ROCK 'N' ROLL MUSIC: A WAY OF LIFE © profelipe ™
It is not possible to write about twenty century without talking about rock and roll music. It doesn’t mean to say it was a revolutionary movement as it happened in Russia (1917) or in Cuba (1959). The changes of rock movement were different. It changed the way of life of society.
In the fifths, it was the cold war period. One, communism, shown as dictatorship and, on other side, capitalism, mainly United States, shown as democracy. The reality, however, wasn’t that simple. Behind the American way of life there were racism, prejudice against poor people and an external politics that justified dictatorships in, for example, South America .
There would not be rock n’ roll without blues. It remembers slaves and pain. It remembers the sounds of Africaand the contradictions of the colonialism. Of course, the first great idol wasn’t Chuck Berry or Little Richards. It was Elvis Presley. Being white didn’t mean it was easy for Elvis in the fifths. In his interviews, he tried to explain rock n’ roll wasn’t a dangerous movement. It was like the American youth needed to be protected from different ideas. In the case of rock, these ideas came from black people. Rock and racism in the fifths: these problems shown another America for the world beyond that ideology of cold war. But there was one more thing: Beatnik movement. Its ideas, poetry and experiences were important to change people’s comportment.
Probably hippie movement would not be the same without new ideas from beat generation. New social movement, new idols in the sixties. They came from England: Beatles, Rolling Stones and others. With The Beatles, rock n’ roll was an international music for teenagers. They meant new way of comportment: sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. Of course, Beatles were not just songs as Love me Do. They were also known for the lyrics of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. The association with LSD was clear. There were yet My Generation (The Who) and Sympathy for the Devil (The Rolling Stones).
In the sixties, rock n’ roll was not music for angels, but, at the same time, it tried to show some answers for the society. Young people lived in hippie communities, with new values and not lots of rules. Sexuality meant freedom. Feminism fought for women’s rights. There were protests against racism too. The world was changing: 1968 in France, protests in Prague (communist regime), Woodstockfestival in the U.S.A. and left movements in Latin America (trying to repeat the 1959 Cuba experience).
In fact, rock movement changed people’s comportment, but it did not change much about political relations. In the seventies, people seemed not to believe in revolution anymore. These were heavy metal and progressive music years. The music was more important than the lyrics. It was clear at the symphony sound of progressive rock and, in the other side, the ‘noise’ of the heavy metal groups. One example: Led Zeppelin. With the 5 minutes of The song remains the same, the lyrics were:
“I had a dream. Crazy Dream.
Anything I wanted, anyplace I need to go.
Hear my song. People won’t you listen now? Sing Along.
You don’t know what you’re missing now.
Any little song that you know.
Everything that’s small has to grow. And it has to grow!
California sunlight, sweet Calcutta rain.
Honolulu star bright – the song remains the same.
Sing out Hare Hare, dance the Hoochie Koo.
City lights are so bright, as we go sliding… sliding… sliding through.”
What does it mean? Probably nothing. The important was the sound. Robert Plant’s voice was as an instrumental in this music and the meaning of the words was not essential. Some people could rememberStairway to Heaven or Rain Song, but here, as in the most progressive songs, the lyrics were about love or mystical meanings, not about what really happened in people’s life. With punk movement, in the late seventies, it was different. They were not musicians. It was just noise. They didn’t care. The important was the lyrics, the protest against the ‘old’ rock bands (as Led Zeppelin or Rolling Stones) and the rules of capitalist society. Punk was more than music. It was a way of life. The lyrics of Anarchy in the U.K.:
“I’m an antichrist
I’m an anarquist
I don’t know what I want
But I know how I get it
I wanna destroy.”
Anarchism and rock music. Of course, this combination didn’t make punk a social movement, but, at least, it tried to put rock to what it was in the fifths: a music against rules. It was not only about the musicians. The behavior of the audience was important. It was true in the fifths and the seventies.
Punk was not the last movement of rock music – after that, there were different styles as disco music, new wave, hip hop and so on. Rock became important to the labels of music. Musicians became millionaires. Any new kind of music tried to change people’s ideas and, at the same time, it tried to make money as any capitalist industry.
By the way, it was the main problem: to use rock as protest became a way of making money. It sold almost everything: records, t-shirts, concerts, sodas… It worked as any product. Basically, rock music became mainstream. Young people of Woodstock were the parents in the eighties. They were different, of course, but rock and roll wasn’t a surprise or any symbol of protest. It was the decade of yuppies. Money was the only thing that mattered. Music as disco or new wave was their soundtrack.
In fact, lyrics of rock music never tried to show some left political views. There were some Bob Dylan’s songs, punk music and others, but they were not the majority. It doesn’t mean, however, that rock music did not changed the way of life in the second half of the twenty century.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BYRNE, John. The story of Pop. London: Heinemann, 1977.
DAVIS, Stephen. Hammer of the Gods. London: Sidgwick & Jackson Limited, 1985.
DUCARY, François. Les Beatles. Paris: E. J. L., 1999.
GUILHEMINOT, Hervé & RAJON, Florence . Le rock des annés 70. Paris: Prelude e Fugue, 1997.
