The decade of the 1920s in the US saw an unprecedented change in moral standards, interests, and popular culture, while it simultaneously saw a rise in new technologies, such as the automobile, the radio, electric washing machines, and new factory machinery that made production more efficient. The ability for manufacturing companies to manufacture more product in less time, as a result of new factory machinery, allowed for their employees to earn higher wages and more time off; Henry Ford even established a five-day, forty-hour work week for his employees. As a result of their new free time and extra money, Americans became increasingly interested in professional and semi-professional athletic events, movie productions, and music and dancing. Automobiles allowed for Americans to travel to sports stadiums, movie theaters, bars or speakeasies, or simple restaurants or small attractions miles from home, which they could not travel to before they had automobiles. Radio spread sports, entertainment, and political news across the country with ease, leading to a more interconnected society. Moreover, during the 1920s, young men and women diverged from the traditional moral standards of their parents, which can be mostly traced to their experience during World War I; millions of young men died at the command of older men during the war, and women took up manufacturing jobs previously unavailable to them that gave them a newfound independence and self-awareness. Therefore, after the war, young men and women participated in increasingly promiscuous behaviors, such as going to speakeasies and drinking (which was outlawed as a result of the 18th amendment), dancing to “scandalous” new dances such as the Charleston and the Shimmy, and participating in sexual behaviors outside of courting and marriage. In summation, the new popular culture of the 1920s is a result of the boom of new manufacturing and consumer technologies and a new ideology from the younger generation.
Changes in popular culture could be seen all throughout American life, from styles of dress to how Americans spent their time. As a part of the young and rebellious spirit that encompassed many of America’s youth at the time, dancing became increasingly popular; dances such as the Charleston, the Black Bottom, the Shimmy, and Foxtrot, and the Lindy Hop were developed at this time. Traditional women’s clothing, including corsets and pantaloons, were replaced with “step-ins,” a kind of underwear, to make dancing, playing sports, and moving around in general more easy. The “flapper” girl had a distinct style as well. She had bobbed hair (which almost no women had before), wore dresses that were hemmed to just below the knee, wore rayon stockings, and wore makeup, including blush, foundation, eyeliner, and lipstick, which “respectable” women did not wear before, as it was almost exclusively warmed by “women of ill pursuits” (prostitutes, etc.). The movie industry, especially centered in Hollywood, saw incredible success in the 1920s, as a part of the “new morality” of the nation (a people who love fun and extravagance over traditional life). Automobiles allowed families or individuals to attend movies frequently; in fact, by 1929, an estimated 110 million Americans went to the movie theater to see a movie every week. Movies became even more popular when they began being made with sound. These “talkies,” as people called them, were not only more entertaining because they could tell more complex stories better, but they helped make the country “more American” and more interconnected, because American vernacular and accents could be heard through the screen. Automobiles and radios also caused American interest in sports to increase significantly. With those two inventions, Americans could both attend games in increased numbers and listen to games that were happening on the other side of the country, making them nationally popular. Sports greats, such as Babe Ruth, became even bigger through radio promotions and advertising, which came at the latter half of the decade. So much leisure money was being poured into sports that Yankees Stadium and Madison Square Garden were both constructed in the 1920s. Music also transformed in the decade, as the Harlem Renaissance and the Great Migration introduced jazz music into mainstream America. The unconventional and seemingly unplanned sound of jazz songs enticed the new, younger Americans who could dance to the lively tunes. The popularity and distribution of music was also made better by new recording processes innovated in the decade and radio, which broadcasted music as one of its many things. Overall, popular culture in the 1920s can be defined by the desire to break away from the traditional mold of American society by the younger generations, the Harlem Renaissance, new technology, and more free time and leisure money for Americans. The automobile transformed American life and manufacturing processes, in addition to other technological advancements of the decade. A few years before the 1920s, Henry Ford innovated mass production techniques for automobile production, leading to the purchase of over 27 million cars by 1929. Automobiles allowed for Americans to travel distances farther than they usually could with ease, making everything from day trips to a movie theater to life in a suburb reasonable. It is difficult to overstate the effect of the automobile on American society. It can be seen to this day that the US is a truly automobile-dependent society, and people of the 1920s felt that in the same way. In addition to granting Americans more travel freedom, automobile purchasing caused the first large-scale instance of installment paying, or buying on credit, which spread to many other expensive products in the decade and is essential in how the consumer economy works today. Radio was another invention that skyrocketed during the 1920s. Between 1923 and 1930, 60 percent of American families bought radios, usually via installment paying. These radios allowed them to hear news from all over the country and tune into sports games and entertainment specials. Radio also