I am a millennial, a person born between 1980 and 2000. Millennials are possibly the most influential generation or, what some people may refer to as, the chosen generation. Our influence has been illustrated by the impact we had in the election of President Barack Obama. Throughout the last year, my dad has encouraged me to study millennials because he has been spending many hours studying them, himself. He believes that music defines the character and values of a generation. As a lover of all kinds of music, he has enlightened me with a genre of songs describing the desire for change. Most of the songs were composed by artists of his generation, Fifth Dimension, Eric Clapton, and Sam Cooke, to name a few. I was pleasantly surprised and excited when he introduced me to a current song with a similar message about change. “Uprising,” by Muse, the sixth ranking song on the iTunes alternative list, has now become a family favorite. My dad has given me the task of choreographing a dance to this song for a website that he is in the process of developing. In an effort to interpre...
According to Abby Ellin in her article, “The Beat (Up) Generation” the styles between millennials and baby boomers is substantial and often times, millennial’s are just misinterpreted. Millennial’s have everyone trying to decode them and try to figure out how they work. This has people from the Baby Boomer generation in flux. Ellin validates her claim with strong sources, powerful statistics, and unbiased argument.
To the persistent individual, though, there is a body of music in existence that merits regard. It is powerful music written by the youth of America, youngsters who did have a stake in the Vietnam War. There can be little question about the origins of the power which American protest music conveyed: those who wrote such music lived each day with the real knowledge that they were losing friends in, and could possibly be forced themselves to go to, Vietnam. One such group, Creedence Clearwater Revival, made its contribution to this genre near the end of the Vietnam War.
[2] After the fifties, Americans were emotionally dead. During the next decade the population would search again for the “grand ideals” of democracy. The American people were looking for something in the 1960’s; they were searching for ideals and dreams. The Sixties were a “time of rebellion, defiance of authority, acting out hopes and dreams. . . a time of reconsidering the way we lived, the way we behaved toward people in this country and abroad” (Zinn in Morgan, ix). During the Sixties people began to take into account American history and began to attempt to redress the past. Perhaps the largest and most influential group in motivating the American people was musicians. They began to put the feeling of America into songs, and they used those songs to fight for what they believed in, from anti-war songs to sexual liberation and free drug use. It was the fight for ...
Adolescents and young adults have been disregarding the rules of the older generation and sparking up arguments since time could tell. One of the forerunners for this teen-angst filled defiance was none other than the king of outcasts, Kurt Cobain, lead singer and songwriter for Nirvana. Cobain was a trailblazer ready to defy the Baby Boomers and all that the tired generation saw to be important; Cobain pushed against many traditional structures but few more relevant than sexism and the mainstream music industry. Cobain rallied his army of misfits, labeled Generation X, to also stand against the sexists and the money-grubbing music bosses. Although Cobain didn’t do so by leading rallies or picket-marches, he found his rebellious essence through writing strange, contentious, and confusing music. With this in mind, it’s easy to say that Kurt Cobain was a model for Generation X; however, he is most notable as a rebel writer that expressed his resistance to sexism and to the music industry through his unconventional writing, mixed-music styles, and controversial songs.
The nineties were an exceptional decade for music which, unfortunately, has not been reprised to this day. The formerly mentioned decade witnessed the emergence of alternative rock music as an outlet for those who were saturated by the excesses that characterized the eighties and the lack of substance of some of its music. Accordingly, during the nineties, music audiences began to value talent over appearance, catchy rhythms, meaningless lyrics, and flashy choreographies. Moreover, throughout this time, music was conceived as a means to inspire and move listeners, rather than a mere tool for product placement. Thus, the nineties gave birth to a phenomenal musical genre that has yet to be surpassed since it created a deep connection with the afflicted souls of a generation, valued music’s inspirational quality over intricate musical arrangements, and introduced the world to a plethora of invaluable artists for whom music was their utmost priority.
Most things have their beginnings in something small: a word, a breath, or idea; but not music. Music begins with a single vibration. It explodes and carries on, morphing worlds of unrelated personas. It lives rampantly in the mouths of millions of unruly and free-spirited teenagers, like a fever. The rock 'n roll trend that defiantly rose against the conformist ideology of the mid-twentieth century left remnants that commenced the start of a progressing society: a culture that redefined the rules of society and pushed social and moral limits while addressing social concerns.
