does it take, and does such rebellion provide a lasting change?
In the mid 1940’s a movement began, a generation of writers and poets would emerge; they were called the ‘Beat Generation’. The term was first used by Jack Kerouac while talking to fellow writer John C. Holmes, in 1948, Kerouac said to him, “So I guess you might say we’re the beat generation” (What’s Beat). The ‘Beat Generation’ was a movement that influenced the next generation of young rebellious minds of the 1950’s and ‘60’s through poets and writers who did not follow the rules of society. Growing up I have always liked the poets and writers of that time, the smooth cool way they talked, the slang they used, the goat-tees and black berets they wore and their cool and casual demeanor. The writers and poets of that generation were so passionate in what they wrote, and in their resistance to conformity. Not caring to be like everyone else, instead, they sought to be the individuals that they were, not bowing to what mainstream society thought they should be. Freedom of individuality was their passion. Although it wasn’t until I was older that I really understood what they meant and stood for, the movement had a deeper meaning; to be yourself.
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 protest music, which has reached out to the youthful generations everywhere demanding for a revolutionary change. The protest music took the children of the 1960’s to a completely new different level. Musicians of this generation were not going to sit and do nothing while the government lied to the people about what was going on in Vietnam. Instead, they took their guitar-strumming troubadours from the coffee houses, plugged them in, and sent the music and the message into the college dorm rooms and the homes of the youth of America. However, as decades went by, protest music does not have much of an impact as it use to because of the way things have changed over the years. Through the analysis of the music during the 1960’s, there shall be an understanding on how the different genres of protest music has affected social protesters based on how musicians have become the collective conscience of that generation through their lyrics and music and the main factors that contributed to the lack of popula...
In terms of youth culture and rock music in the East, Kaspar Maase summarizes the 1960s as a “hot phase of conflict-ridden enforcement” (15). In 1965, the SED’s Eleventh Party Plenum banned the “escalation of the beat rhythms” along with nearly an entire year’s film production. Erich Honecker, later party leader and head of state, pointed out that rock music and the “decadent” lifestyle of the beatniks was not in accordance with the goals of the socialist worldview. Adolescents would be hopped up by the music and driven to an excessive way of life. The possibility for bands to perform in public was drastically constrained; young beatniks were forced to cut their hair. The situation escalated when in October 1965 the so-called “beat riot” took place in Leipzig against the stage ban of amateur music groups. The participants were beaten by police and arrested.
Tytell, John. "The Beat Generation and the Continuing American Revolution." in Ed. Holly George-Warren. The Rolling Stone Book of the Beats: The Beat Generation and American Culture. New York: Hyperion, 1999. 55-67.
"Burn, burn, burn," says Kerouac, and that is what the Beats were all about. From the all-night, smoke-filled jazz clubs of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, to the trendy bars of San Francisco, the artists known as the ‘Beats’ were interested in one thing, and only one thing: living. To them, life was a series of adventures to be lived. Going from one high to the next, in search of that thing that will, in the end, transform them into that "blue centerlight" about which everyone says "Awww!" But a few questions must be addressed regarding the Beats. Was theirs the correct choice? Was the fun they had worth the pain that they caused, and the pain that they had to endure? And ultimately, what impact did the Beats have on society as a whole, and was that impact, is that impact, positive or negative? Jack Kerouac, the most prominent of all Beat poets, and the gang hanging out at the famous 115th Street apartment helped to mold two generations of young Americans, and have made a permanent impression on the landscape of American culture through their literature, and most of all, through their lives, and their desire to live. This is the contribution of the Beats: a legacy of s...
Firstly, the group of friends and writers most commonly known as the Beats evolved dramatically in focal points such as Greenwich Village and Columbia University, and subsequently spread their political and cultural views to a wider audience. The three Beat figureheads William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac each perceived an agenda within American society to clamp down on those who were in some way different from the accepted ‘norm’, and in response deliberately flirted with the un-American practices of Buddhism, drug use, homosexuality and the avant-garde. Ginsberg courted danger by lending a voice to the homosexual subculture that had been marginalised by repressive social traditions and cultural patterns within the United States.
The themes of the Beat Generation helped to pave the way for today’s society which included disillusionment, social nonconformity, and spontaneity. Disillusionment is considered to be the main theme of the movement and “…it was the reason for the split from mainstream society that the Beats had originally desired” (Beat Movement). In that period, some people didn’t like the idea of the lifestyle that was considered normal; the traditional spouse, having two kids, and a white picket fence (Beat Movement). These people that didn’t like the idea were disillusioned from postwar contentment which led to them to starting a protest against the social norms that to them were considered more of social control than a style of living. Another known theme of the Beat Genera...
“Music is uniquely wonderful. It is incapable of being touched yet it touches everyone who is capable of hear sounds. It can seemingly evoke any emotion; we instinctively respond to happy tunes, mournful songs, beautiful melodies, inspiring anthems, stirring hymns, and majestic orchestrations.” (Doolan, Robert. 1985) There is no question that music is great part of society; it has been at civilization’s side whether it be the lyres and flutes of the ancient Greeks or how it calms or excites emotions and keeps armies in order during battle. Within society, there has also been social unrest and the desire for change. Protesting is the expression of a society’s concerns on current events of which they feel affected by whether it be through public rallies, picketing, riots or even bombings. Protest through music is one powerful medium for engaging people. Amidst what life throws at individuals, music has comforted the soul, provoked individualistic thought and opinion, and music draws people together through groups alike who have the same attachment or concerns with their surroundings. Whether it be rock, jazz, blues, rap, hip hop, dance, spiritual, or world, music has inspired artists to spill out their expression and views of society. Music is a universally effective tool of protest in generating social change and unrest as it continues to unite those with like ideas.
The purpose of this paper is to describe how an underground youth culture emerged into a social “hippie “movement and what led them to Haight-Ashbury, the Summer of Love in San Francisco and the aftermath in 1967. The Summer of Love was a social movement that consisted of a wide range of ages from teenagers to college students even middle-class vacationers, inspired by The Beats, who gathered in Haight-Ashbury in 1967 that rejected the conformist values of Cold War America. The main event was held in the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco, where rent was low, Victorian homes and little trendy shops those who flocked here wanted to amongst their peers. Many just wanted to make peace with the world, but ended in October 1967, The Death of a Hippie, when the town became over populated with homeless runaways, the shops closing down and the overuse of drugs no one wanted to be there anymore. “According to Steve Watson, the Beatniks had a certain stereotypical look that you could tell belongs to the counterculture.
As a result of the Vietnam war and the civil rights movements America needed to change, and it relied on the youth. With inspiration and community they led the counter culture movement toward freedom, love, peace, and equality amongst the American people. Though many still view the youth of the counter culture of the 1960s as a generation of dreamers, contrastingly in reality they prove themselves to be a generation of doers.
Part one catalogues the actions and experiences of the Beatniks. This group of artists refused to conform to what was socially acceptable. Rather than live their lives in “little boxes,” as described by Malvina
Popular music in today’s day and age spins from a variety of genres, backgrounds, and cultures, holding messages, telling stories, and expressing the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of its artists through the freedom it gives them. Music has always been something that tries to persuade people’s opinions and actions; because of this, the 1960’s had some of the most influential music in America’s history. The era’s music impacted society in distinctive ways through its attacks on societal conformity, politics, and societal dissatisfactions. Music boldly exposed society to new thoughts and experiences and played a major role in the era of Social Revolution known as the Psychedelic Era.