In the late 1960s and the early 1970s, women, African American, Native American, gay, and lesbian people fight for equality was being pursued tremendously, and many Americans were joining the protest against the catastrophic war in Vietnam. The world was very divided and hope was hard to find, but, eventually, optimism came to the people in various ways. One way optimism was shared was through music. John Lennon and Marvin Gaye were made very popular in these times due to their talented music abilities. There’s no doubt that The Beatles contributed to John Lennon’s success or that Marvin Gaye is successful because of Motown, but, instead, because of the genres they chose to go along with their vexed and controversial lyrics and it is no coincidence …show more content…
The genre of this text is soft rock pop. The targeted audience is every human, not just hippies, as some might think. In the song itself, it has lyrics that deliberately intends to evokes the listener to imagine a world with peace and a world where all humans are on the same page. This song has a strong political message that is sugar coated in a beautiful melody, that is known as soft rock pop. Furthermore, John Lennon said himself “the softer approach would bring the song [Imagine] to a wider audience”. Moreover, Marvin Gaye’s song, What’s Going On is mainly about Gaye questioning the current state and disarray that was occurring all over the world. The genre of the text is soul music, which is a mix of rhythm, blues and gospel music. The intended audience is, similar to John Lennon’s Imagine, was every human, since Marvin Gaye wanted to reach as large an audience as possible. Soul music was mainly popularized because of the African-American culture, causing this text to touch more people’s heart, for this song was written in 1971, where a lot of racism and segregation was a huge …show more content…
Instead, in this song, his intentions were to make an exquisite plea for peace on Earth, and making the song in soul music was what made the song succeed the way it did. Moreover, the story behind Marvin Gaye’s song is what makes the song stand out. When listening to the song most people understand the lyrics, but they do not know why he chose to write in soul music. He makes the genre for this song soul music because of how soul music makes people feel. “Father, father/We don't need to escalate/You see, war is not the answer/For only love can conquer hate”. These are some of the words sung by Marvin Gaye in his song and the reason he sings this is because of his friend, Renaldo Benson. Renaldo Benson, who sung soul music for the Motown record company, witnessed police brutality and violence in the city's People's Park during a protest held by a peaceful anti-war activists, which is now some people call "Bloody Thursday". This made Benson upset, which in turn inspired Marvin to sing this song. Furthermore, soul music is mostly listened to distracts our brains. The unusual tones and the human voices cover our critical thinking in a beautiful flow of instruments and lyrics. Which makes soul music so useful for a songwriter when writing a song to sway his listeners, for the songwriter can have a strong hand in changing
The African-American civil rights movement was a cruel time for the African American race to endure due to the harsh discrimination and segregation that they faced. This movement fought for the rights and the equality of African Americans in the United States. With all that was going on, African Americans turned to music for motivation, courage, inspiration and strength to overcome the difficult obstacles that they would soon face. “Non-violence marchers faced beating, hosing, burning, shooting, or jail with no defense other than their courage and songs” (Hast 45). “It's been a long, a long time coming/ But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will” (Cooke, Sam. A Change Is Gonna Come). Music was their greatest hope for change in the near future and is the thing that kept them fighting for what they deserved. They came together with each other due to the lyrics of many different songs that kept the civil rights movement alive and known. Music painted a vision that they could picture and look forward to; it was a dream that they could fight for. “Music empowered African Americans to hold tight to their dream of racial equality” (Jeske). A genre of music that bought society together during this movement was folk.
