The 1960s was a period of political and social upheaval. In the midst of a time of war in Vietnam, the assassination of president John F. Kennedy, a new era of Civil Rights with the continuing escalation of the Civil Rights Movement, and several other social movements that began to blossom, the 60s were a hectic yet critical period of United States history that influenced generations to come with its developments in political and social spheres. In response to the cataclysm of this turbulent time, new forms of music commented upon all of the key events and movements of the decade. Folk music captured the nostalgic desire for peace; women became popular in the music world and rebelled against their place in the “cult of domesticity;” the counterculture reformation gave birth to the psychedelic movement, which had to do with experimentation with LSD and other drugs as a way of finding a new form of consciousness and connection (intersubjectivity) to inspire music; and new Motown, R&B, and soul tunes became popularized all over the country, even with whites, which displayed a new acknowledgement for blacks and the Civil Rights Movement. The music of the 1960s reflected a new era of social movements and revolutions and began to clearly express the ideas of counterculture and liberation in social and political spheres.
As the Vietnam war escalated under President Lyndon B. Johnson, increasing resistance to the war effort began to blossom in America. This resistance was clearly reflected in the popular music of the period. For example, Phil Ochs, a folk singer from the 60s, sang several witty songs that criticized the draft and the war as the rest of the country objected to the Selective Service. Performing at political protest events and civil rights rallies, Ochs performed to preach a message of peace, love, and change. In the song, “Draft Dodger Rag,” Ochs cleverly satirizes war and the draft by singing from the perspective of a young boy being drafted. The singer gives several nonsense excuses for reasons that he can’t go to war; however, in the end, the boy says that he will gladly participate in a war if there is no killing and violence. This song is a clear critique of the “old man’s war, young boy’s fight” mentality of the Vietnam war; it both expresses the sentiment that the young boys don’t want to go to war, but also that war and violence is harmful. Additionally, Barry McGuire wrote the song, “Eve of Destruction,” which explained how war was destroying society. Bob Dylan, an incredibly influential folk singer of the period, wrote anti-war songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Masters of War,” and “With God on Our Side.” Utilizing beautiful poetry to convey his message (which eventually won him a Nobel Prize in Literature), Dylan uses imagery and metaphors to denounce war and fight for peace. For example, Dylan sings, “How many seas must the white dove sail/ Before she sleeps in the sand?” This line is essentially asking the listener how many wars the world must fight before peace is possible, using a white dove as a symbol of peace. In “Masters of War,” Dylan harshly criticizes those that encourage war, seemingly the government. His lyrics are powerful, condemning those “masters of war” and saying that he can, “see through [their] masks.” He writes, “You never done nothin’/But build and destroy/You play with my world/Like it’s your little toy.” In this lyric, Dylan disparages those who do not realize that the world is more than a “toy” for them to play with; these “masters of war” are ruining the world according to Dylan. The song ends by Dylan saying that he hopes those who are spurring on war will die soon, and that they will never be forgiven for their decisions to send men to die in war. It is a very aggressive, straightforward song, unlike “Blowin’ In the Wind.” Overall, folk singers embraced the reformist, protesting attitude of the 60s in their music, using their artform to express their dissent against the Vietnam war and instead advocating for peace.
Peace was also a major component of the blossoming psychedelic movement, which strived to find intersubjectivity, or the psychological connection of people in a community. This intersubjectivity was achieved through the use of drugs such as marijuana and LSD, which was used both by the bands playing in the music at festivals but also by the audience, so they were connected in a new, altered state of consciousness. Bands like the Grateful Dead, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Byrds, and even The Beatles experimented with these drugs and these experiences in their music. This new form of music displayed new liberal ideals in the realm of drug use and sexuality, and those associated with this drug culture and the rejection of cultural standards became known as “hippies.” These hippies and “Deadheads” (fans of the Grateful Dead) formed a culture of family, peace and love, even towards those that they did not know. Jerry Garcia also said in a 1980 interview that the 60s began a culture of “homogenous” music, where distinctions between genres became blurred and the focus was mostly upon the feelings conveyed through music. This idea is the epitome of intersubjectivity. The Beatles, though not commonly known as a psychedelic band, experienced a phase in which their music was influenced by psychedelic bands in the late 60s. The Beatles and the Rolling Stones were two of the most popular bands in the 60s and symbolized the new “British Invasion” of the 60s, in which British music became popular in America. In 1967, during the “Summer of Love,” LSD became common on the West Coast, featuring many of the new psychedelic musicians including Jerry Garcia, the lead vocalist of the Grateful Dead. In addition, the psychedelic movement culminated in the Woodstock Festival of 1969, in which many psychedelic bands played for three days, from August 15 to 17 of 1969. This festival featured several of the psychedelic artists of the day, such as the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and Jefferson Airplane, and even included artists of other genres such as Janis Joplin, Arlo Guthrie, and The Who. Woodstock was one of the largest expressions of both the hippie and psychedelic movements in the 60s, and these “Three Days of Peace and Music” symbolized the climax of these social revolutions and the counterculture that influenced these musicians.
