Music Of The Counterculture Era

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Music and the American Counterculture Era The decade of the sixties was one marked by unconventional lifestyles, drugs, sex, music, and change. More than that, the decade was full of attributes that reflected young America’s new ideals of equality, peace, and freedom. Americans of that time were faced with so many controversial and revolutionary issues that it would be difficult to find a period in American history where more societal changes took place. Music of the 1960s played a significant role in creating the counterculture movement of the era and reflected the attitudes of the new youth subculture. Armed with a desire to change the world, young people took to song lyrics and innovative sounds to communicate their ideas on how the world and society should be shaped. As a result of the baby boom of the 1940s to the 1950s, over half of the population in the sixties was under 30 years old (“The Counterculture”). The youth was apparent all over the country, as the need to rebel against the conservative beliefs of adults ignited a willingness to challenge authority, increased social tolerance, changed attitudes about gender roles, and increased political interest, thereby creating the counterculture. As the decade progressed, tensions grew within American society that only seemed to attract more and more followers to the movement (Law). The American civil rights movement, for example, became a key element of counterculture and seemed to represent exactly what these young Americans stood for. In an attempt to apply the idea of nonviolent protest, many sought out to guarantee that equal rights be granted to all citizens and fought for the right to exercise their basic constitutional rights (“The 1960’s”). Bob Dylan became one of the most popular artists of the time by doing just that. Many of his most famous works came in the sixties when he acted as a leader and
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