Counterculture Movement Essay - 1438 Words

John Lennon of the famous rock band, The Beatles, once said, â€Å"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace†. This quote essentially defines the 1960s and the counterculture movement in America. After WWII people had much more free time than they did during the war, and many people decided that they wanted to settle down and start a family. This caused a large boom in child birth. The children born during this boom are known as â€Å"baby-boomers†. â€Å"Due to the baby boom between 1945 and 1955, over half the population was under 30 years old† (The American Experience 1). During this time in American history, the children of the â€Å"baby boomer† generation started rebelling against the war in Vietnam and the†¦show more content†¦Let It Be, Strawberry Fields Forever, Revolution, and many other songs by the British rock band, The Beatles, helped shape the counterculture movement. Many songs by Th e Beatles supported the ideas of rebellion, freedom and drug use. The Beatles were the most popular musical group in the 1960s, and they were loved and idolized by many. They are still considered to be one of the greatest, if not the, greatest musical group ever. Although the Beatles were the most popular and influential rock group of the time, eclectic groups and singers of all different genres helped shape the music scene in the 1960s, such as: Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and the Who. Music by all of these artists â€Å"reflected the new sexual permissiveness and drug trends† (The American Experience 2). In 1969, a music festival called â€Å"Woodstock† was put together. It lasted for over three days and around 500,000 people came to listen to the music. Artists like the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. The majority of the people that attended the festival were hippies. Hippies wore loose clothing, for the most part advocated d rug use, and promoted peace and love. Woodstock showcased a moment in time where an entire generation became empowered and realized that they needed to break away from the status quo. Music had a huge influence on the baby-boomer generation and the counterculture of the 1960s as a whole. A large part of theShow MoreRelatedThe Hippie Counterculture Movement1751 Words   |  8 PagesHippie Counterculture Flower child, a name that forms in the mind an image of an innocent child, denoted the youth of the mid-1960s. These youth, otherwise called the hippies, relied not so much on innocence, but instead sought freedom to distinguish the conformity the past generations held. Before these youth, the Beats or Beatniks from the Beat Generation spread throughout the Western Worlds around the 1950s. 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