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-Introduction
Some critics explain the key concepts of rock as elements of youthfulness, explosiveness, resistance, and artistry. Jin-Mo-Im said in his book '''Rock music has always been a part of youth culture because of the beats that shake the head, the enormous energy of powerful rhythms, and radical nature of deviance and provocation.''' (1) The resistance to the existing system, the threat to the existing sexual morality, and the escape and deviation from the existing society was at least the central theme of rock in youth culture. My personal opinion is, this is related not only to the attribute that is carried on the rock itself, but also to the attitude of the musicians who play rock. Rock is not only confined to the genre of pure music, but is closely related to the value of all cultures and is constantly influenced. '''Rock music is a liberation of expression. Anyone can freely say their thoughts and thoughts. Even if the claims that appear on the rock are erroneous or jeopardise the system, it is more open-minded than that of other musical genres.'''(2) "I am anarchist," "I am against Christianity," "I want to have sex with a girl," "I want drugs and commit murder," and "We must be angry.''' These expressions are often seen in rock music.
In this essay, I will examine the cultural and demographic factors of loud and dirty but frank and very realistic rock music.
1. Drugs
Rock has a deep connection with drugs from the beginning. '''Not because of the rock, it is more accurate to see that the younger generations who had previously adhered in drugs chose rock since the birth of the rock.'''(3) The origin was started from mid-50's United States, New York underground. Those who believed in drug abuse and wandering and oriental mysticism without compromising the order of the system were called "Beatnik". They were mixed with different classes and layers, and they also liked a youthful rebellious outfit, such as a black leather jacket, jeans, and leather boots that symbolised rebellion at the time. From American rock group 'The Velvet Underground', who was known as watchman for beatnik, appeared drugs as a subject matter of rock. Andy Warhol, the master of pop art, was in charge of the group's management. In 1967, they released a song called "Heroin", which shocked the rock music scene. Regardless of morality, the sound of <Heroin> depicting narcissistic narcotics goes back and forth between soft comfort and confused chaos. "When I put a spike into my vein / Then I tell you, things are not quite the same / When I'm rushing on my run / And I feel just like Jesus' son" (4) This is spoken by the Lurid after the point of 15seconds of the song. This was the watershed in rock history. Although Buzz and Bob Dylan have covered this taboo subject matter, "Heroin" was the first song the rock band sang so explicitly about drug use. Beatnik's descendants, the 'Hippie', came from a white middle class and liked psychedelic art with lush primary colours and colourful patterned clothes. They also took drugs as their subject matter, especially L.S.D (Lysergic Acid Diethyl-amide). '''Acid rock, represented by Jefferson airplane and Grateful dead, took LSD as a means of expanding consciousness for the new world.''' (5) And they took drugs publicly.
During the reign of Reagan and Bush's powerful ideology since the 1980s, drugs began to retreat from the rocks. It was not a sure way of correct reality
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reform or dark reality treatment, so there was no doubt that side effects occurred here and there over time of taking drugs. Since then, musicians have rarely made it into the foreground, even if they have taken drugs secretly. '''It was also based on the judgments that the lock myth composed of drugs was wrong.''' (6) Thus, in the case of Bruce Springsteen, a boss of the rock music scene, was constantly in a resistive posture of drugs and did not take any drugs.
So, why does rock have a close relationship with drugs? It can be seen as a cynical contempt for the existing established society. People believed that drugs are faithful to the function of escape by rebellion. '''It was also the most definitive ticket to travel around the world of illusion, and a visionary' certified check that promises everything they want.''' (7) In the 50s-80s American society, as a symbol of solving pain, Drugs were routine. As society gets dizzy and confused, people dreamed dreamy dreams to forget the pain. The eschatological atmosphere is to make a new world without finding a vision in a gloomy future. '''Rather than blame the drug use in the history of rock as a criminal offence for musicians, need be able to read about the structural contradictions of the western society that no longer had any vision and the resulting derangement of that. At that time, the western society was a conservative society that repressed the young generation systematically and customarily.''' (8)
2. Sex
Sex is also very closely related to rock. Simon Frith said in his book that '''until at least the 1920s, puritanic sexual morality, which emphasised abstinence, was laid beneath the ideological norm of romantic love, and platonic romance was at the centre of love between men and women.''' (9) However, since the 1920s, the girls of the middle class were able to express their 'sexual personality' as future wives, and to use sexual tools such as makeup, which were previously limited to 'easy women'. At first, this ideology was shocking. It is because this ideology has legitimised sexual activity as an effective spousal choice. '''Parents have lost control over their children's marriage choices and have lost control over their children's sexual acts. Peer groups have taken on the role of parents, and they have created new rules for the sensuality of girls and boys that equally allow for prejudice pleasure.''' (10) Before the rock 'n' roll, teenage culture has already become sexual.
