I ain't no Senators son

              The music of the 60’s is sung by men and women who wear bell bottoms and bare feet. They preach on their soapbox stages about the war overseas and the struggles at home. They sing to be heard for miles and to advocate for change. The artists of the 60’s found a way to brand themselves so that their disciples dressed to match their styles and represent the same brands and causes. Even in 2017, they influence listeners like me who have turned to a more naturalistic hippie lifestyle giving them high brand personality appeal even in today’s world, enhancing a heightened sense of individualism or freedom of expression (Babin/Harris, 2016). I feel more empowered while listening to this music, thinking of the fight every person went through during this time is inspirational to no end.

"I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'Cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again"

When Buffalo Springfield sang about the government incited riots on a college campus, they awoken a battle cry within the youth. “I think it’s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound? Everybody look what’s going down”, the words say to look up. Look up from your privileged life and fight for the wronged.

Buffalo Springfield sings for what it's worth

They fed a following of youth who were beginning to fight for the civil liberties of marginalized victims. This song holds a heavy coercive power as it aims to be in your face with its meaning while trying to tell you the story at hand. (Babin/Harris, 2016) failure to follow the countercultures agenda meant you were on the side of the “man” which was the only enemy of the counterculture, creating a harsh disapproval of this membership. Baby boomers of the period were beginning to become “woke”, as we say today, to the injustices of the time as they fight for cultural and civil liberties and with no knowledge to how this could be done, listeners stuck to music that spoke to them in ways the biased news and government could not. In this world I live in now, I am silenced at home for my new left ideas and staunch liberalism. I go home and am defined “hippie” for believing in equal rights and basic civil liberties.

Common fashion from 60's counterculture

My parents say I smell of patchouli and need to wear scarves around my neck rather than around my head in a sign of protest from the “man”.  Anti-war students were finally able to speak outwardly to their parents and officials by the anti-war songs they preached and the styles they wore. They were given a voice that couldn’t be silenced by members of the Beatles who wore their long shaggy hair and spoke about peace and love.

"You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world

But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out
Don't you know it's gonna be
All right, all right, all right"

These students and counterculture youth created an age-based microculture without even trying, they shared beliefs and ideals unlike their oppositionists (Babin/Harris, 2016). They were hated for their free spirits and drew to younger generations looking for social change. This music is highly cultural as the older generations of the times tried and failed to silence those who began to find their voices. Even during such a politically charged decade, political music was seen as taboo and dangerous to some older populations. The music I enjoy that rose from this hate has given me a greater feeling of freedom of speech that I’m not alone in my ideas. If I say I want to change the world, I know that I won’t be doing it alone. Merle Haggard sung about the hippies being dirty and needing haircuts as he stayed an “Okie from Muskogee” and helped mold the “us versus them” mentality of the anti-counterculture groups.

Merle Haggard & Willie Nelson sing Okie from Muskogee

His clean-cut lyrics for the anti-counterculture were anti-protest hymns with deep roots into racial segregation and pro-Nixon ideals. They wrote music that downed the new left and fought for their children to get reputable jobs and to end the charade of change.

Anti-Nixon propaganda

The fight for civil liberties was the basis for all wars fought in the 60’s. Singers sung about wanting equality and freedom of speech. Aretha Franklin wanted to praise her strong African American roots and Sam Cooke wanted to see a change in the world that was the hopeful resolution to the wars overseas and at home.

"I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh, and just like the river I've been running ever since
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gon' come, oh yes it will
It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die
'Cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gon' come, oh yes it will
I go to the movie and I go down town
Somebody keep telling me don't hang around
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gon' come, oh yes it will"

Outside of America, music from other cultures shared similar roots of change. Bob Marley, one of the builders of reggae music, spoke on the poverty and racism in Jamaica. His words flew abroad alike the Beatle whom led the “British Takeover” in the United States. Marley’s Redemption song continues to be a favorite of mine that helps build ground for my love of advocacy work because of his words of self-love and redemption of power in what continues to be a system of oppression.

Bob Marley sings Redemption song

Here are examples of some of my favorite music listed through Spotify:

http://open.spotify.com/user/12122004944/playlist/3pf1aZK4qpyRJkYW6YtoTC

Disclaimer: some music may have triggering speech because of racial and sexual injustice speech and because of the sensitive subject matter some music may contain cursing or vulgar language but will be labeled as "explicit".

References:

Babin, B., & Harris, E. (2016). In CB 7 (7th ed., pp. 27-29). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.