Confusion and Loss of Direction in the 1960s - Essay Example

German Kurbaji Hammond, Natasha ENC1102 5 June Confusion and Loss of Direction in the 1960s Music is the soul of every society. It serves as a medium for people to express their inner thoughts and feelings, and thus reflects the general mood of a certain milieu. Given this opinion, analyses of songs popular in a particular period could lead to an in-depth realisation of the socio-political truths and conditions of that particular period. This paper will perform an analysis of the Beatles’ album Let It Be (Beatles 1970). The purpose of this analysis will be to obtain the major themes of the album and then relate those themes to the social commentaries of the time. Released in 1970, the album Let It Be includes popular songs such as Let It Be, The Long and Winding Road, Two of Us and Dig a Pony, among others (Beatles 1970). Despite the different topics and situations that the songs present, they commonly project confusion and loss of direction of the personas. Confusion and loss of direction are fairly common topics in music of 1960s and 70s. Ritzen (2005) and Fendrich (1993) confirm this general atmosphere, which may be attributed to the wars of the time. In the songs of the Beatles, confusion occurs as a main theme, especially in the song Let It Be (Beatles 1970). The song begins with the lines, “When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me. Speaking words of wisdom, let it be” (lines 1-3). The persona expresses being in trouble and seeking divine intervention. The statement “let it be” further shows the personas inability to decide by him and get over with his troubles. Confusion and loss of direction in the songs of the Beatles is mostly associated with travelling, being on transit or going around in circles. This theme is strongly reflected by the song, Two of Us (Beatles 1970). The song begins with the following lines: Two of us riding nowhere spending someones hard earned pay (lines 1–3) In the lines above, the persona does not know where to go and implies having no goal in life. In the song, Dig a Pony, the persona also demonstrates having no place to go and not thinking of what is ahead (Beatles 1970). These feelings are expressed in the lines, “Well you can penetrate any place you go/Yes you can penetrate any place you go” (lines 6-7). Unlike Let It Be, in which the persona is aware of his situation, the persona in Dig a Pony seems unaware of the loss of direction. Conversely, just like Two of Us, the author employs the idea of motion or being on transit. In the song The Long and Winding Road (Beatles 1970), the persona expresses loss of direction when his lover left him, thus: The wild and windy night that the rain washed away Has left a pool of tears crying for the day Why leave me standing here, let me know the way (lines 5-7) Despite the loss of direction in The Long and Winding Road, it is in this song that the persona shows passion for something or someone else. The imagery in the song is very strong, showing the longing of the persona to have his lover back. Moreover, among the songs in the album, this song uses vivid images such as the long road, wild and windy night and pool of tears. The use of these images amplifies the passion that the author wants to express in the song. Noticeably, the songs of the Beatles are very repetitive, hence limiting lyrical content. Nevertheless, the scant images and lyrical content are possibly the basic formula of the Beatles. According to Hertsgaard (191), the Beatles “gave people faith in their ability to change themselves and the world around them”. In fact, the Beatles influenced the world without trying too hard. The simplicity of their lyrics led to fast recognition, while the repetitive lyrics resulted in what the popular culture refers to as the “last song syndrome”. The recurrent themes, such as travelling without a destination, relying on divine intervention and waiting endlessly for someone, are reflective of the confusion and loss of direction felt in the 1960s. These themes, in the album Let It Be, suggest the restlessness of the people at the time of the wars. Given this, the success of the Beatles may be attributed not to their ability to influence people with new ideas but rather their ability to capture the general emotion of the people of the time. The lack of images in many of the songs helps for better recognition and understanding, while the repetitive lyrics motivate people to sing along to the tune without pondering too much. Music has been faced by several challenges as a discipline and art. This can be sorted from the interest of finding a common ground in spite of our broadening differences in the given constraints. Just like in the music theory concerns, the existing diversity is a democratic way of our lives. With this particular diversity, there is a corollary constraint that unifies the values that conflict in order to cohere into the larger common good ground. Therefore, we can say that the study, particularly of music, has not encompassed the much diversity as it is today. Besides, the continuation of the diversification looks so sure for the coming visible future. In the music industry, diversity comes together with the coherence challenge, which is the requirement for sense of the community. In this reference, our ability to create meaning for every one of us as scholars is at stake together with our capability to come up with strong, coherent and rich curriculums of music for the students and the community in general. From most of the scholars of music, the theories of music are connected to a single literature or to a particular practice of performance even though other are abstract fairly. Achieving a great impact as well as relevance from the music theory practitioners and scholars for the musicians who are already performing and their audiences is a huge challenge in the music education and industry. This is because impact and relevance in the realm of making music is not particularly the only type of relevance and effect or impact that we can develop as a discipline, but a core for our purpose and reason for being. In terms of culture, music has really fallen by the wayside. It has more fervently changed than what it was a hundred years ago. It has even changed from around the time of the Beatles’ album Let It Be. These changes have been attributed to music being commercialized too much without considering the effect on the society and individuals. This has led to the production of different genres of music with distinguished upcoming artists to crowd the market of the music industry. The commercialization of the music industry convinces new and upcoming artists that anyone can practically make the old records that they want and generate millions from that. This has led to a confusion and loss of direction in the music industry. Initially, a band would even take up to a decade to be produced and listened to. This is in stark contrast to today’s bands, which take only a few days to produce music. The Beatles’ album Let It Be will remain a classic because its lyrics really struck a chord with the people of the day. These days, music seems to be churned out every few minutes with the same repetitive sounds. Works Cited Beatles. Let It Be. Apple, 1970. Audiocasette. Fendrich, James Max. Ideal Citizens: The Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993. Print. Hertsgaard, Mark. A Day in the Life. New York: Delacorte, 1995. 191. Print. Ritzen, Jozef. A Chance for the World Bank. London: Anthem Press, 2005. Print. Read More