Segregation and discrimination in America was a serious social issue that affected the lifestyle of African-Americans in the 1960’s and the civil rights movement was a social movement that had an aim of ending racial inequalities. As a result of the segregation between these two cultures, there was a lot of rising racial tension which consequently led to the culmination of race riots. The social issues at that time played a significant part in Gordy’s success in the production of Motown as he wanted to produce the “sound of young America” regardless of one’s colour or race and to take this sound to wider audiences including Baby Boomers. “Motown was about music for all people- white and black, blue and green, cops and the robbers…I was reluctant to have our music alienate anyone…” (Gordy, 2011). According to Boyce (2008), the image and sound of Motown was all about the promotion of “cross over” music without the involvement of politics, but Gordy ended up showing some support for the civil rights movement as he recorded and distributed Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘The Great March to Freedom’ speech in 1963, later founding a Black Forum
Motown is the sound that changed America. No other record company in history had more than 180 number 1 hit songs worldwide and counting. Motown just recently celebrated their 50th anniversary of the company’s founding. Marvin Gaye, Temptations, Jackson 5, and many much brought together racially divided country and segregated society around the world. In this essay I first will tell you more information about Motown and where it got its name from, I then will tell you about Marvin Gaye and his history dealings with Motown, next I will talk about Stevie Wonder and explain his life and how he became a part of Motown, and lastly I will talk about Jackson 5 and talk about how they became a group and their dealings with Motown.
In the 1950s rock-n-roll established its own marks in history. It spread throughout the decade in a thrilling, substantial, and even livid to those Americans trying to get rid of all sorts of conflicts and challenges that occurred during this time period. As exciting as this music was, the novel “All Shook Up” portrays how rock-n-roll brought many changes to the American culture and later to the sixties. It expresses many concerns such as race relations, moral decays, and communism, but in ways that are partially true.
Artists write about what they know; they pull feelings from their heart and their songs relay what the artists’ emotions, whether it be of their hometown, their high school crush, or their experiences. Many artists that came to fame during the twentieth century have a fair share of experiences they share with us in the form of their songs. The twentieth century is comprised of the institution of slavery and its effects, war, gender norms, discrimination based on nationality, sex, race, etc., and countless events that sparked protests and uproars in the United States. Music at this time was a phenomenon, and artists could use it to their advantage. Artists used their music to spread awareness about their cause, influence their listeners, and
Before beginning to analyze both Motown and Stax Record’s influence on black consciousness it must first be understood why black consciousness itself can be seen as a step in the right direction in the fight against black struggle. Brian Ward does a great job of capturing the true success of soul music’s influence on black consciousness. Ward says, “[Black radio’s] real strength… was its ability to dramatize and celebrate shared aspects of the black experience… to promote a revived sense of black identity, pride, solidarity and common consciousness” (Ward 449). In his book, Ward also points out that despite this successful development of black consciousness, there was limited success both economically and structurally on behalf of the black music industry. This shows that even though ther...
Motown created a sound that varied from blues, soul and pop that affected millions of people around the world. The ability to overcome the racist of America was the biggest struggle in becoming one of the world’s famous Black American recording producers. The songs created by Motown’s artists describe the struggle of racism, love and even hate. Marvin Gave sang about how things had changed for Black Americans in “what’s going on” the temptation sang “just my Imagination” like the music coming from the windows in Tin Pan Alley of New York Pop music came from the window in Huntsville, Alabama.
After many of World War II’s harmful effects, the 1950s served as a period of time of musical change that reflected the dynamic of society as well as the traditional norms and values. Many factors contributed to this transformation. For example, the civil rights movement heightened many racial tensions, and the music produced consequently manifested this tension in itself. Rock-n-roll and R&B music universalized music typically associated with African-Americans, and many African-American musicians gained fame; however, as with any relatively-widespread success, there were many musicians as well who missed their opportunities due to the same racial segregation. While “radical” genres such as R&B and rock-n-roll laid the foundation for music future forms of music, the standard pop, jazz, and country music adhered to traditional values, and thus continued to maintain popularity amidst phenomena such as the Elvis craze.
According to Albert Murray, the African-American musical tradition is “fundamentally stoical yet affirmative in spirit” (Star 3). Through the medium of the blues, African-Americans expressed a resilience of spirit which refused to be crippled by either poverty or racism. It is through music that the energies and dexterities of black American life are sounded and expressed (39). For the black culture in this country, the music of Basie or Ellington expressed a “wideawake, forward-tending” rhythm that one can not only dance to but live by (Star 39).
Black music also made changes and saw new forms developed during the mid-seventies. The Black form of Relevance music was developed. The songs themes had to do with the current politics and society. Most music of the mid 70s was in discontent of the times. Black Relevance appeared no different as it dealt with the concepts of war, poverty, and racism. The popular black artist Marvin Gaye released the single, “What’s Going On,” which showed his concern for the social and political climate of the time.
