Rock n' Roll: A Reflection of American Culture

Music and art are products of the society from which they evolved. History tells us about events that happened in a certain time, but the events themselves do no tell the whole story. Behind these events are thoughts and feelings. Music and art tell us about the passions that drove the events that shaped historical events. Music is one of the oldest mediums of expression available to human beings (Cross, 2001). According to Cross, music and language developed simultaneously in our evolutionary past. We can learn much about a culture through the study of their music (Blacking, 1995).

In America, the 1940s were turbulent times. The 1950s reflected a return to normalcy. Society needed a break from the chaos of war and they constructed a society full of rigid rules about how one should live their life, dress, keep their house and...
[ View Full Essay]