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The Times Are Still A-Changin' by Bob Lefsetz January 20, 1961 "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." John F. Kennedy is sworn in as president of the United States. Although hated by conservatives, he is seen as a hope for liberals and the younger generation. He envisions a progressive country where all have equal rights and a good standard of living. Early '60s The president has only so much power. Students and minorities rebel against oppression in their communities. Most notably African-Americans in the South and college students in the West. Folk music explodes and provides the anthems for these struggles. November 22, 1963 Every one of age on this date can tell you where they were that afternoon when they learned that JFK had been shot and was dead. The president's death represented the end of hope. It was going to be back to business as usual. But the rebels could not be kept down on the farm after they'd seen Paree. Minorities and students were not about to roll over and play dead, the clock turning back to the '50s. January 13, 1964 Bob Dylan's album The Times They Are A-Changin' is released. The title song contains the following lyrics: "Come senators, congressmen Please heed the call Don't stand in the doorway Don't block up the hall For he that gets hurt Will be he who has stalled There's a battle outside And it is ragin'. It'll soon shake your windows And rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin'. Come mothers and fathers Throughout the land And don't criticize What you can't understand Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road is Rapidly agin'. Please get out of the new one If you can't lend a hand For the times they are a-changin'." February 1964 The Beatles are on Ed Sullivan. This music sounds NOTHING like what came before. It's laughed at by the older generation, even late teenagers. The oldsters think music should be about crooners. The late teens think music should be like Elvis, a man with a sexy delivery who has been co-opted by the system, singing, but not writing the material he performs nor truly in charge of his career. Despite the novel sound, the lyrics tend to be of the teenage "moon/June" variety. |
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