There is so much I could center this blog post around, but let's just narrow it down to music. A lot of what people heard on the popular radio was a representation of cultural sentiments, often antagonistic towards the Establishment. There are links to three songs below--listen to all of them if you'd like, but I want you to look up the lyrics (or in the case of the third, consider the song and the performance) to at least one of them and consider why this song is so monumental toward the times.
We will try to talk music, film, sports, and as much culture as we can in class!
Songs:
Sex pistols - "Anarchy in the UK" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrSXn3JOvAs
The Beatles - "Back in the USSR" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvTI-LBopo0
Jimi Hendrix - "Star Spangled Banner" - Live at Woodstock 1969 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjzZh6-h9fM
I was really surprised about the Beatles Song because it almost seamed like they were praising the Ussr. I did some googling and found that apparently they found it funny to make a counterpoint to Back In The USA. The song caused a lot of controversy witth he US government because it seemed to be emphasizing the enemy.
ReplyDeleteThe Jimi Hendrix version of the Star Spangled banner was very different. If someone played the anthem in that way today, most would regard it as a disgrace to our country's anthem. The way he plays seems very chaotic and it is almost unpleasing to listen to. Perhaps this could symbolize the chaos of the time period, america losing sight of who they really are? Or maybe I am just reading into it too much. Either way this version is very very unique, I haven't heard anything like it before.
ReplyDeleteWell the sex pistols, like many other bands before them and forever after them, are "rebels" and their generation was in the cold war, so what's the coolest, most controversial thing to say? "I want anarchy" which they compare to an "anti christ." so i suppose the song sort of speaks to the generations fear of disorder and almost equality because an anarchy doesnt have any leader, no one is above the other. But I dont know if it's viable to look so closely at a song by the sex pistols. . .
ReplyDeleteI think that all these bands were going for a rebel kind of sound. the 70's and 80's were the generation of rebellious teenagers and going against the "man". The beetles are known for their songs about love and harmony so it makes sense they would try to lighten up the tension by making fun the US and USSR conflict. The Sex Pistols are the kind of band that your parents don't allow to be played in the house. they represented anarchy, like the songs name.
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DeleteI listened to Jimi Hendrix's Star Spangled Banner. It kind of creeped me out...hearing our national anthem being corrupted like that. Maybe he was not intending for it to sound so horrible and without rhythm..? When it first started playing I couldn't even tell it was The Star Spangled Banner. And I also noticed that the most important parts of the song, like towards the end after "bombs bursting in air...", was when the music was most disorderly and unpleasant. "In the land of the free and the home of the brave" was completely messed up...maybe this all symbolizes the tensions and unfortunate events of the time?
ReplyDeleteAnarchy in the UK is a song which is pretty much synonymous with rebellion. You just have to listen to the tune to get the picture. Even without taking the effort to decipher the yelling into some form of English, you can see that it is going against the norm. Great songs, by the way, Ms Sutton.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that Jimmy's distorted version of the star spangled banner, although unpleasant to listen to, could provide some interesting symbolism for the state of America at the time. Jimmy could have been hinting at the hypocrisy or controversial decisions of the US government at the time.
ReplyDeleteI listened to the Start Spangled Banner. It was extremely scary. I think the music was meant to sound like war. I agree with Trent that this was definitely symbolism of some sort. Usually the Star Spangled Banner is supposed to be a tribute... this sounded more of like a riot/protest. Music is supposed to evoke emotion and represent what it going on during that time period. The emotion here was extremely angry.
ReplyDeleteI listened to and read the lyrics of Back In The USSR by the Beatles. This has always been one of my favorite songs from the Beatles but when I actually listened and payed attention to the lyrics and put it into context of what was happening during the time it was being produced, I was very confused. It was almost as if they were praising the USSR. Like Hanna, I did some other research on google and found that there was a ton of controversy over the song. I found that the sounds of the plane in the song actually refers to the long flight home from Miami to the USSR and how happy he was upon returning. He says, "where the Ukraine girls really knock me out" and "the Moscow girls made me scream and shout".
ReplyDeleteThe '60's was the first time in a while that artists were able to communicate their disdain for the current state of how things were run in America with a substantial audience and fanbase to back them up. Musicians and artists of the time took full advantage of this, and Jimi Hendrix didn't need to put words into everything for that anti-America sentiment to come through. The feelings of the people allowed each and every listener to interpret the meaning of his playing differently, and most agree that they felt that it was a piece against America. The distortion and his style of playing couple to make a chaotic piece of art that speaks to the troubling times that America found itself in at the time.
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