While current music is entertaining and enjoyable to the most recent generations, it does not share the same lyrical significance of the geniuses that instituted Rock n' Roll and the way it inspired social and cultural change within an entire nation.
Classic rock is known for being a catalyst for social and culture change and empowerment. For each social movement, there is a song to ignite change; for each political controversy, there’s a song to protest discrepancy. These artists had the ability to help mold the viewpoints of the public and inspire change— especially being that in the time classic rock was being produced, the media was not that popular of a way to express opinions, yet.
Classic rock began in the late 1970s with legendary bands such as Led Zeppelin, Queen, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, AC/DC, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, The Doors, Journey, The Eagles, The Grateful Dead, U2, and many more. The reasons these protest songs were so popular during this time period was because of the social movements, especially based upon disagreeable war statuses. For example, “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” the opening song on U2’s 1983 album, War, was written when British soldiers shot and killed 14 protesters with open fire. In my opinion the most powerful lines reside at the end of the song: “and it’s true we are immune, when fact is fiction and TV reality, and today the millions cry, we eat and drink will tomorrow they die.” This section highlights how accustom we are to a world with war, that we are immune to these issues. Furthermore, U2 wanted this song to authentically reflect the harsh war realities, so they used a militaristic drum beat and notes with a brittle feel to them.
Similarly, John Lennon, the former Beatles lead singer, blessed us—in a more idyllic attempt—with the song “Imagine.”Here, he prompts us to “imagine there’s no countries, it isn’t hard to do, nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too, imagine all the people living life in peace.” While seemingly an impossible task, to imagine a world with no countries or religion, it is an endearing thought to imagine a peaceful world with nothing to kill over.
In Pink Floyd’s song “When the Tigers Broke Free,” Waters appeals to pathos because he had his father taken from him in the hands of Nazis. He sings, “most of them dead, the rest of them dying, and that’s how the high command, took my daddy from me.” This song and these lyrics evoke an even stronger sadness to the song because the artist had first-hand experience in losing someone close to him.
Not only is classic rock a timeless soundtrack, but it also was a stepping stone for public expression and peaceful movements.
