The Social and Political Impact of Rock Music
Back in 1966, John Lennon was pilloried viciously in this country for his, "we're more popular than Jesus now" remarks in an interview. He was not far wrong, of course, but could perhaps, have been more accurate if he had talked in general terms and referred to "rock music"1 as more popular than any religion among young people. Although rock music has not quite won recognition as a formal religion in the ensuing years, young people in the United States and most other parts of the world spend more time listening to2 and discussing rock music than to any religion or a religious figure, including Jesus. Since the time of the Beatles, it has influenced youth culture, fashion, attitudes, and even political views of young people in more profound ways than any political or religious figure could ever hope to equal. And in the first decade of the 21st century, more than 50 years after the phenomenon started, all indications are that "rock 'n' roll is here to stay." In this essay, I shall discuss the social and political impact of rock music with particular reference to the effect it had on the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War in the 1960s and the ways in which it has influenced the youth culture in the Western society.
This was just the beginning of the evolution of rock music and its absorption of politics. Throughout the decade of the sixties, rock 'n' roll evolved into rock music through a myriad of varied musical influences and creative innovation. It was a period in which rock music, the Civil Rights movement, the counter-culture, drugs, sex, and the anti-Vietnam War campaign became inexorably intertwined and the power of music was realized like never before. Sex and Drugs: The lifestyle of rock musicians was always associated with sex and drugs.11 As the rock music's development in the sixties co-incided with a sex and counter-culture revolution in the Western countries, it was only natural that rock music would be associated with sex and drugs. Many of the rock stars adopted a decadent lifestyle indulging in an orgy of drugs, alcohol, and sex. As a result, several famous rock stars fell victim to heroin and alcohol addiction and some such as Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Janis Joplin paid theultimate price for their excesses. Indulgence in sex with "groupies" also became a common part of the rock lifestyle. Young people, who worshipped such rock stars, copied the lifestyle of their heroes and drug use and free sex sky-rocketed in the 60s and 70s. When members of the Beatles acknowledged using marijuana, the youth in college campuses all over the Western world lit up and "got high." Some musicians even advocated drug use in their songs while others pointedly discouraged it.12 As we saw in this essay, the social and political impact of rock music was so so profound that it virtually defined the second half of the 20th century America. Rock music began mainly as a result of music of the fusion of rhythm and blues and gospel music in the fifties and its evolution closely followed the ups and down of the Civil Rights Movement right through the end of the sixties. Although it is arguable whether the political and social conditions of the times influenced the music more or vice versa, there is little doubt about the immense impact rock music had on the generation that grew up in the fifties and the sixties. If we reflect on why this was so we would probably come to the conclusion that music has always had an undeniable power to affect the mind, emotions, and senses of human beings. But in previous centuries most music was either elitist (classical) or regional (folk). It is only in the last fifty years or so that technology has made it possible to spread popular music far and wide. This period happened to coincide with the development of rock music. Moreover, the boundaries of rock music are so loosely defined that it has the capacity to incorporate virtually any form of music. This perhaps is the secret behind the unprecedented impact of rock music in the 20th century and beyond. The Civil Rights Movement in the US and rock music seem to have developed hand in hand. The content and tone of popular music during the period from the early fifties to the late fifties closely followed the developments of the Civil Rights movement. As the Civil Rights movement had its roots in the labor movement and the black church, union and gospel songs such as "Which Side Are You On," "This Little Light of Mine," "This Land is Your Land," were the ones that initially fired the imagination of the activists and "moved the movement." (Garofalo 231) However, the Civil Rights movement really gained momentum in the mid-fifties when a black minister, Martin Luther King, Jr., began to form political alliances with secular organizations like the NAACP, CORE, and the SNCC. Almost concurrently, gospel music began to fuse with rhythm and blues and got the attention of the mass public.5 (Ibid.) And just as the regional civil rights struggle of the deep South began to evolve into a movement at the national level, rock 'n' roll music that had its roots in the R&B music of the deep South began to find a national audience. The Political Impact of Rock in the 1
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Approximate Word count = 3520
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)
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