rplane, and The Beatles. Some remember the decade’s music as a representation of the moral decline and the representation of the inappropriate ideal of the youth (Szatmary 1996). The youth movement became the counterculture and they became hippies. The hippies preached mysticism, honesty, joy, and nonviolence (Time 7 July 1967, 4-5). Music played an intricate part in the hippie lifestyle. The music reflected the sentiment of the youth. It became an outlet for teenagers to express themselves and voice their concerns about society (Burns 1990). Folk music was the musical choice of the youth in the early Sixties. Bob Dylan and Joan Baez were the most popular folk singers of the day. In the early sixties the union of the civil rights movements and folk music on campuses lead to the rise of folk songs called “message songs” (Szatmary 1996). Songs like “Blowin in the wind” by Bob Dylan began opening up the minds of the youth to the social problems facing America such as the civil rights movement. The Rascals “People Everywhere Just want to be Free”, Joan Baez’s “We shall overcome”, and Dylan’s “The times they are a changin’” were message songs that helped start the firestorm of politically charged music that fueled a revolution and a generation (Baggelar, Milton 1976). Songs of the decade reached for the poetic, symbolic, and the mystical to better pinpoint the mood of the times. With the assassination of President John F. Kennedy folk music movement began to fraction. The disillusionment and shock caused by the assassination had an especially strong effect on the youth (Anderson 1996). Drug abuse became a trademark by the youth the hippie movement (Steinbeck 1971). The use of drugs was glorified in many ways by bands like The Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and Pink Floyd. This music became known as “acid rock” (Szatmary 1996). The music fashioned the ideas of peace and love along with it a dark trend. San Francisco was bursting with rock activity and it became the center for the hippie culture. The heart of the hippie activity was the Haight-Ashbury district (Burns 1990). Thousands of middle class, college educated youths flocked to San Francisco to demonstrate their counter cultural beliefs. These summers began to be known as “Summers of love” (Szatmary 1996). They lived on the streets, did drugs and sat in groups strumming their guitars (Frike 1989). They wore flowers in their hair leading to the nickname “flower children” and phrase “flower power”. Songs like White Rabbit by the Jefferson Airplane told the stories of their mind-altering experiences; “one pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small, and the ones that mother gives don’t do anything at all…remember what the doorknob said, feed your head”. The Beatles wrote the song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” as a tribute to psychedelic effects of LSD (Hertsgard 1995). The Civil Rights movement may have been the most emotionally charged movement of the Sixties (Anderson1969). The music reflected this feeling. Soul music and Motown became the driving music by the black artist who fought for equality

Some topics in this essay:
John Foggerty, Joe Fish’s, San Francisco, Airplane Beatles, Rhetoric II, Janis Joplin, John Kennedy, Jr Szatmary, War America, King Jr, szatmary 1996, burns 1990, civil rights, civil rights movement, hertsgard 1995, king jr, rights movement, jefferson airplane, folk music, luther king, luther king jr, martin luther king, martin luther, burns 1990 musicians, assassination martin luther,