The Beatles and the Vietnam War - Coursework Example

The Beatles and the Vietnam War The Beatles and the Vietnam War Introduction The Beatles is a rock music band comprising of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison. They recorded their first song in 1963 in Liverpool, England. The rock band arrived to the US in the mid-1960s when the youth revolted against the government and the American traditional culture. In the early 1960s, most young people rejected the traditional culture of the 1950s, which believed in capitalism and supported America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. The Beatles arrived at the same time when the American youth lost trust with the US government regarding their participation in the war (Perone, 2001). The paper illustrates how the Beatles can be used to exemplify the era of rejection of the mainstream culture in the 1960s when the American youth disregarded their parents’ culture and initial support for the Vietnam War. They developed a counter culture characterized by heavy rejections of the traditional norms and massive protests and liberation movements. The paper emphasises on the fact that the arrival of The Beatles in the US was not only influential to the traditional American culture, but also, a significant catalyst that led to the withdrawal of the US from the Vietnam War, later, in the early 1970s. Arrival of The Beatles in the US The arrival of The Beatles in the US significantly facilitated the growing tension and distrust between the youth and the US government because of its involvement in the Vietnam War. The teenagers born one and a half decades after the WWII significantly transformed the American culture. It was at this era when the western youth felt that their social issues ought to be solved by the national government. As a result, they disregarded most of the American dreams, for example, the materialist approach to life, traditional leadership styles and the American culture at large. They felt that they needed peace rather than a world of inequalities and wars. Consequently, most young people condemned the government involvement in the Vietnam War. The Beatles who arrived in 1964 significantly influenced the western youth in terms of dress codes and even hair styles. The widespread growth of the drug sub-culture, as well as, innovations in the music and film industries enabled the Beatles to influence the western youth. Of course, every young person wants to be different and thus the youngsters sang along The Beatles’ songs and embraced their styles. The Beatles’ songs incorporated messages that condemned the government involvement in the Vietnam War. These messages fuelled the western youth to participate in the massive anti-war protests of the 1960s (Perone, 2001). Critics who may dispute the significant contributions of The Beatles in growing distrust of the government due to its involvement in the Vietnam War should consider the arrival time of this rock band in the US. The band arrived at a time when the young participated in the anti-war protests in large numbers and developed alternative cultures, as well (Perone, 2001). Therefore, the role of The Beatle in 1964 was based in strengthening the counterculture that indeed rejected not only the traditional norms, but also, the US involvement in the Vietnam War. Thus, there would be nothing to dispute regarding the role played by The Beatles in growing the young people’s distrust against the government. The ‘Strawberry Fields Forever and the Vietnam War’ Song It is important to consider the messages and the media used by The Beatles in producing and performing their songs. The song entitled, “The Strawberry Fields Forever and the Vietnam War” is a good example that demonstrates how the Beatles condemned the US government due to their involvement in the Cold War and particularly the war in Vietnam (Frontani, 2007). The song was released at the turning point of US to the Vietnam War in 1967. The song is composed of lines that metaphorically describe the situations in the battlefield. The Beatles used the red strawberry fields to metaphorically represent the Vietnam battlefield where many American soldiers were being killed. The song lyrics moved most American people who demonstrated against the government to withdraw its soldiers from Vietnam. For example, the line that states that ‘living becomes easy when the eyes are closed and you misunderstand whatever you see’ disregards the US government efforts to continue fighting a losing battle. Although, there were other Vietnam War music songs, this song had a lot of influence among the many youngsters who listened to rock music by then. The Beatles condemns a young boy who left school to fight in the Vietnam War claiming that it was an unwise decision since US never won in that War (Frontani, 2007). In fact, the war marks the longest lasting conflict in the American conflict and that is why The Beatles call it “strawberry forever.” The most conspicuous counterarguments would be whether The Beatles were politically influenced to release that song. Also, the critics would wonder why The Beatles’ songs are considered significant contributors the American withdrawal from the Vietnam War and yet there were other influential film and music artists that had more impact on the western youth culture. Such counterarguments can only be answered by the fact that most youngsters at that time had embraced the rock music more than other music genres. In addition, the song was released at the turning point of the war when most activists and protesters wanted the termination of the war (Frontani, 2007). The