Chicano Rock Counterculture

The 1960’s decade has often been recalled as a cultural decade due to the emergence of the counterculture and civil right movement against the social norms. Changes in clothing, drugs usage, sexuality, formalities, schooling, flamboyance, and civil disobedience all took place in these controversial years of the Swinging Sixties. The social norm was no longer the norm and counterculture took over. And ironically enough, all of these events can be reflected into the musical scene of the decade. New genre, Chicano Rock emerged among the old genres and artists from Laurel Canyon became sensationalized. However, in the mid-1960’s around 1966 was when people started to realize the impacts and popularity of Chicano Rock and Laurel Canyon artists since
This essay will compare and contrast the two songs; one is a classified Chicano Rock and the other from a Laurel Canyon’s album in theirs musical style and symbolism, while analyzing the political and social movements of the
Max Uballez was the band leader, chief songwriter and rhythm guitarist; hence he has a considerable control over the band’s works. Uballez however, was inspired by the Mexican songs and rock and roll, therefore “My Heart Cries” contains elements from both genres4. The song has harmonic vocals with crisp instrument notes of mariachi accompanying the consistent drum beats. These elements give off a jazzy sense with the addition of the electric guitar. The harmonic vocals in “My Heart Cries” is similar to the vocal in “California Dreaming” since both represent a sense of waiting and desire for something to happen. At first listen, “My Heart Cries” appears to be your typical love song between a boy and a girl, but what if we view the lyrics in a more political and figuratively manner instead of the literal lyrics of the song? Since the song was released in the mid-late 1960s, we cannot overlook the civil right movement. What if the lonely boy in the song represents Mexican American as a minority group and the female being equality and social justice? The boy in the song was lost and trapped with no purpose in life; he was only set free after he met his counterpart. His heart cries when they shared a kiss, and he then proclaimed his love for her several times. He was overjoyed when she