In 1962, another widespread movement began with the publication of Betty Friedan’s book, The Feminine Mystique. This book launched the Second-Wave Feminism movement, which could be seen in much of the popular music of the 60s. Female singers became increasingly popular in the 60s, and these stars began to sing about their disillusionment around the limits society set upon females. Janis Joplin was one of the greatest rock and roll idols of the era and became popular in the late 1960s. Before Joplin, it was fairly uncommon for women to sing rock and roll or the blues, but Joplin was able to set a new precedent for women and to open a door for other women after her. Joplin was a rebellious star with a tumultuous life, and was also bisexual during a time when different sexualities were not yet accepted. Therefore, her music and her life were both reflections of the new female liberation that was on the rise. Joplin wrote the song “Women Is Losers,” which mocked sexism and pointed directly to the crossroads that women were facing in American society. She sings that “Men always seem to end up on top of the world,” reflecting the frustration that women faced in the 60s as the seemingly subordinate gender. Her lyrics were daring in a time of tension when the older generation continued to hold the traditionalist views of gender roles. Another striking example of feminism in music in the 60s was Aretha Franklin’s rendition of Respect, which was originally written and performed by Otis Redding. Redding’s version actually reinforced antiquated gender roles, telling women that they needed to respect their husbands, as the husbands brought home the money. Franklin sang the song to empower women and to reverse the ideal of these gender roles seen in Redding’s rendition. Released in 1967, this song became one of the feminist anthems of the era, also catapulting Aretha Franklin to great fame both as a black singer but also as a feminist icon. The feminist singer who perhaps wrote in both the most controversial tone but also in the most tense period of the 60s was Lesley Gore. Gore released her single “You Don’t Own Me” in 1963, when the feminist movement was just beginning, and the song is sometimes cited as one of the agitators of Second-Wave Feminism. Only 17 when the song was released, Gore’s lyrics speak for themselves: “You don’t own me/I’m not just one of your many toys…/So don’t tell me what to do/And don’t tell me what to say/And please, when I go out with you/Don’t put me on display ‘cause/You don’t own me.” Gore boldly states her independence and humanity as a woman as she speaks to a lover in this feminist anthem. Not only was this song popular in the past, but it has remained a well-known hit in today’s world; it was recently redone by pop singer Grace, but the message rings true just as it did in 1963. Overall, the music of the 1960s clearly reflected the budding movement of Second-Wave Feminism, and even served to help launch and encourage the movement to come to fruition.
Finally, the music of the 1960s embodied the Civil Rights Movement. Although the Civil Rights Movement began in the 1950s, its success and influence spread greatly in the 60’s. New kinds of music sung by black artists such as soul, R&B, and Motown began to spring up and become popular, even among whites, in the 1960s. The 60s marked one of the first times in history that white people listened to black music, which marked somewhat of a turning point for civil rights — through white people buying the music created by black people alone, there was a degree of equality that was implied. Barry Gordy Jr. founded the Motown label in Detroit, which scored its first hit in 1961, and from then on Motown was a distinctive artform. Artists such as The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, and Ray Charles all started through the Motown label. As Manchester Historian tells us, “Gordy’s main ambition was to produce the ‘Sound of Young America’, no matter what colour.” However, most of these Motown songs were catchy, with the traditional messages of either young love or unrequited love. Motown did not send any radical messages of race until the 1970s, when Marvin Gaye threatened to stop recording with Motown Records unless they would let him send a strong anti-racism message in his song “What’s Going On” (1971). Still, some Motown songs from the 1960s indirectly achieved a message against racism, such as Aretha Franklin’s “Respect,” in which she may be implying not only respect for women, but respect for black people as a whole as well. Still, a record label that integrated the black sound with white culture was a major step in the right direction regarding the civil rights movement. Mary Wilson of the Supremes wrote on the impact of Motown, “We represented a social environment that was changing. The experience we had known being black was not being bona fide citizens, not being able to drink out of the same water fountains, playing to segregated audiences. When that started to fall away, and you saw that music was one of the components that was helping it fall away, that’s when it really felt like we were doing something significant.” Therefore, although the Motown music of the 1960s was not directly addressing the issue of Civil Rights, the slow integration of black music into the white community was making a large impact upon race relations and respect for black people. In sum, the introduction of black music such as soul, R&B, and especially Motown represented a new era of integration and Civil Rights due to the gradual acceptance of racial music in the white community.
In conclusion, music was a major indicator of the cultural movements of the 1960s. Every movement taking place had music to represent it, and music became the medium of both young and old, black and white to express feelings towards these new movements. Musicians protested war and violence; women found a new place in the music world and used their voices to rebel against their subordinate place in society; drug use and the ideals of counterculture spurred on psychedelic rock and the psychedelic movement; and the Civil Rights movement gained ground through the integration of black music into the lives of whites through Motown and the “Sound of Young America.” These movements have all influenced our lives today in America, as Americans still fight for peace, lobby for women’s rights, feel the influence of forms of music such as psychedelic rock and the British Invasion, and campaign for civil rights. The revolutions continue in America today as they did in the 1960s, and perhaps Americans can look back to their predecessors and see how far this country has come.