The American Dream of Justice and Equality for All

The major themes of this class are considering the impact music and society have on each other.  Society’s current events, social norms and the political powers all inspire different artists to create music that expresses their thoughts on different issues.  During the time period of 1939-1964 some of the major topics were protest songs starting to come into their own as well as many songs about justice and equality.  From 1965-1973 many songs were about the war and also getting back to peaceful times.  Counter Culture going against the status quo is another type of song that became popular during this time.

In 1940 Woody Guthrie’s song “This Land is Your Land” came out and it’s had such an impact that it’s still a song known by almost all Americans today.  It speaks volumes about opening up America as a land for everyone.  America should be a country for the free, meaning what’s mine is yours and this country is everyone’s. 

In 1962, Bob Dylan released the song “The Death of Emmett Till”.  This is a morbid song about the death of this African American man at the hands of evil people.  This is a protest song that isn’t afraid to talk about some of the very bad things that our country, especially in the south, was facing at the time.  We want justice and equality, but we also have to think about why we’re trying to change things.  The death of this perfectly innocent man is exactly why things needed to change and music was trying to do its part to bring attention to topics that needed it. 

Bob Dylan also released another song in 1964 called “Times are a-Changin”.  This song talks about how things are finally beginning to change for the better.  There’s still a long way to go to reach the levels of justice and equality we want to be at, but we’re now moving in the right direction.

When there’s a war there are also people working towards peace, so of course there’s music about both situations during this time period.  In 1966 Loretta Lynn released a song called “Dear Uncle Sam” that was about her significant other going off to war.  It brought up the importance of men going to war, but it also shed light on the people they were leaving back home and the hardships everyone was facing during this time. 

  John Lennon took the approach to sing about peace for our country with the songs “Give Peace a Chance” and “Imagine”.  Both songs consider a world of peace and how great it could be if we can stop fighting and actually care about one another. 

Give Peace a Chance

Imagine

Counter culture started becoming a big thing in the 1970’s too, so in 1973 Cher released a song called “Half Breed”.  This song is about how she’s of mixed ethnic decent and looked down upon and judged for it.  It calls out the people being judgmental and brings light to these important issues that may otherwise be overlooked. 

Bob Marley also released an important song in 1973 called “Get Up, Stand Up” to encourage people to actually get up and work for the changes in society they want to see.  If you don’t get up and do something about bad situations, how can you ever expect them to improve?  He wanted to provide some motivation for people to be involved in changing things for the better. 

There were significant changes going on in the United States throughout this time, yet progress was being made slowly but surely.  As long as there are people dedicated to making sure the issues at hand are being addressed and we are working towards a positive change, we're doing our part and moving in the right direction to make the American Dream attainable for as many people as possible!