Music Of The 60s

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“What impact did the music have on raising political/social awareness amongst the young people during the 60’s?” Throughout 1966 and 1967, the Anti-War movement became an amazingly important concern for the political system of America. More influential politicians gave support to the protesters and eventually resulted in the movement gaining momentum on the West Coast through the efforts of musical groups. These musical groups and icons were seen as prophets by the youth in America at the time. These ‘musical prophets’ took form in the likes of such icons as Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, etc. These icons addressed their audience as members of the counter-culture they belonged to and helped them to believe that their counter-culture dreams had gotten them to a point in which they were now a separate ‘alternate society’ which could be run the way they wanted and could oppose authority within a group of likeminded individuals. The music expressed both aspirations for a better world and united all those who shared the same belief towards the war in Vietnam and the current political system in the United States. During the 60s, the music had played such a role in identifying such social problems as alienation, war, racism and other forms of social oppression that it was literally seen as a driving force for the youths’ active protesting lifestyle. Bands played to huge crowds to address such issues, and no event could have been as impacting and hugely motivational as the Woodstock Festival, which took place in the outskirts of New York City during the weekend of August 15-18, 1969. It was seen as the culmination of over a decade of questioning authority and revolutionary happenings in the world. On a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, over 500,000 people gathered to watch and listen to some of the most influential and revolutionary artists in the entire world,
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