Changed America, Glenn C. Altschuler discusses all of these conflicts and what rock ‘n’ roll did to aid or…
In the novel Warriors Don´t Cry, by Melba Pattillo Beals describes one young girls struggle to integrate in a horrifically bigoted community in the 1950s civil rights movement. For example, Melba voluntarily puts herself on the front line of the battle in Little Rock. After arriving for school the first day they are turned away by the national guard called out by the governor of Little Rock. This book is a timeline of hurtful events in her life during integration.…
John Singleton’s Boyz N the Hood, is a film that strongly illustrates violence, drugs, family life, respect, responsibility, and education. The movies opens with a statement “One out every 21 Black American males will be murdered…most will die by the hands of anther Black male.”(John Singleton) This film concentrates less on the conditions imposed on the Black community and more so on two central themes, the lack of respect and inability to take responsibility. Throughout the film people show blatant disrespect for one another. ‘Brother’ fights ‘brother’; they call their own friends niggers and the women are referred to as whores and bitches. The scene at the cookout is a prime example of disrespect towards women; it takes for Tre to point…
War affects all of us, even those not directly involved. Although both “For 7515-03296” and “Army of Music” have their suffering based on the same war and similar situations, the type of suffering portrayed is based on two different (but not opposite) tones. These tones dictate to whom the characters’ emotions are directed.…
The way white citizens in the United States treated the black citizens in this country was vile in the 50’s. The whites’ futile behavior towards the black people caused a massive, belligerent rival between the white and black people. Nine black students, from Little Rock Arkansas, were selected to attend the integration of an all white school called Central High School. One of the black students, Melba Pattillo Beals, wrote her experience of her integration with her eight friends in the novel, Warriors Don’t Cry. Melba explains the act of savagery she dealt with from the white people during the integration. Even though dealing with the white people's ferocious behavior was tough for Melba, she still found ways to be motivated to continue her quest. She was motivated from the response of religion, family, and society.…
Ernest J. Gaines said "There will always be men struggling to change, and there will always be those controlled by the past". Boyz in the Hood definitely put a lot of truth behind those words. After watching the film you have to ask yourself a series of questions: Which plays the larger role in your upbringing environment or nurture? Can an old dog be taught new tricks? Do you have complete control over your life? I will attempt to answer the questions with great detail while remaining as unbiased as possible.…
A song’s cheerful and upbeat structure can greatly contrast the message a song attempts to convey. Take Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” for example. “Variations on a Cloud” shares the same makeup. Both songs portray a disaster hidden behind a façade of well-being, usually hiding right under our noses. ミラクルミュージカル (Miracle Musical) has done just that, only more head-on.…
Throughout the years many methods have been utilized in making a macroscopic analysis of the youth of America. Traditionally, when using music to make this analysis, the overall influence of pop music on adolescents and children would be examined. Mary Eberstadt flips this logic around and asks the question: "What is it about today's music, violent and disgusting though it may be, that resonates with so many American kids?" By answering this question, Eberstadt hopes to not to learn what music "does" to adolescents, but rather what music can "tell" about them. Is it possible that today's pop music can be used as a lens to glimpse into the lives of today's youth? Eberstadt finds her evidence through examining many of the lyrics…
“At no other time in history of American culture has the creativity of the whole younger generation been called into play” (Chambers 72). From the love festivals to the Vietnam War protests, from the discovery of the subconscious mind through drugs to the peace rallies, music succeeded in encompassing the spirit of the people in this decade. This generation of flower children questioned the principles and practices of American society…
The music has presented ever-changing throughout history. A variety of musicians has passed through each century leaving a lasting impression on the world. Each musician gave you a piece of him or her and how he or she saw the world of music and life through his or her eyes (Kamien, 2011). The write will elaborate on two well-known musicians of the 20th century, and then contrast and compare a 20th century musician song and a modern day song which both had aspects of controversial issues within each work.…
Some musicians help others understand the evils of war by sharing their experiences with others, and music is a great way to convey the emotions war brings. Many songs have used sounds of soldiers marching as well as the dark sounds of a battle going on to give the listener a sense of dread within their song (Botstein). Music known as “High Art Music” was created to invoke the experience of the greater sense of patriotism that people had during wars (Ibid). So while the experiences of war were terrible things, people used the emotions they experienced in war in their music so that others would know to avoid war at all costs. Clearly many musicians used songs to capture the evils of war, and some of these musicians used similar songs to rebel against a war going on around…
The song I chose to do my project on is the song 99 Red Balloons, by the artist Gabriel Kerner, also known as Nena. This was one of the songs in the '80s to make the point about how the war really affected the citizens and the countries themselves. The theme of this song is that overreacting right away is a bad thing. It can cause damage to you and to everything else around you. This song is representing the fact that the United States and the Soviet Union were caught up in the Cold War and it caused many problems. The example in this song is that, what if a child let go of a balloon and it went over the Berlin Wall to the Soviet’s side? Without deciding what it was, they blew up the whole country of Germany. This could have happened because of something so silly like a balloon. It also describes how unlucky the citizens of Germany are. They are in the middle of all of this. If something was thrown over the wall, or a balloon floated over it, their lives would have been ruined or they could have died because of it. The Soviet Union and the United States only thought about themselves. They were waiting for some kind of spark in the war so they would know when to fight.…
Conflicts can be resolved when people find common ground- the universal language of music creates awareness of the humanity and decency of the ‘enemy.’…
War in general is a term that’s generally looked down upon in society. People see that in the end it’s the death of many, just to get the an end result that can be achieved with various other methods. This can be related to our current War on Terror, to World War I and II, and even the Vietnam War, where anti-war feelings were really well known. A big way that these anti-feelings were expressed were through the sound of music, from notable artists and bands such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Pete Steeger. The Vietnam War era of the mid and late 1960’s to the early to mid 1970’s is filled with songs that speak of just how much people wanted the troops to come back home and how much they were against it. One song that really caught my eye was War Pigs by Black Sabbath. It is a hard metal song that is widely considered one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time and features one of the greatest guitar solos of all time. It’s not a genre of music of which I linked to anti-war, or one that I really enjoyed before, but it was a nice change of pace where I found very meaningful lyrics to go along with some skillful guitar, and the fact that Ozzy Osbourne was singing was the icing on the cake.…
The European Song Contest (ESC) is far more than simply a cultural event. It is an event, which not only portrays the political views of the time, but also effects how political events will be shaped in the future. The organisers of the ESC have attempted to maintain the contest as being apolitical however politically significant events constantly occur. Through this essay I will use a number of examples of different countries and acts throughout the history of the contest that have portrayed political sentiments of the time, and ways in which the ESC has influenced politics through its results.…