exposed Americans to increased advertising, which coincided with the massive growth of the consumer economy during the 1920s. Electric washing machines, electric refrigerators, and gas stoves were also commonly purchased during the 1920s, also usually on credit. These time-saving household machines made women’s work in the house much less time-consuming, which gave stay-at-home women more time to do other things, just as shortened work hours gave working men more time to do other things. Thus, new technologies during the 1920s gave Americans more free time and an increased awareness of leisure activities and other consumer products, which transformed the way society looked and how people spent their time, which is similar to how we spend our time today. New innovations in technology allowed for the new spirit of the 1920s to transform society into a more interconnected yet individualistic society, in which young Americans could express themselves through dancing, film, and music, as all Americans were granted greater access to leisure activities. Better pay and an increased focus on competitive consumerism allowed Americans to invest in time-saving and leisure activities, such as the automobile, sporting events, movies, and washing machines. The change from a traditional, relatively disconnected society into a modern and connected society that occurred during the 1920s can still be seen today, as Americans put the same emphasis on consumer goods and leisure time as they began to do in the 1920s. In general, we believe that the 1920s was a time of continued racial and sexual tensions as a result of the subjugation of both groups, but also a time of relative economic prosperity, societal change, and political stability (not the best political leaders, but stability nonetheless). The economy during the decade, while not absolutely golden as it is often portrayed to be, was still relatively prosperous, as the GNP and GNP per capita both increased and there was a boom in manufacturing as different entertainment and manufacturing companies scrambled to fill the demand for radio, automobiles, movies, sports, household appliances, and other things. The American economy transformed as Americans became increasingly devoted to collecting material goods, leading to the mass consumer society that America is today. The 1920s also saw the birth of a new national awareness for African American people, as the Harlem Renaissance proved to themselves and white Americans that African Americans are incredibly talented and will not be silent until they are considered equal. Incredibly talented African Americans, such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Langston Hughes made their debut into the artistic world. Women also found a new sense of self in this decade; even as they lost their manufacturing jobs from World War I, women, young women especially, knew what they were capable of and broke away from traditional gender roles to show this, as best shown in flapper girls. Overall, the 1920s saw societal and economic change as Americans became more interconnected, via new technologies, and dedicated their money to more self-gratifying goods and leisure activities. "1920s Sports." 1920-30. N.p., 2012. Web. 7 June 2017. Alchin, Linda. "1920's Radio." American Historama. Siteseen Ltd., Feb. 2017. Web. 07 June 2017. Alchin, Linda. "American Sports in the 1920s." American Historama. Siteseen Lld., Feb. 2017. Web. 07 June 2017. "Automobiles." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 07 June 2017. The People History -- Steve Pearson. "Music Played in the 1960's Popular Music From the 60s." Music played in the 20s. The People History Where People Memories and History Join, n.d. Web. 07 June 2017. <http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/20smusic.html>. "The Rise of Hollywood and the Arrival of Sound." Digital History. N.p., 2016. Web. 07 June 2017. Rosenberg, Jennifer. "The New, Modern Woman: Flappers in the Roaring Twenties." ThoughtCo. N.p., 14 Feb. 2017. Web. 07 June 2017.
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Whole Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqEwyXlsngXGJK_J-48bJ0usi9mDfwfAF
I Ain’t Marching Anymore, Phil Ochs (1965) Ochs wrote this song as a response to the US’s military involvement in Vietnam, especially criticizing the US’s reasons for entering the war and the use of the draft to acquire soldiers for the war. Through lines such as, “It's always the old to lead us to the war / It's always the young to fall / Now look at all we've won with the saber and the gun / Tell me is it worth it all,” and “I marched to the battles of the German trench / . . . Oh, I must have killed a million men / And now they want me back again / But I ain’t marching anymore,” Ochs says that young Americans are beings asked to pay the price for a war they do not want and that the American population in general is constantly being forced to be militant by a government led by old people who do not share their concern for life. As it highlights the numerous wars our country has fought in and the impacts of those wars, “I Ain’t Marching Anymore” aligns with the criticisms of and protests against the Vietnam War that were incredibly present in the 1960s and the government that was forcing us to fight the war. Ochs even criticizes businesses and labor unions and their encouragement of the war because it increases production at home and therefore increases jobs, as shown in the lines, “Now the labor leader's screamin' / When they close the missile plants / United Fruit screams at the Cuban shores." A Change is Gonna Come, Sam Cooke (1964) Cooke wrote this song in response to the segregation against and poor treatment of African Americans in the US. This song was most likely catalyzed by the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, in which people of all races, but especially African Americans, protested and fought for an end of segregation against and better treatment of African Americans. Cooke sings that he “was born by the river / And just like the river I’ve been running / Ever since,” explaining how it feels to