Most music, more so the popular type is inspired and influenced by activities and events that are dominant as at the time that it was recorded. Similarly, the music itself will have an influence and impact thus creating a form of interdependence. Therefore, a careful analysis of the music taking place at a certain time will also reveal the events prevalent at the particular time. From the 1960s to the year 2000, the world underwent such a major transformation that it is hard to imagine that there are only four decades between the two years. From a political perspective, America moved from adoration of governments to a near rebellion and finally an indifference that was to end in the 21 st century. By 1960 , computers were just an emerging concept yet after the year 2000, they were almost taking over the world. All these issues and events have been found in a way represented in the music that was popular in each decade.
The 1960s were dominated by the Vietnam War in general and particularly the local opposition to the war effort as well as government obstinacy in keeping up with the war effort (Zhang, 2015). The Second World War had barely ended when the Korean War began. By the end of Vietnam War, it was already too much. A rebellious mood, therefore, gripped the society with acting in a manner unlikely to be the norm being considered as popular. This was the days of the hippie movement where youngsters tried their very best to look weird and abnormal (Zhang, 2015). Among the most popular and remembered song in this era is Sympathy for the Devil by the popular group Rolling Stones. A large chunk of the song was apparently sung by the devil in the first person. This was an attempt to rebel against the overwhelmingly popular Christian faith. Its popularity is evidence of the level of rebellion in the 1960s.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The 1970s is sometimes referred to as hard times for the common man in America. Employment was extremely low and the economy had been ravaged by continuous wars (Duernecker, 2014). During the previous decades, there had been many major causes that united people together such as wars and political issues. A relatively quiet 1970s enabled people to focus on their misery and rarely revel in it. Messages of hope were a welcome relief and were embraced heartily. Among the most popular songs of the 1970s was John Lennon’s " Whatever Gets You Thru the Night ". This song was based on the exhorting summons of a popular Christian preacher who encouraged people that things will get better.
Things did get better and the 1980s saw a moment of economic renaissance bringing better lives to many people. The US economy was booming, politics were right and employment was high. As is evident in history, when people are not worried about their livelihoods, they give more focus to entertainment and the arts. Among the emerging popular arts in the 1980s were the horror movies (Dossin, 2016). The popularity of horror storylines found its way into the music industries inspiring one of the most popular songs in history. This is Michael Jackson’s pop hit “ Thriller” . The song featured the dead rising from their graves as well as a werewolf. The sales records created by the song remain unbroken.
By the 1990s, popular culture was taking over the world and focus on the less serious aspects of life was commonplace . What was erstwhile being done for fun had been commercialized and was being done for money. Sports, theatre and even music were highly complex commercial enterprises. Further, people had grown indifferent to governments which were at the time considered as merely necessary evils. The private sector was at the center of life. Further, popular culture had also taken hold in the world and seemed more important than even the mainstream culture (Holt, 2016). For example, in popular culture, a serious war raged between the Eastern Seaboard and the Western Seaboard. In the mainstream world, no such differences existed but because of commercialization of music and popular culture, this fake war was carefully propagated. Its epitome saw a clash between Tupac Shakur representing the East and Notorious BIG representing the West (Holt, 2016). The song “ Hit 'Em Up ” by Tupac with its crude and rude lyrics was one of the most popular songs in the era. This song was a culmination of the fake war between the East and the West.
The popular songs aforementioned still stand today as a monument to the times when they were popular even as new songs are being created in this new era. A careful look at both the songs and the eras they represent will reflect a form of narrative that combines the eras from the 1960s to the year 2000 as one long story. The story begins with a rebellion against the mainstream. At the time, mainstream meant government and the government had seemingly let the people down. Their reaction was to try and live against set norms including the mainstream religion; Christianity. This was done by having a popular song sang by the devil himself. Harsh times followed in the 1970s and Christianity, as well as mainstream themes such as love, became more popular again. Popular singers now quoted preachers instead of the devil. The 1980s found peace and comfort with life in America seemingly ideal. Instead of using art, people began enjoying art and getting creative. Thriller and its horror theme is the height of creativity. Money then robbed the world of its creativity when making money and the private sector became the most important element of society. Tupac may not have had anything against BIG but the war they were thought to fight earned them millions. Humans stopped owning money and were owned by it.
References
Dossin, C. (2016). The Rise and Fall of American Art, 1940s–1980s: A Geopolitics of Western Art Worlds . New York: Routledge
Duernecker, G. (2014). Technology adoption, turbulence, and the dynamics of unemployment. Journal of the European Economic Association , 12 (3), 724-754
Holt, J. D. (2016). ‘You’re nobody till somebody kills you’: How Tupac Shakur secured his place in the hall of fame. Cuny Graduate School of Journalism . Np.
Zhang, B. (2015). Rebellion and return: Probing into the marriage and family values of generation X. International Journal of Social Science and Humanity , 5 (3), 316-320
