War Protest and Modern Music
War Protests and Modern Music
The 1960s were years of war and social unrest in the United States due to the Vietnam War. It was also a time of rebellion, free love and radicalism. Musicians and the counterculture they created became a catalyst of opposition to the Vietnam War. With a war similar in diplomatic motivation and unbalanced power engrossing the United States again, modern musicians are faced with the same dilemmas and opportunities of musicians in the Vietnam era. The problem facing modern musicians is that by not successfully creating a counterculture, musicians have very little impact on the social opposition of the war in Iraq. Topics discussed will be musicians, language, communication and their relationship to counterculture in both the Vietnam War and Iraq war. Counterculture will be explained in depth as it is the basis of the thesis. Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe a set of values and norms of a specific group or sub-culture. Countercultures are recognized as being an opposing view to the accepted rules and norms of a society. The counterculture movement in the Vietnam was started by the youth of America. With student numbers rapidly increasing, counterculture was most effectively developed on the campuses of universities and colleges. (Storey, 226) Universities and colleges were the most effective hosts of spreading counterculture and radical thinking. Student spread counterculture was due in part to student awareness of having their own group identity. This social concentration of likeminded students, much like workers in concentrated labor during early industrialization times, is what made youth culture aware of their potential social impact. (Roszak, 28) With the ability to have several tens of thousands of students grouped together to listen to a single message, counterculture grew and thrived upon youths at universities and colleges. Musicians took advantage of this social gathering to spread their
The 1960s were years of war and social unrest in the United States due to the Vietnam War. It was also a time of rebellion, free love and radicalism. Musicians and the counterculture they created became a catalyst of opposition to the Vietnam War. With a war similar in diplomatic motivation and unbalanced power engrossing the United States again, modern musicians are faced with the same dilemmas and opportunities of musicians in the Vietnam era. The problem facing modern musicians is that by not successfully creating a counterculture, musicians have very little impact on the social opposition of the war in Iraq. Topics discussed will be musicians, language, communication and their relationship to counterculture in both the Vietnam War and Iraq war. Counterculture will be explained in depth as it is the basis of the thesis. Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe a set of values and norms of a specific group or sub-culture. Countercultures are recognized as being an opposing view to the accepted rules and norms of a society. The counterculture movement in the Vietnam was started by the youth of America. With student numbers rapidly increasing, counterculture was most effectively developed on the campuses of universities and colleges. (Storey, 226) Universities and colleges were the most effective hosts of spreading counterculture and radical thinking. Student spread counterculture was due in part to student awareness of having their own group identity. This social concentration of likeminded students, much like workers in concentrated labor during early industrialization times, is what made youth culture aware of their potential social impact. (Roszak, 28) With the ability to have several tens of thousands of students grouped together to listen to a single message, counterculture grew and thrived upon youths at universities and colleges. Musicians took advantage of this social gathering to spread their
Bibliography: Cohen, Jon, and Dan Balz. "Most Americans Opposed to Bush 's Iraq Plan." Washington Post. 11 Jan. 2007. 23 Nov. 2008 . Hammond, William M. Public Affairs : The Military and the Media, 1962-1968. New York: United States Government Printing Office, 1989. Hammond, William M. Reporting Vietnam : Media and Military at War. New York: University of Kansas, 1998. John Legend. Coming Home. Rec. 24 Oct. 2006. Sony. Pimlott, Herbert. Mass Communication in Canada. Boston: Pearson Custom, 2005. Roszak, Theodore. The Making of Counter Culture. London: Faber & Faber, 1971. Shut Up and Sing. Dir. Cecilia Peck and Barbara Kopple. Perf. Natalie Maines, Emily Robison, Martie Maguire. DVD. 2007. Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture : An Introduction. New York: University of Georgia P, 2006. Storey, John. Inventing Popular Culture : From Folklore to Globalization. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2003. Zerechak. "Iraq War Music Video "Stuck"" YouTube. 12 Sept. 2006. 23 Nov. 2008 .