The British Music Invasion: The Effects on Society and Culture Essay

So the British invasion was more important as an event, as a mood than as melody (Bangs, 171). This was the British invasion. I wasnt just about the music, it was more then that this is what makes it so unique. It didnt just happen to effect America by chance, it lifted the spirits and moods of its youth. It isnt just coincidence that Kennedy was assassinated right before the Beatles famous Ed Sullivan Show performance. The whole country was in a deep depressive doldrum after the assassination, and for good reason. The British invasion was needed by Americans to snap out of this funk, and this was just the thing to do it. (One thing that Americans used to avoid the depressing times was to use illegal drugs, but that will be elaborated on later.) This is what it was all about sure it was about the music, but it brought more, it brought a way of life across the ocean.A lot of the invasion stayed in that generation, many bands and songs that were big then are all but totally disrega rded about now. Bands such as the Searchers, the Swinging Blue Jeans, and Gerry and the Pacemakers all had one or two expectant hits which stayed in that time. This however, was fictional character of the beauty of it all. Some of the music stayed with us thirty years later, and thats great, it gives us a good sampling of the time. On the other hand, you have the music that was meant for the era, and not for future generations. That is part of the uniqueness of it all, and Lester Bangs says it best when he tells how it doesnt matter that the music isnt listened to anymore, thats not what it was for. It was for the time, it was a timepiece.On the other hand, we have the bands that were not simply timepieces and were able to stick around three decenniums later. These bands are the Who, the Kinks, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. This is another aspect of why the invasion was so influential. Where would we be in joust and roll with out the Beatles, and on a slightly lesser extent the Stones. These bands transformed rock into what we know it today. Without them, the way might not have been pave for Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and countless others. Both sides of the spectrum were extremely important for the invasion to have the long lasting effects it continues to have. Cu... ...s, it was a time of great turbulence from start to finish. Protests, assassinations, war, pacifists they all played a major role in the United States during this time. Something substantial had to happen to help relieve some of the on going woes. It was the British music. Not once, but twice, within a span of ten years were the British the influence that helped get us over those times. It may have been in a more positive way in the first wave, and maybe in a more negative way in the second, introducing an entire drug culture, but either way it made an impact. I have always viewed the 60s as one of the most fascinate decades to live in, because of its culture shock that occurred during this time. It was the decade of peace, love and drugs it would have been great to be there to experience these things. Nevertheless, in the research I have done, I have realized the importance of not only the British music on this decade, but all of the feelings behind the music, all of the meanings and emotions and social change which it encouraged. It was the decade with the highest highs and the lowest lows in the last half-century. It was the time when British music saved America from itself.