American Politics & Pop Culture

To say that music of the 1960s and 70s was just a niche for disaffected youth is a lie. If it were not, the US government would not have been so concerned with terminating John Lennon’s visa so they could deport him from the country after he started a large peace movement against the Vietnam War. The song “Imagine” by John Lennon promotes equality and ideas of communism, like in the line “Imagine there’s no heaven, and no religion too.” This came about during the cold war with the USSR, which would have threatened the US government because Lennon had so much power over the thoughts of the American people. Some artists had too much of a radical leftist view, such as MC5. In the Perone article, “Music and Radical Politics”, it mentions punk bands having a “kill for peace” attitude and wanting a “complete revolutionary overthrow of the US government” (100). Their music was loud and violent making it very different from the sounds of bands like The Beatles. The article also mentions that artists like MC5 hardly sold any records compared to the sales of The Beatles. This goes to show that musicians with enough fame could have the American public follow them on any political movement, as long as it was somewhat rational. Proof that Lennon’s views were rational can be described by the Beatles’ song “Revolution”, written by Lennon. He claims that revolution does not have to be brought about by violence, and that change can be brought about peacefully. I have a friend whose dad said the only time he has ever cried was when John Lennon was killed. These kinds of actions speak louder than any arguments saying that music has a large effect on creating peace.