The Sixties Essay
The 60’s began a period of innocence and hope. However, it soon began to behold like a time of anger and violence. Many protested to demand an end to the immoral treatment of blacks, protested to demand an end to the war in Vietnam, And protested to demand full equality for women. Many controversial issues came up rapidly.
The rebellion and violence afflicted the youth of America. The effect was especially bad because of the time period in which they had developed. By the middle 1950s, most of the youth’s parents had jobs that paid well. And they were very satisfied with their lives. They educated their children with what were known as "middle class" ethics. These contained a knowledge in God, hard work, and service to their country.
Eventually, much of the youth in America began to question these beliefs. They felt that their parents' values were not enough to help them with the social hardships of the 1960s. They rebelled by against their prior ways by letting their hair grow long, and wearing odd clothing. Their anger was strongly communicated through music. Rock-and-roll music had become very prominent in America in the 1960s. Many people did not approve of it because they thought it was too sexual and demeaning, and they found the words inappropriate and harmful.
The beatles came out with a protest song called “Revolution”. A revolution defined is, a forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system.” This song was mainly about revolting against the social order of our society. They wanted to “change the world” as they state in their song. This reflects the concerns of the society at the time because if the rebel and start a revolution, they can not let the government control everything they do. Therefore the fear of control would be alleviated. Also, this song was about wanting peace within our society. As they say in the song “Don’t you know it’s gonna be alright” trying to give America stability. This reflects the concerns of the 1960’s because there was a great amount of distress and discord among the society at this time. The American citizens just wanted peace.
Why was this song written you may ask? John Lennon says this, “I wanted to put out what I felt about revolution. I thought it was time we spoke about it, the same as I thought it was about time we stopped not answering about the Vietnamese war when we were on tour with Brian and had to tell him, ‘We’re going to talk about the war this time, and we’re not going to just waffle.’ I wanted to say what I thought about revolution. I had been thinking about it up in the hills in India. I still had this ‘God will save us’ feeling about it, that it’s going to be all right. That’s why I did it: I wanted to talk, I wanted to say my piece about revolution. I wanted to tell you, or whoever listens, to communicate, to say ‘What do you say? This is what I say.”
I believe this song is still very relevant to our society now. Our generation, even though it does not take it to such extremes as they did in the 60’s, is trying to change the world and rebel against what the government says or is trying to do. Sensitive controversial topics such as abortion and gay rights are a very good example. Songs and protests in our generation have been made in favor of these topics and the fight for them.