The Hippie Aesthetic Era of Rock and Roll

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The hippie aesthetic era was an important time in rock and roll during the late 60’s and on into the early 80’s. It was a time were rock had a sense of purpose. They sung about the issues that plagued the country. It was also a time where technology would play an important roll in the sound of music, with the advancement in recording and synthesizer technology (Covach, “The Hippie Aesthetic”). The hippie aesthetic was not immune to the advancement of music. This essay will go over three songs that represent the different aspects of this era. It’ll will review a song that is predominately hippie aesthetic, a song that is a little of both, and finally a song that has no trace of hippie aesthetic.
“Missionary Man” by The Eurhythimics, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Q3cp3cp88, is a good example of hippie aesthetics. The Eurhythimics were a British synthesizer band that used a mixture of various instruments during the recording of “Missionary Man” (“Songfacts”). This song included the use of synthesizers, guitars, a harmonica, and some backwards noises in the beginning (“Songfacts”). The video has a touch of psychedelia with strange unzipping of leather and with Lennox being poked in the fact throughout the video. Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” is a great example of a song that falls in the middle.

“Billie Jean”, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi_XLOBDo_Y), is a song written by Michael Jackson that was a little bit of both hippie aesthetic and not. It is about a woman who stalked Jackson and claimed that he is the father of her baby (Covach, “Introduction to Rock”). This is represented in the chorus, “Billie Jean is not my lover. She is just a girl who claims that I am the one but the child is not my son” (“Lyricsmania”). Jac...

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...k in Black” is a song that is pure old school rock and roll. All they use are a drum set, electric guitar, and a singer that rules the stage. There isn’t any high tech synthesizers, outlandish outfits, or colorful stage props when it is performed live.
These were three examples of the variations of the hippie aesthetics. This essay gave a look at different songs and how the fell into certain categories when determining if they were hippie aesthetics. They ranged from fully to none at all. This was a time in music where artists and bands were trying to find themselves and to not be part of the mainstreams. The hippie aesthetics involved individuals that were willing to take a chance and step outside the box. They were the risk taker of their time. The hippie aesthetics has influenced some of the music that you hear today and will continue to long into the future.

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