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Back to Subjects - Music

Culture and Music

Culture and Music George Gershwin once said, “True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. My people are Americans and my time is today.” Over the years, no form of art has attached itself to humanity more than music. Music has been creating and destroying cultures in the Twentieth Century at a very rapid rate. Fads come and go, but true music and the heart behind it never dies. The story of subcultures in and through modern music has to start in the 1920’s America. In the wake of prohibition, popular nightclubs were closing down and music fell by the wayside. However, a strong underground scene reared its head during that time as well. Well-dressed men and flapper girls swarmed speakeasies in search of music, liquor and a good time. Mainstream America looked down on these rebels. They were often thought of as no good young people with loose morals and no respect for authority. Little did mainstream America know, however, exactly how important those few rebels were during the roaring Twenties and how their actions helped mold musical societies for the rest of the millennium. While guns were blazing and ships were sinking during the Second World War, another subculture arose. Nazi Germany was arguably the roughest place in the world to live at that time. Hitler had his iron fist grasped tightly around the actions of Germans at that period in time. That’s what made the rebellious nature of pacifists in that country that much more amazing. Right under Hitler’s nose grew a subculture of swing music fans who held their own underground parties complete with full bands playing wonderful swing music and wild, eccentric dancing. Hitler tried to disallow these people from listening to their music and having their good time because swing music was notoriously performed by Jewish artists. Hitler viewed the swing generation as traitors to their country and would often punish those caught in the act of listening to swing music. This entire ordeal was portrayed cinematically in 1993 in the movie “Swing Kids” directed by Thomas Carter. That movie depicts the brutality and horror of the times while showing the courage and heart of those who lived in them. (Author’s Opinion: I recommend renting that movie as soon as possible!) In the 1950’s something completely crazy happened in the United States. Colonel Tom Parker introduced the world to its future. Rock and Roll was born in the 1950’s. Most people credit the foundation of modern Rock and Roll to a few youngsters namely Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Bill Haley of Bill Haley and the Comets. Rock and Roll was making a serious impact on American lifestyles at that time and most older people did not agree with it at all. Parents forbade their children to listen to this new “Devil’s Music” and protested Rock and Roll’s growing success every step of the way. However, if one cliche stood true in this time its that “You can’t stop the Youth.” America’s youth loved this new fast paced, racy music and was going to listen no matter what they were told. Rebels without a cause were these teenage subculture heroes. Leather clad greasers sat in Rock and Roll diners eating French Fries and drinking sodas while “Rock Around the Clock” blasted out of the jukebox. The youth of the day were taking a stand. They were rebelling for something they loved and that is extremely admirable. Don’t be confused. If it sounds as though I am basing my thoughts around the United States, that is because I am! Most of the more revolutionary steps in music history have budded in the U.S. This is most likely because the youth of the United States lived their lives in an extremely fast paced manor. Most subcultures do eventually die out. It’s the nature of the beast. However, they are usually replaced by newer, different subcultures and forms of rebellion. In the 1960’s America’s youth was still swelling with pride and bravery. Some were being sent away to Vietnam, others refused. Some were still basking in the sounds of the 1950’s and still others moved on. Funny thing is...perhaps the most important day in the history of modern music did happen in America. It was the arrival of a British airplane carrying 4 moppy headed musicians who called themselves the Beatles. This was the beginning of the British Invasion musically and it had a huge impact on American culture. At first, the adults of the United States objected to this new music. This created a new Rock and Roll subculture. Beatles fans instinctively flocked to the arenas and clubs just to get a glance of these people their parents told them to stay away from. It was peaceful defiance...a phrase that would be used in reference to the 1960’s for decades to come. Bob Dylan and Joan Baez sang their songs of protest to a subculture very angry about the affairs of their country at the time. That protest gave way to a late sixties drug culture that began on the corner of Haight and Ashbury in San Francisco. The Grateful Dead openly embraced American culture’s outcasts. Long haired hippies followed their favorite band around the country going anywhere they went. LSD was the drug of the times as bands like the Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers and Jefferson Airplane opened up new worlds for their fans. Although the Grateful Dead would continue to play until the mid-1990’s, the hippie culture of the late Sixties peaked during 1969’s Woodstock festival and kind of fell off for a little bit. Little did these Dead-Heads know that their culture would be expressed in slightly different forms all the way into the next century. In the 1980’s, British musicians again made their way into other world cultures through another new and exciting type of music. Bands like The Sex Pistols, The Ramones and The Talking Heads were headlining a club called CBGB’s in New York City and filtering their new “Punk Rock” into a subculture that lives on today. Some Punk rockers sported Mohawks, leather jackets and multiple piercings. These youthful non-conformists lived how they wanted to live, dressed how they wanted to dress and listened to whatever music they chose no matter what anybody else told them. Punk lyrics were filled with hints of anarchism, atheism and other topics not so popular to the general public. That’s what made Punk Rock so revolutionary and its fans equally bold. Probably the most widely known subculture in modern society would be the jam Band scene. This subculture is lead by a band called Phish. Phish and its followers define a new generation that seems to be a mix of late 1960’s drug culture and peace loving hippies. After Jerry Garcia’s death in 1995, people wondered who would carry the torch of being the next band to have a Grateful Dead-like following. Phish was the answer to this question. Although Phish is currently on hiatus, their spirit lives on in their fans who continue to listen to the music and live the lifestyle. Its interesting to wonder whether this is a Humanist topic or a Social topic. This question doesn’t matter though. Life is its own topic. Culture is also its own topic. It could be very interesting to find out what subcultures will derive through music in the future. Bibliography:

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