12th blog paper
Olivia Arneson
Hour 5
Have you ever heard your great grandparents or even grandparent’s talk about
stories from back in their day and how things were so different, but couldn’t come close to
relating to them? Many great grandparents and grandparents lived through the 1960s, and
it was a big part of their lives. I have heard many people talk about the 1960s and how
things have changed but I never entirely understood what they were talking about until I
started my capstone. My capstone is on music in the 1960s, music in the 1960s was very
unique, had a great impact on culture, and changed many lives.
When I first started my capstone I knew very little about 1960s music, I knew about
3 Beatles songs and that was it. I knew many people had talked about the 1960s and how it
was a memorable decade in which things were constantly changing. I had known for some
time that the music in the 1960s had somewhat of an effect on the culture, but only because
I learned that in my American history class. When I first picked my topic for my capstone I
felt like I was going to learn a lot. I also felt that I would have a better understanding of how
times have really changed in the music industry.
Throughout my research I learned so much and became more and more inspired.
One of my first thoughts was no wonder music had such an immense impact on the culture
it was amazing. The music in the 60s had messages in them about war and politics and it
changed many people’s attitudes. There were songs about peace and non-violence, which
influenced many people in a positive way. Not only did the 1960s music influence attitudes
but it also had an influence on fashion. People wore tie-dye, grew long hair inspired by The
Beatles, and wore bell-bottoms. The 1960s was also known as the hippie era, and from my
research I believe the hippie era was inspired mainly because of music.
I learned that the 1960s not only just brought out rock n roll but different genres of
music were created. Surf rock, psychedelic rock, folk music, and protest music were all new
to America in the 1960s. These new genres of music were inspired by fundamental
problems. The assassination of president Kennedy, the Vietnam war, and the Civil Rights
Movement all inspired artists and their unique lyrics to come up with something different
and meaningful.
I also learned that many of the popular bands in the 1960s developed in Britain. The
Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The YardBirds as well as many others were a part of
what was called the British Invasion. The British Invasion first started out with The Beatles,
they made such a huge impression on America, which inspired other British bands. John F
Kennedys assassination took place less than three months before The Beatles arrived in
America, America needed something to lift their spirits and that’s just what The Beatles and
many other artists did. The British Invasion didn’t just invade America; it spread and
became popular all over the world.
Music Festivals also became very popular in the late 1960s. In 1967 of June there
was the Monterey pop festival that I watched a documentary on. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin,
Otis Redding, Simon and Garfunkel, and many more popular artists from the 1960s
performed at the Monterey pop festival. I also managed to watch a documentary on
Woodstock, one of the largest most famous music festivals in the world. It took place on a
farm in Bethel New York in 1969, 32 performances were held in 3 days and over 400,000
people attended. Woodstock was an icon of the 1960s hippie counterculture.
These discoveries I found all through my research really changed my point of view
on everything. They always say don’t judge a book by its cover but I definitely
underestimated the 1960s and their music. I was extremely surprised that a lot of the
popular bands were developed in Britain and I was even more surprised on how big of an
impact they had on America and other countries. Today our popular music is originated
here and mainly stays here, but in the 1960s their music spread like wildfire across the
entire world. That’s just how good and unique their music was and it literally affected a lot
of the world.
I was shocked at how big music was back then and it really seemed to be a great
part of peoples lives. Today I don’t think music has any effect on the way we dress or if it
does I haven’t noticed a bit. After reading books, articles, poems, listening to interviews,
and watching documentaries I noticed the music was affecting not just certain people but
also the whole society. Adults were mainly the ones who opposed the music but teens were
extremely into it. I really feel like I have a much better understanding of what the music
was like and how it affected the culture. I have even become more interested in musicians
and how they come about and where their lyrics come from. These discoveries have also
changed my taste in music almost entirely. This is very important to me because I feel like I
really got a lot out of my discoveries and I understand music on a whole other level.
While I was trying to understand music in the 1960s I started listening to a lot. I
listened to Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Led
Zeppelin, The Who and more. They all had very different music from one another and
nothing sounded the same, which is what fascinated me the most. It really changed my
taste in music because their lyrics and beats were so creative and never seemed to get
boring. I have developed more appreciation for artists and their music and listening to
them has also made me relate more to family that lived through the 1960s.
I hope everyone can realize someday that music is a lot stronger and a whole lot
more infomercial than most people know. It has a lot of power and control over cultures,
and I hope music can be as influential and as positive as it once was. I worry that if our
society listens to music that sends the wrong messages it will negatively influence our
culture. I believe that we can try to go back and just listen to some sixties music and
influence ourselves rather than listening to mainstream music that doesn’t seem to send
any sort of positive messages.