Between 1965 and the 1990s, culture and popular music had been intertwined in the United States. There were postwar promises of prosperity such as jobs, social leveling and of peace. However, this was not at all true and the promises were not kept. During these periods a counter-culture surfaced that reacted against ongoing justices and questioned the United States. One of the prominent keys were musicians who wrote protest songs and delivered their message to the people. Music had revealed the promises and contradictions of self-made individualism. Through their music they revealed the promises and contradictions during these times.
One of the important figures of the 1960’s music protest movement was Bob Dylan, who created many number of …show more content…
He mixed poverty, war, racism, and prison in his lyrics for his songs. Bob protested against governments who orchestrated war in “Masters of War” and criticized American officials and leaders. Described both the military-industrial complex and politicians as corrupted. The lyrics “You fasten all the triggers for the others to fire then you set back and watch when the death counts get higher”, is pointed out that it’s usually old men who declare the war but it’s the young men who must fight it and die. The promise of peace and no conflict was broken here as politicians and leaders waged war to gain more power. Also, when Martin Luther king, Jr delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech Bob sang at the March on Washington.
Bob often sang tragedies and everyday injustices. There was one song in particular Bob often used to …show more content…
It is a scream about soldiers messed up by the war in Vietnam like a whole generation of young men that fought in a war with little support who returned home to their own country scarred by the experiences in the war only to be not welcomed home as he sings. He started with “born down in a dead mans town” (Gagnon 83), as he referred the soldiers as poor kids who joined the army in desperation of poor childhood and circumstances. He sings “So they put a rifle in my hand” (Gagnon 83) as the soldiers finds themselves sent to Vietnam to fight in the war and kill the 'enemy ' which they refer as the yellow man in his song. In his third verse he writes the lyrics “come back home to the refinery, hiring man says son if it was up to me” (Gagnon 83). On the soldiers return they are not the heroes they thought they would be and is treated poorly. In the song they get turned down for the job and can only find dead end jobs. Another contradiction of the promises they had received. They had little hope for a better future and ultimately they drift into crime and find themselves in prison. The last verse mentions, “I’m ten years down the road, nowhere to run ain’t got nowhere to go” (Gagnon 83). This indicated that even after serving for their country, their country failed them, leaving them nowhere to go. He remembers friends from the war fighting the Viet Cong and he reflects on how the war
One of the important figures of the 1960’s music protest movement was Bob Dylan, who created many number of …show more content…
He mixed poverty, war, racism, and prison in his lyrics for his songs. Bob protested against governments who orchestrated war in “Masters of War” and criticized American officials and leaders. Described both the military-industrial complex and politicians as corrupted. The lyrics “You fasten all the triggers for the others to fire then you set back and watch when the death counts get higher”, is pointed out that it’s usually old men who declare the war but it’s the young men who must fight it and die. The promise of peace and no conflict was broken here as politicians and leaders waged war to gain more power. Also, when Martin Luther king, Jr delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech Bob sang at the March on Washington.
Bob often sang tragedies and everyday injustices. There was one song in particular Bob often used to …show more content…
It is a scream about soldiers messed up by the war in Vietnam like a whole generation of young men that fought in a war with little support who returned home to their own country scarred by the experiences in the war only to be not welcomed home as he sings. He started with “born down in a dead mans town” (Gagnon 83), as he referred the soldiers as poor kids who joined the army in desperation of poor childhood and circumstances. He sings “So they put a rifle in my hand” (Gagnon 83) as the soldiers finds themselves sent to Vietnam to fight in the war and kill the 'enemy ' which they refer as the yellow man in his song. In his third verse he writes the lyrics “come back home to the refinery, hiring man says son if it was up to me” (Gagnon 83). On the soldiers return they are not the heroes they thought they would be and is treated poorly. In the song they get turned down for the job and can only find dead end jobs. Another contradiction of the promises they had received. They had little hope for a better future and ultimately they drift into crime and find themselves in prison. The last verse mentions, “I’m ten years down the road, nowhere to run ain’t got nowhere to go” (Gagnon 83). This indicated that even after serving for their country, their country failed them, leaving them nowhere to go. He remembers friends from the war fighting the Viet Cong and he reflects on how the war