Disclaimer: This month’s blog is NOT meant to be political to one side over the other, and I’m not going to encourage voting for a specific candidate. What I’ve written here is just things that I’ve noticed. As always, you are welcome to your own opinion, and I unequivocally encourage informed voting, no matter which side you ultimately choose. Most of my historical information came from Mark Kurlansky’s 1968: The Year that Rocked the World.
What’s old eventually becomes new again. In the 1960’s, Bob Dylan (2016 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, ironically) immortalized the phrase “the times they are a-changin’,” proving with folksy aplomb that words had the power to shape the collective mind of an entire generation of people. He, along with many other musicians of the time, gave the youth of the world a type of song known as an anthem. Countries have anthems that are musical representations of national pride, and the youth of the New Generation had anthemic songs to rally them together to create a cultural revolution in a decade known as the Sixties. That was fifty-odd years ago, and I have to wonder, have the times really changed all that much?
The Civil Rights Movement took off in the early Sixties, and race riots with catchy slogans like “Black Lives Matter” are still de rigueur today. The Right vs. Left still bicker theatrically in front of the cameras, making some of us wonder (or hope) that it’s all just a sick joke. The feminist organization NOW was born in 1968, another election year that saw just as much upheaval as this one, if not more. I could spend hours, days probably, on all the things I feel that women have yet to achieve, especially considering that we are nearly two full decades into this shiny new millennium. Even Canada has gotten in on the Sixties-redux action with their second Trudeau sitting in the Prime Minister’s office. 2016 has seen more controversy and general mayhem than at any other time in my short years. So many famous people, mainly celebrities, who were held in high regard for their skills and accomplishments have died, leaving us with embarrassments who hog the spotlight and treat fame as though it were something they deserve simply for being alive. You’ve all probably got someone, or more than someone, in mind, so I won’t name names.
The Sixties saw the rise and fall of many heroes, many men and women who inspired a new generation of people who thought, felt and saw the world differently than any of their forebears. Janis Joplin rose quickly to unofficially represent empowered young women of the “hippie” generation, but was dead by the dawn of the next decade. Cassius Clay became a hero for the disenfranchised African-American population when he converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali–yeah, that Muhammad Ali–and was consequently thrown in jail for refusing the draft, citing his religious beliefs as the reason. Musicians and bands like Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and The Who saw an opportunity to affect change with their music, which brought not only a new sound to the world but a novel notion that artists produce original music, lyrics and albums as a whole piece of work. Simone de Beauvoir, Betty Friedan, Stokely Carmichael, Che Guevara, JFK and his brother Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and so many more led America and the rest of the world into a new age; and words were the weapons that fired the first shots. This New Generation witnessed the dawn of television, the Space Race, and war overseas that no one really understood why we were fighting. Now, replace “television” with “internet,” “Beatles” with “One Direction,” and “Nixon” with “Trump.” Has the world really changed all that much?
2016, like 1968, is an election year that will (probably) be decided by the electoral college rather than the popular vote, and so far it’s got America buzzing with loudly disparate opinions on who should win. Replacing the nightly news with Walter Cronkite, we now have Facebook and Twitter to get our regular helpings of information, speculation and debate. Instead of Carroll Burnett or the Ed Sullivan variety show, we have “reality” shows like Dancing With The Stars and The X Factor. Our parents and grandparents are still more conservative (for the most part) than the current generation of “millennials,” who thus far seem to favor a more socialistic version of democracy. Civil Rights, anti-war and anti-establishment demonstrations were the biggest form of social protest, not to mention social interaction, that the Sixties had to offer the New Generation. The Civil Rights Movement started in the south, but it soon swept north and encompassed the whole country, with unforgiving news footage of demonstrators being beaten by the police featured every night on the news. Any of this ringing a bell? Try this on for size. In the Sixties, famous heroes of the New Generation rose quickly and died suddenly, sometimes to drugs and alcohol, sometimes to a bullet. Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy and his brother Bobby were all assassinated in 1968, and Russian cosmonaut, the first human in outer space, Yuri Gagarin also died that year. In 2016, we’ve lost David Bowie, Prince, Alan Rickman, Elie Weisel, Glen Frey, Dave Mirra, Harper Lee, Dan Haggerty, Doris Roberts, Muhammad Ali–yeah, the same Muhammad Ali as before–and so many, many more influential people have died this year. Seriously, Google it. The list keeps growing.
So, for someone who just wants the fold-up, travelling-circus version of the spinning teacup ride that has been 2016 to stop already, how do you cope with all the madness? What are the anthems of this generation? What songs and artists can we use to inspire us to do better than the ones who came before us? The assassinations of great heroes like Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Kennedys had the New Generation on even rockier, more divided ground than before. Suddenly the 1968 election was anyone’s game. And in 2016 it feels like all of our heroes are dying, only to be replaced by people who should have remained as sideshow freaks rather than moving to the Big Top tent. The Bearded Lady is now the Ring Master, the Sword Swallower has taken center circle, and the spectators’ popcorn has gotten stale. How can we keep faith and hold onto what good is left in the world in the face of all this extravagant pageantry, madness and hoopla?
The New Generation of the Sixties had bluesy rock and roll anthems to rally them, to cement them to a cause, to give them simultaneous feelings of individuality and team spirit. The Carpenters called the hippies to San Francisco, and The Who gave an entire generation of revolutionary-minded demonstrators the accurately named “My Generation.” These days it seems our anthemic song lyrics are geared more toward the individual than to an entire group, but that doesn’t make them any less inspiring.
Personally, I like Bill Conti’s “Gonna Fly Now,” (You just thought, “Yo Adrian! I did it!” didn’t you? Be honest.), Katy Perry’s “Roar” and “Firework,” and “The Fighter” by Gym Class Heroes and Ryan Tedder. My all-time favorite personal victory anthem, however, is from (surprise, surprise) Marianas Trench! (If you didn’t see that one coming, you and I are total strangers.) “Who Do You Love” is off their new album, and in his typically endearing style of self – introspection, Josh Ramsay has given us the poignant line “From fable to fumble, from stable to stumble, nevermore.” For someone with my often-fatalistic view of the world and my place in it, this song is remarkably optimistic, which reassures me and also motivates me to take responsibility for improving my own life. Feeling what happens next is up to me is incredibly empowering, and the Toto-style percussion vibes don’t hurt, either.
I promise, I don’t get a sales commission for telling you about these guys; they’re just very influential to me. Which brings me to the conclusion of this month’s blog: figure out what inspires, influences, motivates, and empowers you. Find your own anthem and watch how much you get accomplished when you get those good feelings flowing. If you have a problem you don’t know how to solve, don’t have the motivation to do that workout, or are just having a bad day, play your anthem. Let the music lift you and the words encourage you to believe that maybe, just maybe, change doesn’t always have to be as big as television. Maybe, just maybe, what little good we can do as individuals will have a much greater impact than we will ever realize. And with all my love, may the page-turners be with you.
Thalia Huntley 