As the culture of sex changes, the rock 'n' roll in the 1950s was generally expressed as a sexual form, a source of physical liberation. '''The most important function of the teenage culture of the 1950s was not to compromise sensuality, but to express sensuality in the stage of love and marriage, where the sensuality of men and women was systemized in a very different way.''' (11) The rock was faithful to the order. Elvis Presley twisted his waist and crossed his legs while he was dancing, and Little Richard expressed his emotion with insanity charged up sounds of moaning in his songs. It was far more effective in effusing the sensuality of generations who wanted to escape from sexual oppression. The youth culture that developed in the 1960s was more rebellious in terms of sexuality. The concept of 'family' was part of the system under attack. Domestic ideology has been overthrown, sensuality has fallen from marriage, and romantic love has been cut into hedonism in an instant.
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This means that there was a generation of less oppressed young men about sex and pleasure and that music became a means of liberation. 'Honesty' was adopted in the rock as a challenging meaning against oppression. The obscenity that started in Elvis Presley's sensational dance of the 1950s was sexually explicit in the Rolling Stones of the 1960 's. Since then, sex has become a classic theme of the rock and affected pop music. This, however, was very cleverly embedded in the possibility of a conflicting interpretation of "liberation of sex" and "commercialisation of sex" at the same time.
Punk rock was a bit different. (If Rock 'n 'roll is a term describing black men's sexuality, Punk was a term referring to a homosexual who plays the role of' woman 'in jail.) While women are largely excluded from rock, punk rock is a romantic custom and sensual oppose having sex meaning. In punk, the customary thoughts of sex are broken, and sexy means nothing. '''Punk Rock is in a very cynical position to see love as a kind of bridle, as Johnny Rotten said, "Sex is just a throbbing noise for 30 seconds."''' (12)However, this does not mean that the rock as a woman is immediately blocked, and unlike the former when the girls were just hanging on to the musicians, they were directly involved in the music and ask women including herself about the sensuality and sexuality through music. '''Although there are opinions that punk rock stopped the long-lasting equilibrium of sex and pleasure, at least Punk rock has opened the possibility that Rock can fight against sexism.''' (13)
3. Class
Rock was generally a culture of the lowest class and the marginalised class, because of that rock has pariah-hood. '''Rock music could be seen in the streets of the common people in Western society, not the same music that could be seen as in upper class society. The rock's pariah-hood is also related to the social position and characteristics of rock musicians.''' (14) There are actually many heroes among the heroic figures of rock history who are from the lower class. A typical example is The Beatles. They were from the working class in Liverpool. However, the generation that accepted Rocks was the middle-class children of the baby boom, and they were strongly coloured by the liberal left. Therefore, '''It can be seen as a natural musical background that rock music criticises capitalism and a message to reach the socialist culture.''' (15)
Rock 'n' roll is the origin of rock, but its roots are blues. It is seem to be fundamentally related to black music. The blues, originally created by black slaves in the Mississippi Delta, southern United States, is a song created by the pain and suffering of black people, who were taken to a strange land and endured long hours of labour, hunger and contempt from white people. Simon Frith said, 'Blues is the opposite of controlling oppressive power in the ruling class, opposed to suppressing sensuality and aggression, and a revolt against such a general upheaval of everyday life.' (16) The irony of the contribution of Black music to American popular music is that the music of slaves expressed human freedom and human desire most intensely. As another example, in 1977, groups such as Sex Pistols and Ramones and Patti Smith were born in the UK, which was also called a revolution. Their lyrics taunt the British royal families, demonstrate anarchism, opposition to America, and practical struggle against racism. In particular, the clash expanded the domain of
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resistance, such as attacking fascism and racial discrimination, which were prevalent in Britain at the time. Not only they scold the rotten politics and hypocrisy of the institutional system, but they also challenged the commercial system of capitalism. They also blacklisted the seniors who corrupted the rock that had been plagued by the commercial air currents.
-Conclusion
'''Rock, unlike standard pop, is considered to be interested in sincerity, authenticity and the implications of art, non-commercial.''' (17) Of course, Rock has to rely on recording to get into the music market, but Rock still has a lot of uncompromising possibilities and promises. Rock is not a random occurrence in institutional circles. It has grown up in the underground and has climbed up to the mainstream of the system. (18) This means that Rock is still in the capitalist system as non-commercial. The rock music contains various flows of this world. Furthermore, '''rock music is a cultural inherent device in everyday life since it started as a leisure culture of the lower classes.''' (19) The problem is that the cultural commodity is not fully explained as a commercial mechanism. If Rock is only a function of fun and amusement, it will only reflect the society and not advance it further. Rock's history always has been reflected the expressions of the society, and it influences the flow of society again. In addition, I hope that rock music will become a useful cultural medium for the social translation of this land. Also, when rock music seriously deals with the problem of human salvation, I think that the latent power of rock music that has been hiding as a myth will be worked.