Song Of The 60's: Song Analysis

The 60’s was a time where things were being questioned. People wanted to protest and change the way things were at the time. One way Americans tried to get their point across was by writing songs. Through music, messages were open to the public against the things that were thought to be unfair during that time period. During the Vietnam War, men were drafted except for those with lots of money and avoided the battle front. The song “Unfortunate Son” is a song that states how the writer isn’t the lucky one. This is closely tied to the fact that pretty boys with daddy’s money got to avoid what others had to bear through. It wasn’t fair to those soldiers and to them they were not fortunate. Women during the 60’s did not have any rights really. The Women’s Right Movement was a big part of this time. The song “I am Woman” is an empowering

James Brown wrote a song called “I’m Black and I’m Proud”. It was one of those feel good songs that builds up hype. It was considered to be a bad thing when a person was black. This song really shook things up when being black could be something to be proud of. In contrast, Sam Cooke wrote a lovely song about how change is coming for the black community. It was a very light tune with amazing vocals. He decided to use a softer tactic than Brown did. The song is a tear jerker that spreads goose bumps up your spine. Blacks wanted a change and these songs reflected the challenges they were facing. Throughout all the hate, there was actually some good to the time. “Dance to the Music” has the opening line of “Don’t hate the blacks, don’t hate the whites. If you get bit, hate the bite.” Instead of pointing fingers and feeling attacked, all this song is about is dancing to the music. The attention was being put into something better than arguing and fighting all day. Dancing to the music is fun and it lets loose. This time period was so tense that it needed to dance a