Sixties Music and How it Reflected the Changing Times The 1960s in the United States was a decade marred by social unrest, civil rights injustice, and violence both home and abroad. These were some of the factors that lead to a cultural revolution. The revolution attempted to diverge the fabric of American society. Teenagers were living dangerously and breaking away from the ideals that their parents held. In the process they created their own society (Burns 1990). They were young and had the nerve to believe that they could change the world. Their leaders had lofty goals as well. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had dreams of a truly equal America. John F. Kennedy dreamed of a young vigorous nation that would put a man on the moon. The youth wanted to live in a state of love, peace, and freedom (Gitlin 1987).Through the stormy decade of the Nineteen Sixties it seemed that popular music was at the eye of every storm (Burns 1990). During this time musicians reacted to what they saw, often the youth of the Sixties were living out lyrics and popular songs of the day (Anderson 1969). For every headline there was a song by artists such as Bob Dylan, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, The Jefferson Airplane, and The Beatles. Some remember the decades music as a representation of the moral decline and the representation of the inappropriate ideal of the youth (Szatmary 1996). The youth movement became the counterculture and they became hippies. The hippies preached mysticism, honesty, joy, and nonviolence (Time 7 July 1967, 4-5). Music played an intricate part in the hippie lifestyle. The music reflected the sentiment of the youth. It became an outlet for teenagers to express themselves and voice their concerns about society (Burns 1990).Folk music was the musical choice of the youth in the early Sixties. Bob Dylan and Joan Baez were the most popular folk singers of the day. In the early sixties the union of the civil rights movement...