try to live as an African American in the US in the face of nearly unobstructed racial segregation and violence. Cooke also sings “I go to the movie / And I go downtown / Somebody keep telling me don't hang around,” to highlight Jim Crow laws in the South and the way that they kept him separate and therefore “lesser” to white people. But Cooke believes “a change is gonna come,” possibly in response to the passing of the Civil Rights Act and the success of protests fighting for more equality for African Americans. Eve of Destruction, Barry McGuire (1965) In “Eve of Destruction,” McGuire comments on both the unnecessary violence the US is supporting in Vietnam and the violence against African Americans at home. With “The eastern world it is explodin' / . . . You're old enough to kill but not for votin' / You don't believe in war, what's that gun you're totin'” and “If the button is pushed, there's no running away / There'll be no one to save with the world in a grave,” McGuire says that young people are forced to do the bulk of the fighting for an “adult war,” while also commenting on the fear of a nuclear war between the US and the USSR which was a widespread fear at the time, especially in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis. McGuire then compares the violent repression of people under China’s new communist regime to the repression of African Americans in the US by Jim Crow laws and white people, many of whom are hypocritical in that they both preach Jesus’s words but are hateful against a group of people for no reason other than their skin color, with the lines “Think of all the hate there is in Red China / Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama.” McGuire also says that Congress can pour millions into taking people into outer space, but it still cannot fix the most pressing issues facing the country. However, he says that the people who support the war and support racial segregation deny that the country and the world are on “the eve of destruction,” while McGuire sees that both really may be. Universal Soldier, Buffy Sainte-Marie (1964) In “Universal Soldier,” Sainte-Marie condemns all soldiers who have ever fought in a war, telling them that they are who make wars possible, even if they are not necessarily the instigators, because they are the ones who make the war even possible. This belief aligns with the belief of many during this decade that the soldiers in war were to blame for the war, which resulted in Vietnam veterans receiving an extremely angry response from many leftist war protesters when they returned from battle. Within You Without You, The Beatles (1967) Although it is a departure from The Beatles’ normal musical style, “Within You Without You” encompasses the popular idea among young people during the 1960s that peace and helping the world were more important that material possessions or advancing your position in the world. With lines such as, “We were talking about the space between us all / And the people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion / Never glimpse the truth” and “We were talking about the love that's gone so cold / And the people who gain the world and lose their soul,” The Beatles align with the widespread belief that the older generations were greedy and stuck in a bureaucratic lifestyle that supported things such as the Vietnam War and sexual complacency, and standardization. This song argues that individuals can become a part of a movement to change the world but that they are also not the center of the universe, which is forward for this time period but also in line with the time period’s beliefs. Blowin’ in the Wind, Bob Dylan (1964) Essentially a series of hypothetical questions set to a beat, “Blowin’ in the Wind” is a response to the death (via the Vietnam War and other wars the US had historically participated in) and injustice (via the segregation and mistreatment of African Americans in the US) Dylan was seeing around him. He asks the questions “How many times must the cannonballs fly / Before they're forever banned?” and “How many years can some people exist / Before they're allowed to be free? / How many times can a man turn his head / And pretend that he just doesn't see?” to suggest that the people in charge can also see the death and injustice that surrounds them but they cannot make the decision to change them for the better because they ignore that anything is wrong in the first place. This aligns with the anti-war sentiment and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and pushes for peaceful and just resolutions to both. Dylan also addresses young people’s belief in individual liberation, which was first popularized during this decade, with the lines “How many roads must a man walk down / Before you call him a man?” and “How many seas must a white dove sail / Before she sleeps in the sand?” But Dylan says that he believes that the answers are out there somewhere, “Blowing in the wind,” and we will find them eventually. The Times They Are A’Changing, Bob Dylan (1964) “The Times They Are A’Changing” mostly condemns conservatives during the 1960s and warns them that “The slow one now / Will later be fast / As the present now / Will later be past / The order is rapidly fading / And the first one now will later be last,” in which “the slow one now” are women and minorities who have been subjugated by the government and white men; it says that the Civil Rights Movement, the feminist movement, and sexual liberation movement, and the numerous other rights movements of the 1960s are changing the cultural and social landscape of the US and those racist and sexist people will be left behind if they cannot shed their old views and adapt to the new, inclusive world. Dylan also targets journalists and Congressmen and tells them to be more honest, and instead of barring the road to equality for all Americans being the people who make equality real. That aligns with the widespread distrust of authority among young people during this decade. Dylan also sings “Your sons and your daughters / Are beyond your command,” which supports the idea among young people