The ‘60s were the age of youth, as millions of children’s from post World War II became teenagers and rebelled against the conservative fifties. Denying civil rights to African-Americans and liberation to teenagers in previous decades and Vietnam War, created a vortexes which lead to massive rebellion against the status qua. Music of the 1960s was characteristic of the revolution that was going on during the decade. It was a time of rebellion and counter-culture in which the teenagers and college students were critical of government, business, religious institution and other various aspects of life. Era marked by civil rights movement, Vietnam War, environment of drug abuse and sexual freedom formed new music like: folk rock, soul and psychedelic rock. These genres starkly contrast the teen idol music of ‘50s pop mainstream. Writes John Covach; “World was exploding, and rock musicians were listening more closely than ever.”(Covach, 152) Such stark contrast in pop music directly relay to changing social culture in America, which further echo’s the relationship between music and culture.
Music can be traced back into human history to prehistoric eras. To this day archeologists uncover fragments of ancient instruments as well as tablets with carved lyrics buried alongside prominent leaders and highly influential people. This serves as a testament to the importance and power of music, as well as its influence in society. Over its many years of existence, music’s powerful invocation of feelings has allowed it to evolve and serve many purposes, one being inspiring change. American journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson once said, “Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel.” This fuel is the very things that powers the influence of Rock ‘n’ Roll on American society, that author Glenn C. Altschuler writes about in his book, “All Shook Up – How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America.” Between 1945 and 1965 Rock ‘n’ Roll transformed American society and culture by helping to ease racial integration and launch a sexual revolution while most importantly developing an intergenerational identity.
The song “What’s Going On”, was originally written in 1969 by Four Tops member Renaldo Benson. While the Four Tops were on tour in Northern California the group witnessed police brutality and violence in the park. Upon seeing this he asked the question “What’s happening here?” So many questions not enough answers. The 60’s was the start of change in American and in many parts of the world. Activist were fighting for peace, racial and social justice. When Marvin Gaye heard the words he knew he could bring to song to life. In 1971 Marvin Gaye released “What’s Going On”. In 2001 Bono leader singer of “U2” along with Jermaine Dupri, produced one of the 9 versions of Marvin Gaye’s 1971 “What’s Going On”. In this particular version over 30 of the most popular artist in 2001 collaborated in the remake and music video of this song. The target audience was generation X and the early millennials
Rock and Roll is commonly known as the greatest music ever created. Most people do not know that Rock and Roll emerged out of the United States in the 1950s. Artists during this time like Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and Bob Dylan were the first major stars among the birth of Rock and Roll in America. Since the 1950s, we have seen a rise in Rock and Roll culture. A peak in the 1960s-1970s was when the world began a musical, political, and social revolution. The revolution takes place during some tense times in the world- The Vietnam War, Political Issues with Cuba, JFK Presidency/Assassination, Malcolm X’s Assassination, Martin Luther King’s Assassination — you name it. The world was in a turmoiled state of mind, but what
"I hope some day you will join us, and the world will live as one" Simplicity combines with deep meaning when John Lennon expresses his thoughts in his song "Imagine." This song was a huge hit in the 70’s, the time in which the Vietnam War was occurring. John Lennon’s “Imagine”, was a protest song that questions the morality of war, shows anti-war statements and emphasizes the importance of world peace. In America, every civilian has the Freedom of Speech. For this, artists have every right to compose a protest song. Even if the government is not fond of it, anyone could potentially write a song going against his or her beliefs, which is exactly what Lennon did with "Imagine," in a peaceful way. At the time Lennon’s song went against most beliefs, for people believed that violence in war was the answer to everything. Amongst passive resistance, the refusal to cooperate with legal requirements, strikes and angry mobs, Lennon chose the much calmer approach and simply composed a protest song. A protest song is simply a song that argues a point and tries to encourage one thing against another. In his song "Imagine", Lennon protest that the World should live in peace; keep in mind the Vietnam War was occurring at the time. It was then that protest songs were created to try and make points across, without the actual violence of rioting in protest.