The Impact of Music on Society

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” – Plato. Profound memories are often linked to listening to music many of which are latent; or unintended, even unrecognized until later in time. Then at that moment it is suddenly apparent the impact music actually has on life. Music has been vital to society essentially since the beginning of civilized existence, and has directly shaped life and the way people express themselves still today. From a sociological imagination point of view, which enables people to see relationships between events in their personal lives and in society. Three of the greatest impacts made are that of counter culture shaping, creation of new political ideology, expressionism of uncensored thought to allow emotions to be conveyed unfiltered; and finally, possibly the most important impact of all is music’s ability to inspire people and even save the lives of some.

First, the counter culture of the 1960’s is one of the most significant movements to occur in regards to the cultural development of the twentieth century. Music was the fuel for the industrial rock and roll train who was perhaps conduted by Bob Dylan, the Beatles shortly after, and whose caboose may have been Jimi Hendrix. In any case a rock and roll revolution had been started and rolled on full steam ahead. The Beatles turned out to be one of the most influential bands of all time and the first ever to become a world wide sensation. Their ability to convey pride and unity as a group seemed to encourage the world to join hands and begin to love one another more than any other band influence thus far. The Beatles were always ahead of their time in terms of creativity and yet maintain...

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