The Motives of Socio-political Protest and the British Rock Culture of the 1960s-1970s

УДК 94(420)1960/1979 ББК 63.3(4Вел)

Abstract

The article studies the protest moods expressed by British rock musicians in their compositions of the 1960s and 1970s.The song lyrics of the popular British rock performers of that time were analyzed. It is established that the critical thrusts in the lyrics moved in line with the domestic changes in the UK. In the period of relative economic prosperity, from the second half of the 1960s to the early 1970s, the criticism was dominated by the theme of war, particularly the Vietnam War. As the economic and social situation declined, the focus of criticism shifted to domestic problems — recession, unemployment, the growth of radical movements in society, the shortcomings of the British educational system and other negative phenomena. It is concluded that the British musicians followed the moods within the country, and spoke critically about the existing problems both the internal problems of the UK, and the negative phenomena that existed outside the country. In that way, they increased awareness of the listeners and contributed to the growth of protest activity among the main audience — young people. Thus, British rock culture has made a contribution to the formation of the mass youth movement in the United Kingdom.