Sixties Music-Putting things in perspective

That I was born in the early seventies. I wasn't even alive when this stuff was written or when it was popular. Hence the post, in addition, as I'm writing a (rather large) paper on it this fall I have to try to avoid getting kicked out of school for academic misconduct. 8)..

I've been working ahead on a course for this fall, and yes, I'm a sucker for punishment, I specifically asked for a course on music of the sixties. While-being my mother's child, I've always loved some of these songs They've taken on a whole new meaning over the past five weeks.

It's more than just the lyrics, you can listen to the lyrics of "Leaving on A Jet Plane" -The John Denver or The Peter Paul and Mary versions, not the Chantal Kreviazuk one- Yes, they all have the same, or very similar lyrics but the meaning is different depending on the context in which it was written and first listened to.

Even back when they were first written many songs had different meanings for different people. Hendrix' "Purple Haze" meant one thing to the men and women fighting in Vietnam, and another in San Francisco. Same goes for The Beatles "Yellow Submarine", and this is to say nothing of Jefferson Airplane/Joplin's "White Rabbit" or Peter Paul and Mary's "Puff the Magic Dragon"

Songs that were written to mean one thing were interpreted differently according to the meaning the listerner wanted to attach. Tony Orlando's "Tie A Yellow Ribbon" for instance, was written about one thing, yet because of when it was written the meaning became different, and this alternate meaning is the one that has carried forward to modern day.

There were a number of factors that contributed to the different styles of music in the sixties. Among them were the Vietnam war, which inspired pro and anti-war songs, and those that talked about it but didn't make a particular statement.

There were those that made a statement about some form of inequality.

Youth protested against the establishment,

Blacks protested racial inequality, (Actually, nearly every race did, Asians, American Indians)

Women protested gender inequality, -Which by the way did not mean they all hated men, just that they wanted to be recognized as being the same SPECIES as men and that having their sexual organs on the inside did not mean that they were weaker, dumber, less capable, or more desirous of staying at home and raising children

toward the end of the sixties and early seventies came not only the 'free love' movement, but also the gay and lesbian movements, which led to more artists, both men and women 'coming out of the closet, not only because they genuinely homosexual, but because it was 'cool' and often resulted in an increase in sales. This was not always the case though. For some, the consumers doubted the sincerity of the artists, and their sales plummetted.

More in another post but I'm starving and I hate leaving hubs unpublished!