The Beatles Influence On America
The rise to fame of The Beatles coincided with the spread of the American subculture that was known as the Hippie Movement, decided as a sexual revolution that encouraged ‘free love’. This 1960s revolution was also strongly felt in Britain as The Beatles brought this cultures to the forefront of the entertainment industry. This is observed in the lyrics of their titular song, “Why Don't We Do it in the Road?”, a blatant encouragement for people to express themselves as they wished. Furthermore, before The Beatles became rockstars, rock ‘n’ roll ‘had a crude expression of male sexual dominance; at live concerts, microphone stands were depicted as phallic symbols while women were simply sexual objects’ (Toda Iglesai 157). The Beatles changed
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The stigma that portrayed maleness in the culture was soon washed away. Their songs gave the audience a taste of feminism, resulting in a galvanizing effect on gender as millions of teenage girls became aware of new possibilities. Several commentators even claim the phenomenon of ‘Beatlemania’ as female collectivism that enabled girls to explore their sexuality. The Beatles’ song “She Loves You” evokes a theme of sensitivity and romance, which were traditionally regarded as girls’ point of view and, now sung by men. The onset of this gender ambiguity helped to break traditional gender restrictions and was a catalyst in the breaking of gender norms of that era. In his thesis, professor Martin King commented on The Beatles and 1960’s American representation of gender fluidity, “…the group mocked the distribution that bifurcated the American landscape into ‘his’ and ‘hers’” (144). The concept of gender fluidity is illustrated in their rendition of the song “Boy” originally done by an American female group. Refusal to adjust the gender-specific terms in the song made it appear such that a man was singing to fellow men. King also noted that several of their songs such as “She Loves You” and “From Me to You/Thank You Girl”, broke from the masculine norms of male pop artists by discussing love feminized boy-meets-girl scenarios …show more content…
The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi remarks, “When I heard this, I knew the Beatles were angels on Earth.”, after he heard that there had been no crime in the U.S when group had appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show (Times of India). Dr. Timothy Leary also remarked that The Beatles were mutants, sent by God to create a new species of young laughing freemen (Talk Music). The popular radio personality Howard Stern similarly admitted in an interview that The Beatles were a better religion than any other, that their music did more for his spirit than any religious ceremony (Talk Music). These are excellent examples of the spiritual influence that the Beatles commanded. The band member, John Lennon compared their popularity to Jesus Christ (Wynne-Jones). In essence, the concerts were rituals, the Beatles’ attire and ornaments were religious garbs and the lyrics were the doctrine. Additionally, the Beatles were regarded as a ‘god men’ status with fans even bringing the sick and cripples to concerts in hopes that they would be healed. Several songs by the Beatles, such as “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “Here Comes the Sun” and “Sun King” are interpreted to contain religious
The stigma that portrayed maleness in the culture was soon washed away. Their songs gave the audience a taste of feminism, resulting in a galvanizing effect on gender as millions of teenage girls became aware of new possibilities. Several commentators even claim the phenomenon of ‘Beatlemania’ as female collectivism that enabled girls to explore their sexuality. The Beatles’ song “She Loves You” evokes a theme of sensitivity and romance, which were traditionally regarded as girls’ point of view and, now sung by men. The onset of this gender ambiguity helped to break traditional gender restrictions and was a catalyst in the breaking of gender norms of that era. In his thesis, professor Martin King commented on The Beatles and 1960’s American representation of gender fluidity, “…the group mocked the distribution that bifurcated the American landscape into ‘his’ and ‘hers’” (144). The concept of gender fluidity is illustrated in their rendition of the song “Boy” originally done by an American female group. Refusal to adjust the gender-specific terms in the song made it appear such that a man was singing to fellow men. King also noted that several of their songs such as “She Loves You” and “From Me to You/Thank You Girl”, broke from the masculine norms of male pop artists by discussing love feminized boy-meets-girl scenarios …show more content…
The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi remarks, “When I heard this, I knew the Beatles were angels on Earth.”, after he heard that there had been no crime in the U.S when group had appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show (Times of India). Dr. Timothy Leary also remarked that The Beatles were mutants, sent by God to create a new species of young laughing freemen (Talk Music). The popular radio personality Howard Stern similarly admitted in an interview that The Beatles were a better religion than any other, that their music did more for his spirit than any religious ceremony (Talk Music). These are excellent examples of the spiritual influence that the Beatles commanded. The band member, John Lennon compared their popularity to Jesus Christ (Wynne-Jones). In essence, the concerts were rituals, the Beatles’ attire and ornaments were religious garbs and the lyrics were the doctrine. Additionally, the Beatles were regarded as a ‘god men’ status with fans even bringing the sick and cripples to concerts in hopes that they would be healed. Several songs by the Beatles, such as “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “Here Comes the Sun” and “Sun King” are interpreted to contain religious