Culture And Music Of The 70S Essays - Counterculture Of The 1960s

Culture And Music Of The 70'S Term Paper Music is an outlet to all aspects of life and culture is a significant way of forming people and the way they live. Although not always seen directly culture has an overbearing influence on the music that is produced and made popular. The political Climate of the early seventies was full of fire with issues such as Vietnam and constant protest throughout the county. Later in the 70s the end of the Vietnamese conflict brought the rise of the Watergate scandal and Iran Contra. These issues swept headlines and ingrained peoples thoughts. Social issues also played a big role in the developing culture of the seventies. Protests and constant outbreaks about gay rights and womens rights seemed to overtake the country in storm. Later in the Decade the social climate changed to a celebration of the Past and a can-do attitude. Political and Social climates had an overbearing influence on the attitude that was being developed throughout the seventies. This climate was also transparent in the mu sic world of this decade. In the early 70s music lyrics were being created that were representative of the popular method of protest and social change. Music is a common way of expression and during this time artist and groups took the most of their popular music by expressing viewpoints on present issues. In the mid to late seventies the birth of new styles that broke from the old seemed to dominate the music industry. These new types of music ranged from disco to television pop. The music of the decade represented the culture and was greatly influenced by events and beliefs of the 70s. At this time in American history, music and life became closely nit. In the late 1970s, national issues settled and the development of new music forms exploded. During the first year of the decade protest and war for gay rights was on the rise to new levels. Combining with the motif of protest was the issues of women rights. Women celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 19th amendment, and liberal abortion laws in the year of 1970. No longer merely entertainment, popular music became a powerful means of protest and an effective force for social change. The whole feeling of fighting for what is right was often found in lyrics and music of the time. Although women had been in the music industry for centuries the song of the seventies that backed the idea of womans push for power was I Am Women, by Helen Reddy. The first line simply stats the mood of the whole song by stating, I am women, hear me roar. As the nations excitement to protest continued to bolster an incident occurred that put a damper to the glitter. During an antiwar protest at Kent State University in Ohio, the National Guard is told to move in and calm protesters. In result they open fire on unarmed students, killing four students and wounding eight others. This caused national uproar of protest and flashed the headlines across the county. Shortly after the horrific event, Crosby, Stills, Nash, Ohio, which drew attention to and in memory of the wasteful deaths of the Kent State Protest. The first two linen of the song read, Tin soldiers and Nixon coming, Were finally on our own, which puts blame on Nixon and his involvement with the Vietnam War and shows the individualism that the protesters wanted from the national beliefs on the issues. Deep meaningful descriptions were also added to spur emotions, such as Soldiers are gunning us downWhat if you knew her and found her dead on the ground. The line, How can you run when you know? is seen twice in the song and can be taken as talking of other problems that were seasing the nation such as the issues constantly being protested. Ironically following the death of the four college students at the Kent State University protest, Ohio Governor James Rhodes ordered radio stations to ban the song Ohio by Crosby, Stills, Nash Ohio were very strong and no further violence was reported. Another issue in late 1970 that