Emma Whitfill
Music of the Counterculture
How do the values of American mass culture influence and differ from values expressed in music produced by the counterculture?
American culture became "modern" in the 1950's, provoking the interest and outrage of a small group of individuals who were able to see past the brainwashing advertisement and commit themselves to reforming American society and culture. These individuals were the Beat Writers: fathers of the counterculture.
Mass Culture of the 1950's
The counterculture owes its existence to the culture of the 1950's, created by advertisement and centered around materialism, tradition, and sameness. Television network executives, in particular, wanted to appeal to the largest audience possible, so they created their programs to represent the stereotypical idyllic American of the time. This was the age of Susie the Homemaker and the inspiration of not only the Beat writers but also the feminist movement and its advocate Betty Friedan, author of the transformative "Feminine Mystique". The music that emerged in the 1950's, "Rock n' Roll", was light-hearted and had just the right amount of scandal become a popular aspect of the mass culture.
Emergence of the Beat Spirit
It was during the 1950's that William S. Burroughs published both "Junky" and "Naked Lunch". The ideas that form Burroughs' work, widely considered strange and repulsive at the time of their initial writing, are the basis of the American counterculture. Jack Kerouac wrote "On the Road" to encourage spiritual spontaneity, while Allen Ginsberg wrote "Howl" during the 1950's, and the striking poem became the anthem of the 1960's counterculture movement. The main values of Burroughs, Ginsberg, and Kerouac were transgression, transformation, and transcendence.
Evolution of the Counterculture
The Beat movement evolved into the Hippie movement but kept the same values of Burroughs, Ginsberg, and Kerouac. The Hippie movement was less focused reforming the lack of authenticity of the 1950's mass culture and was motivated by the turbulence and social injustice of the 1960's. The clashing beliefs of the Beat writers and mass culture of the '50s, the assassination of the Kennedys, the escalation of conflict in Vietnam, the progression of the civil rights and feminist movements, and the widespread experimentation with psychedelic substances all contributed to the formation of the 1960's counterculture, which began making music in 1963.
“Angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness of cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities contemplating jazz,
who bared their brains to Heaven under the El and saw Mohammedan angels staggering on tenement roofs illuminated,
who passed through universities with radiant cool eyes hallucinating Arkansas and Blake-light tragedy among the scholars of war,
who were expelled from the academies for crazy & publishing obscene odes on the windows of the skull…” - Allen Ginsberg, HowlPsychadelics
The music produced in the 1960's was often influenced psychedelic substances, which were embraced in the '60s as a means for personal exploration and creative influence. Society opposed the use of substances in any circumstance, but that did not stop the use of drugs from completely reshaping the counterculture and its music and art. The motivation for the use of psychedelic substances stemmed from the unique experience they induced, one that many saw as spiritual and enlightening. This influence can be seen in songs such as "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane and "The Needle and the Damage Done" by Neil Young.
Social Injustice
The Civil Rights movements of the 1960's were aimed at ending racial prejudice and injustice and were a major part of the counterculture. Many songs, such as "Only a Pawn in their Game" by Bob Dylan and "Change is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke, were reflective of the counterculture's sentiment regarding social and racial injustices. At the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez performed to show their support for the movement. Once again, the counterculture's support for the Civil Right movements reflected their three main values of transgression, transformation, and transcendence.
Conflict Abroad
The counterculture was very opposed to the United States' involvement in Vietnam. Many people advocated resistance of the draft and public protests against the war. College campuses became a battleground between law enforcement and students showing their objection to the conflict abroad. The war in Vietnam inspired a musical movement centered around protesting the conflict and advocating peace. Songs reflective of this sentiment, such as "War" by Edwin Starr and "The Unknown Soldier" by the Doors. The peace sign became associated with the 1960's because of its use by the counterculture in protest of the Vietnam War.
Blowing In The Wind (Live On TV, March 1963)
"How many years can some people exist before they're allowed to be free? Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head, and pretend that he just doesn't see. The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind."
Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth 1967
"There's battle lines being drawn.Nobody's right if everybody's wrong.Young people speaking their minds. Getting so much resistance from behind. It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound. Everybody look what's going down."
The Temptations Ball of Confusion
"Eve of destruction, tax deduction, city inspectors, bill collectors, mod clothes in demand, population out of hand, suicide, too many bills, hippies moving to the hills. People all over the world are shouting, ‘End the war.’"
Eve of Destruction * Barry McGuire 1965 HQ
"I can’t twist the truth, it knows no regulation. Handful of senators don’t pass legislation. And marches alone can’t bring integration. When human respect is disintegrating.This whole crazy world is just too frustrating."
Country Joe McDonald - I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag
"Well, come on generals, let’s move fast, Well, come on mothers throughout the land, your big chance has come at last. Pack your boys off to Vietnam. Gotta go out and get those reds; Come on fathers, don’t hesitate; the only good commie is the one who’s dead. Send ‘em off before it’s too late."