Woodstock Festival of the 1969 In 1969, during the Woodstock Festival, The Beatles were at the frontline in the dismantling of the traditional culture and development of alternative lifestyles among the western youth. The three-day concert was attended by half a million people. The outstanding cultural event offered many rock musicians including The Beatles an opportunity to entertain the crowd that had strong aims to stop American’s involvement in the Vietnam War. The aim of this cultural event was to foster and present the alternative lifestyles adopted by the western youth. They were breaking away from the traditional American culture of the 1950s and formed a counterculture that reject the racial disintegrations and support for the war (McGeehan, 2008). It is, therefore, evident that the Woodstock offered the opportunity for many musicians to spread their anti-war messages to the crowd. The Beatles celebrated its win during this festival because they produced songs that sensitized the worsening situation for American soldiers in Vietnam. In other words, The Beatles indirectly showed its disregards to the US government at the time by fuelling various aspects of the counterculture. The Beatles seems to have offered a lot of support to the psychedelic drug use among most young people. The event marked the end of notable and significant contributions of The Beatles in the late 1960s (McGeehan, 2008). Critics would obviously be concerned on the particular sub-events that Woodstock Festival condemned the US government lengthened participation in the Vietnam War. In response to these concerns, one would argue that the event was aimed at harmonizing the growing tension between the newly adopted culture and the traditional culture. However, most rock musicians such as The Beatles had composed songs that indeed incorporated anti-war messages that condemned whoever supported the Vietnam War. In this way, The Beatles build up the tension towards the government. The End of the Vietnam War The end of the Vietnam War in 1973 resulted to the immediate collapse of the counterculture figures including The Beatles. It was at the same time when the Countercultural movement, which started in 1964, collapsed. Most Americans gave and returned to the mainstream society and build up their families. The western youth protests significantly reduced their influence in the American land since the Vietnam War had been terminated. It, therefore, means that The Beatles had a lot of influence over the American youth because their popularity significantly reduced as soon as the youngsters withdrew the anti-war protests (Leonard, 2014). These protests came to an end due to the termination of war in Vietnam. The end of the Vietnam War was associated by certain liberation movements’ achievements. The movements had achieved civil liberties and rights, gender equality and particularly the ‘sexual revolution’ ideologies were co-opted in the American mainstream society. This marked a major breakthrough for the youth who gave up their protests also due to the stagnation in economic growth. Thus, musicians and filmmakers were regarded less important by the youth, which had achieved some of their goals. It, therefore, means that The Beatles were among the musicians who facilitated to Countercultural Movement’s ideologies that rejected the traditional culture and opposed the government involvement in the Vietnam War (Leonard, 2014). Critics may be concerned about how the end of the Vietnam War is related to the collapse of many musicians and filmmakers in the early 1970s. One should consider that the fact that liberation movements were mainly facilitated by writers, musicians, artists, poets and even film makers. Thus, the rock music band known as The Beatles was a contributor to the movements particularly the cultural demonstrations that rejected the old social norms (Frontani, 2007). Then, it is important to note that the collapse of the movements, the end of the war and the collapse of The Beatles occurred in a sequential order. First, the end of the Vietnam War meant that most youth protests had achieved their goal and withdrawn their movements. Then, these youngsters no longer required support from the musicians such as The Beatles and hence the group eventually collapsed. Conclusion The Beatles did not only influence the American traditional culture, but also, facilitated the withdrawal of the US government from the Vietnam War. When The Beatles came to US in the mid-1960s they fuelled the growing tension between the youth and the government concerning its involvement in the Vietnam. The western youth felt that the war claimed many soldier’s lives and ought to have been stopped. It was at this time when The Beatles spread anti-war messages through songs, for example, the war songs released during the turning point of the war in 1967. The 1969 Woodstock Festival offered an avenue The Beatles to further their messages to the Americans. The eventual end of the Vietnam War and the reduced significance of The Beatles in 1973 illustrate that the music group had indirect impacts on the American’s government involvement in the war. References Frontani, M. R. (2007). The Beatles: Image and the media. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. Leonard, C. (2014). Beatleness: How the Beatles and their fans remade the world. New York: Arcade Publishing. McGeehan, J. R. (2008). The Everything American History Book: People, Places, and Events That Shaped Our Nation. Avon: Adams Media. Perone, J. E. (2001). Songs of the Vietnam conflict. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Greenwood Press. Read More