The first sign of music changing in society can be seen in the differences between songs protesting the Korean and Vietnam wars. In 1952, America was in the heat of the Korean war, and the music in the background was folky and simple such as Pete Seeger’s “This Land is Your Land.” At that time, only one man, Ernest Tubb, dared protest this war. Even when Tubb wrote songs protesting the war, his lyrics had a softer tone than later rock and roll protest songs. “Dear Mom, was the way that it started / I miss you so much, / It went on Mom, I didn't know, that I loved you so / But I'll prove it when this war is won” (Tubb). Writing to his mother makes this song much softer and sweeter than songs of the later era. Word choices such as “I miss you so much” and the framing of the song as a letter make this song more of a simple and peaceful protest song. These songs could be seen as sweet and simple, but the artists and lyric writers of the next decade would see these songs as emotionless, and ignorant of the real problems going on around them.
Hip-hop music is the best base form of music to invoke change because songs can be written quickly by rappers to address their communities. Hip-hop started in the early 1970’s in minority-filled neighborhoods that were surrounded with poverty, crime, and drugs. Over time, hip-hop has been changed to express different messages. At its beginning the message was positive addressing the problems of poor neighborhoods and now the message is flashy and unclear. With this change
  Kristiansen, Lars J.. Screaming for change: articulating a unifying philosophy of punk rock. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2010. Print.
The world experienced several musical revolutions in just the 100 short years of the 20th century. Everything from jazz to rock and roll to the British invasion helped unite generations of youth and helped drastically change and shape the culture in which we lived, and still live, today.
Music has been around for thousands of years. Music has progressed since that time and has slowly become what it is today. Though music has been around for such a long time, protest music just started to develop in the Vietnam Era, the year 1954. The war started the era of protest which, in turn, created a new form of music which incorporated a specific type of lyric that was a way of expressing protest through the song. Since music in this era was already a big thing, artists thought it would be a good idea to get their political viewpoints out there. They did it through something that affected everybody in that time and space. The artists view spread quickly through the country because of the catchy tune and the viewpoints that are listed. In the United States of America, it is a very common thing to conform to others in a group (Conformity…). Since conformity is such a common occurrence in a large group, all the artist has to do is find a couple of people in the group, group being an audience, who agree with the artist and the rest will unfold on its own. The artist will keep on performing while the word of him and his music will spread from person to person. Conformity will ultimately bring people together on the same viewpoint until eventually, there are thousands of people there with the artist to protest. These artists have grown over time along with the style of music that they bring along with them. Protest music still exists today and is one of the most effective forms of protest that we have.
Music can be traced back into human history to prehistoric eras. To this day archeologists uncover fragments of ancient instruments as well as tablets with carved lyrics buried alongside prominent leaders and highly influential people. This serves as a testament to the importance and power of music, as well as its influence in society. Over its many years of existence, music’s powerful invocation of feelings has allowed it to evolve and serve many purposes, one being inspiring change. American journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson once said, “Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel.” This fuel is the very things that powers the influence of Rock ‘n’ Roll on American society, that author Glenn C. Altschuler writes about in his book, “All Shook Up – How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America.” Between 1945 and 1965 Rock ‘n’ Roll transformed American society and culture by helping to ease racial integration and launch a sexual revolution while most importantly developing an intergenerational identity.
All music is very powerful. It can change the way you think, the way you act, or even who you are as a whole. Throughout modern time, different genres were popular among adolescents. For example, disco music in the 1970’s, or grunge music in the 1990’s. However, no matter the difference in people, music brings one another together; for better or for worse. As trends move forward, people tend to follow their favourite and most popular artists, thus leaving these music stars a heavy bearing as a role model towards teenagers of each generation. In today’s era, rap music is highly popular and listened to by most youth, making these rappers a strong role model in teens’ lives. Therefore, today’s youth is influenced by the personae of rappers, the
...ced technology, it is possible for the generational trust gap to come to an end. This trust gap has existed for over fifty years, and was recognized over forty years in the song “My Generation,” by The Who. The lyrics of this song are written from the point of view of a member of the youth. In this way, the song critiques the older generation of their condescending opinions towards the youth of the world. The song writer makes the point that the youth is attempting to stand up for what is right, yet it is difficult to take a stance when the world’s leaders only push against the youth. This song has been powerful propaganda in expressing the troubles of the youth. Songs from varying time periods in the history of the world are able to share their critiques on society and it is fascinating when a song written in a former generation still relates to society today.
In Robert Palmer's article “What pop lyrics say to us today”, he explains that music has been much the same for many years.