at the time that they were self-determining individuals and not bureaucratized like their parents were. Overall, “The Times They Are A’Changing” highlights the changing American cultural landscape as a result of increased protests and rights movements. Only a Pawn in Their Game, Bob Dylan (1964) “Only a Pawn in Their Game” is about the use of poor white men in the South by rich white politicians and other institutional leaders in the South to bolster the rich white men’s careers, when in reality the poor white people have more in common with African American people than they do with the rich white people. The rich white men use the low self-esteem and lack of education among poor white people to convince them that they are superior to another group, African Americans, which makes them feel better about themselves and gives them the power they otherwise completely lack. The poor white people then vote for the rich white people because the rich white people with keep the racist power structure that gives the poor white people superiority in some way in place. However, the rich white man does not care for the poor white man; he simply uses him to get further in his political life. While this idea diverts traditionally from the Civil Rights Movement because the Civil Rights Movement is mostly about the equality and advancement of African Americans, Dylan’s contention in this song furthers the idea in the 1960s that it is the government that is to blame for the injustices faced by many different groups in the US, and that only change in government policy will bring about the change the country needs. Masters of War, Bob Dylan (1964) In “Masters of War,” Dylan unabashedly condemns the political elite and war production industries for forcing human beings into war to make a statement and to make a profit, without considering the depth of the lives cost. Dylan first condemns those who create the weapons and other products because they make war possible and even desire war because it means they can sell more products. He also condemns the political elite who select young men for the draft to go and fight and most likely die in Vietnam but will never actually be touched by war themselves. Dylan recognizes that people ignore the anti-war protests of the younger generation because they are “just kids” and “do not know what they are talking about” but Dylan tells them that “There’s one thing I know / Though I’m younger than you / Even Jesus would never / Forgive what you do.” He blames the politicians and war production businesses for placing position and profit over human lives, and forces them to ask themselves, “Is your money that good / Will it buy you forgiveness?” “Masters of War” is a direct and aggressive response to US military involvement in Vietnam, which was exceedingly prevalent among a massive number of Americans, especially young Americans, during this time period. With God on Our Side, Bob Dylan (1964) In “With God on Our Side,” Dylan condemns the US and all the countries of the world for waging wars in which millions upon millions of people are murdered and claiming that they are morally just in doing so, that they “had God on their side.” He sings, “The First World War boys / It came and it went / The reason for fightin' / I never did get / But I learned to accept it / Accept it with pride / For you don’t count the dead / When God’s on your side,” among detailing other American wars, to show the terrible effect each of those wars had on the world but that we as a country do not look at them negatively because we are convinced that our actions are always justified. But Dylan does not believe this; he sings directly at the end of the song, “If God’s on our side / He’ll stop the next war.” This belief aligns with the widespread belief among many Americans that the war that the US was involved in at the time, the Vietnam War, was not justified and should be stopped. The also obvious distrust of and distaste for the US government and the political elite in the song align with the negative thoughts about the US government and bureaucratic powers by the younger generation in that decade. Revolution, The Beatles (1968) “Revolution” both aligns itself with the pro-peace and pro-cultural revolution ideas of the decade and criticizes the more radical and revolutionary leftist movements, such as Marxist-Leninist or Maoist communism. With the lines “You say you want a revolution / Well you know / We all want to change the world,” The Beatles also criticize the extreme individualism of many young leftists at the time by saying that they alone believe they can change the world when it reality it takes many people joined by a common good to change the world. The Beatles solidify their pacifist (and therefore anti-Vietnam War) beliefs in this song with the lines “But when you talk about destruction / Don't you know you can count me out.” They also criticize both the supposed humanity-helping organizations that ask for money to “help the world” and actually only use it to help themselves and militant Leftists. This song aligns with the broad anti-war sentiment in the US during this decade by preaching a passionate pro-peace message while also condemning those Leftists who make their movement more militant or use the idea of peace to benefit themselves. (PS: little side note, as a result of this project I found the song "She's Leaving Home" by The Beatles and I am obsessed. Not only does it have the coolest beat and vibe and poetic and literary elements (such as the full-circle ending use of "we gave her everything money could by" at the beginning of the song and then "fun is the one thing money can't buy" at the end of the song) I feel like it represents the individualistic spirit among young people during the 1960s exceedingly well, while also representing the effort of the parent generation to raise kids how they were raised; however, the kids do not believe that their parents are in the right, and thus are departing from their parents in ways that are not strictly physical but mostly ideological and cultural.) |
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