The thesis discusses the influence of music on social and political events from the 1950’s until the early 1990’s.
It focuses on the events in the four countries of the Western bloc, more precisely on the events in the United States of America, Great Britain, Italy and France.
In the Fifties rock’n’roll shook the USA. For the youth it represented the new opportunity of communication and liberation. Older generations viewed it as a threat, because it represented too big of an influence of Afro-American population that is considered the »inventor« of this musical genre. Racial issue remains unsolved to today but it reached its climax in the Sixties and Seventies. Besides the black musicians also the white musicians responded to the issue and were often attacked by the public. Black musicians also had to deal with the disapproval within the black community. In the 1960’s the Vietnam war shocked the American and the world public and caused great disapproval that was reflected in protests and protest songs, the symbol of this time and a proof that peace can be reached is the legendary music festival Woodstock.
In Great Britain punk was very important form of social critique and no one was safe from its pungent lyrics, not even the Queen herself. At the end of the Eighties Bob Geldof organised a humanitarian concert, Live Aid, for the victims of famine in Ethiopia that had great media success and raised a large amount of money. But there were also critiques that the event was represented just as a mediatic spectacle that didn’t improve the situation in Ethiopia in the slightest.
In Italy the phenomenon of singer-songwriters and their political engagement is the most frequent one. The most known musical event in Italy is Sanremo that throughout its history wasn’t able to avoid the political influence and censorship.
In France music had a great impact in protest movements that had invaded the streets of French cities on May of 1968.
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