It is not possible to write about twenty century without talking about rock and roll music. It doesn’t mean to say it was a revolutionary movement as it happened in Russia (1917) or in Cuba (1959). The changes of rock movement were different. It changed the way of life of society.
In the fifths, it was the cold war period. One, communism, shown as dictatorship and, on other side, capitalism, mainly United States, shown as democracy. The reality, however, wasn’t that simple. Behind the American way of life there were racism, prejudice against poor people and an external politics that justified dictatorships in, for example, South America .
There would not be rock n’ roll without blues. It remembers slaves and pain. It remembers the sounds of Africaand the contradictions of the colonialism. Of course, the first great idol wasn’t Chuck Berry or Little Richards. It was Elvis Presley. Being white didn’t mean it was easy for Elvis in the fifths. In his interviews, he tried to explain rock n’ roll wasn’t a dangerous movement. It was like the American youth needed to be protected from different ideas. In the case of rock, these ideas came from black people. Rock and racism in the fifths: these problems shown another America for the world beyond that ideology of cold war. But there was one more thing: Beatnik movement. Its ideas, poetry and experiences were important to change people’s comportment.
Probably hippie movement would not be the same without new ideas from beat generation. New social movement, new idols in the sixties. They came from England: Beatles, Rolling Stones and others. With The Beatles, rock n’ roll was an international music for teenagers. They meant new way of comportment: sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. Of course, Beatles were not just songs as Love me Do. They were also known for the lyrics of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. The association with LSD was clear. There were yet My Generation (The Who) and Sympathy for the Devil (The Rolling Stones).
In the sixties, rock n’ roll was not music for angels, but, at the same time, it tried to show some answers for the society. Young people lived in hippie communities, with new values and not lots of rules. Sexuality meant freedom. Feminism fought for women’s rights. There were protests against racism too. The world was changing: 1968 in France, protests in Prague (communist regime), Woodstockfestival in the U.S.A. and left movements in Latin America (trying to repeat the 1959 Cuba experience).
In fact, rock movement changed people’s comportment, but it did not change much about political relations. In the seventies, people seemed not to believe in revolution anymore. These were heavy metal and progressive music years. The music was more important than the lyrics. It was clear at the symphony sound of progressive rock and, in the other side, the ‘noise’ of the heavy metal groups. One example: Led Zeppelin. With the 5 minutes of The song remains the same, the lyrics were:
“I had a dream. Crazy Dream.
Anything I wanted, anyplace I need to go.
Hear my song. People won’t you listen now? Sing Along.
You don’t know what you’re missing now.
Any little song that you know.
Everything that’s small has to grow. And it has to grow!
California sunlight, sweet Calcutta rain.
Honolulu star bright – the song remains the same.
Sing out Hare Hare, dance the Hoochie Koo.
City lights are so bright, as we go sliding… sliding… sliding through.”
What does it mean? Probably nothing. The important was the sound. Robert Plant’s voice was as an instrumental in this music and the meaning of the words was not essential. Some people could rememberStairway to Heaven or Rain Song, but here, as in the most progressive songs, the lyrics were about love or mystical meanings, not about what really happened in people’s life. With punk movement, in the late seventies, it was different. They were not musicians. It was just noise. They didn’t care. The important was the lyrics, the protest against the ‘old’ rock bands (as Led Zeppelin or Rolling Stones) and the rules of capitalist society. Punk was more than music. It was a way of life. The lyrics of Anarchy in the U.K.:
“I’m an antichrist
I’m an anarquist
I don’t know what I want
But I know how I get it
I wanna destroy.”
Anarchism and rock music. Of course, this combination didn’t make punk a social movement, but, at least, it tried to put rock to what it was in the fifths: a music against rules. It was not only about the musicians. The behavior of the audience was important. It was true in the fifths and the seventies.
Punk was not the last movement of rock music – after that, there were different styles as disco music, new wave, hip hop and so on. Rock became important to the labels of music. Musicians became millionaires. Any new kind of music tried to change people’s ideas and, at the same time, it tried to make money as any capitalist industry.
By the way, it was the main problem: to use rock as protest became a way of making money. It sold almost everything: records, t-shirts, concerts, sodas… It worked as any product. Basically, rock music became mainstream. Young people of Woodstock were the parents in the eighties. They were different, of course, but rock and roll wasn’t a surprise or any symbol of protest. It was the decade of yuppies. Money was the only thing that mattered. Music as disco or new wave was their soundtrack.
In fact, lyrics of rock music never tried to show some left political views. There were some Bob Dylan’s songs, punk music and others, but they were not the majority. It doesn’t mean, however, that rock music did not changed the way of life in the second half of the twenty century.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BYRNE, John. The story of Pop. London: Heinemann, 1977.
DAVIS, Stephen. Hammer of the Gods. London: Sidgwick & Jackson Limited, 1985.
DUCARY, François. Les Beatles. Paris: E. J. L., 1999.
GUILHEMINOT, Hervé & RAJON, Florence . Le rock des annés 70. Paris: Prelude e Fugue, 1997.