"All you need is love"
Music
was another major impact in the hippie subculture. It helped to keep many of the communes
peaceful as well as send a message to one another. Many different bands started to form during
this time such as The Beatles, Buffalo Springfield, and The Animals. Their genre of music can range from folk
music to psychedelic rock. Looking back
at some of The Beatles television performances, psychedelic colors can be seen (see Figure 2). They used this type of
music to express their views about the world around them and to show their
emotions to the rest of the nation.
Songs such as “For what it’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield is being
addressed to the nation as a whole asking them to take a look at what is going
on around them. The lyrics to this song
are vague and leave lots of room for interpretation (Shmoop Editorial Team).
The
hippie subculture took this and turned it into their anthem. Many of the popular songs during this time
reflected political issues that were going on at the time. The two previously mentioned reflect the
ideals hippies had about the Vietnam War.
The music relates back to the political issues that were the major
influence in the hippie subculture.
If you take a look at many of the forming bands during this time, they all have a similar look to them. They all have longer hair that went over their ears; during this time it was very uncommon for guys to have that long of hair. Many of them also wore suits with the skinny ties. This was also a new trend at the time. Bands were criticized by non-hippie members because of their new ways of dressing. They felt like they were trying too hard at being different and didn’t like that the bands supported the hippie subculture. Not only was the hippie fashion different during this time, but the appearances of music artists was also changing as well.
There were many music festivals that brought many different groups of hippies together. Woodstock and the Summer of Love were two of the most well-known ones. These festivals were a way for lots of hippies to get together and share ideas with one another. New and different music was shared during these times and that opened up a new way of thinking. Many believe that is was the music shared during this time that helped to keep everyone peaceful; others believe it was the use of drugs. These festivals also lead to introduction of heavy and psychedelic drug usage.
If you take a look at many of the forming bands during this time, they all have a similar look to them. They all have longer hair that went over their ears; during this time it was very uncommon for guys to have that long of hair. Many of them also wore suits with the skinny ties. This was also a new trend at the time. Bands were criticized by non-hippie members because of their new ways of dressing. They felt like they were trying too hard at being different and didn’t like that the bands supported the hippie subculture. Not only was the hippie fashion different during this time, but the appearances of music artists was also changing as well.
There were many music festivals that brought many different groups of hippies together. Woodstock and the Summer of Love were two of the most well-known ones. These festivals were a way for lots of hippies to get together and share ideas with one another. New and different music was shared during these times and that opened up a new way of thinking. Many believe that is was the music shared during this time that helped to keep everyone peaceful; others believe it was the use of drugs. These festivals also lead to introduction of heavy and psychedelic drug usage.