That it had been an unspoken tradition, that decade after decade, generation after generation, that a calling of youth would take to emerge from the shambles and dusty cellars of our cities, to assimilate themselves in debauchery and rebel from their parents. Almost like a ceremonial dance of passing, they would take following with the devil's music. Young adults and teenagers from urban, rural, and suburban areas, like maturing mammals, find themselves in a reassessment of their conscience. They are beckoned by heed, hypnotized though alluring melodies, feeling compelled to new math and relishing in a medium that preserves their stories. To them a calling and sure sign of their salvation. Their individuality. Did I say it yet? Their Rebellion! But from what again? I mentioned who they were, and I also stated that music was the vessel and the embodiment of their spirit. Yes, music. From it, they could recharge. Regenerate even. The words that shaped their philosophy, the musical tones that opened their minds, the rhythm they channeled their energies through. All of which surmounting itself in catharsis. Or, passion if you want to be less scientific. But wait a minute... Did you make the observation that individuality for the youth had been inseparable with this music they were listening to? Why was that? What was rebelling from your parents and listening to new music even about back then?
Rock'n'Roll is a notable example of a cultural division between the children and the parents that pushed religious education on them. But more, it was a cultural revolution. The songwriters made social and political criticisms and represented many human rights movements, secularizing marriage, protesting war, and advocating the acceptance of drug culture. Though some of these points have always been areas of rebellion regarding societies young individuals and their search for identity. The youth of the '20s rebelled listening to swing music. It was blues in the '30s. Folk and Country through the '50s and every other cultural convergence can be derived from social history or heard as told by the next guy on the street. However, a true revolution and political action occurred out of the rebellion in rock n’ roll music through the 60s. Any other transition of youth coming to age is usually found within their expression and behavior; they rebel. The individuality children found with Rock n' Roll was in taking action. The music embodied a cultural revolution including government targeted criticisms.
The laws of society today do not reflect the laws of society a hundred years ago, that is fact. Youth rebellion can still make cultural change, but that is only if the change impacts the whole of society. It is more often the changing culture that lift the youths to action, and it can even be mirrored in their family relationships. Observing music culture over the past century, it is derivable that the youth tend to make a transition towards individuality and form their own stories. The most hard-lined move out at 16. Some try smoking cigarettes. Others dye their hair or adorn a new fashion, and almost always, this period in time marks their memories by influencing new permanent and lasting impression on their social relationships. Is it just human nature for kids to rebel? Or for the parents to be dicks? The expression of their individuality is confounded by their lack of rights and freedoms, and they take their own action towards liberty and independence. What was gambling? What was booze? What about voting? With the fire charged lyrics of their generation, the youth live passionately by their own values, deliberately instigating the coming of age. With the musical taste commonly being a divider between youth and parent culture, The stories of the new music carry over until the next generation of youth reaches maturity, and their values and ideals replace that of the prior generation.
Unlike previous points of cultural change in the 20th century, the music and the message of the rock-n-roll era recentred the economy, causing the dawn of the advertisement age. This youthful culture that emerged with Rock n’Roll eventually materialized under brand names, and the revolution ended as the youth, in turn, became the mainstream’. The advertisement industry has never been more successful at capturing a cultural message and in turn using it as a system to take from the wallets of the youth. So rather than hearing about stories and music from their peers, the youth began hearing of them directly through their TVs and radios advertisement. The mass societal and government change was monetized.
So what is mainstream to today? What rebellion was yesterday? It's fair enough to say that when one generation grows old, a new one comes to power. All the stories that had once been of rebellion, now have become the working class myth. I would have to say it's the musicians who have been advocating our human rights with the most success over the past century as they empower and inebriate us as listeners. Entertainment from having music as oppose to not for the listener is equivalent to demising their own longevity. But where would people be with their boredom, save them from spending time in entertainment? It’s fair enough to say that the summation of all art and music, and the persons' access to it, has caused a clot in the social and individual development of our youth. What rebellion maybe today, seems more like an impression of what it was anytime over the last 60 years. The kids are mimicking past cultural icons, as if the embodiment of their expression, is entirely rested on their appearance. It seems as if they are inherently narcissistic. Kids today dressing like hippies or goths, punks or metalheads. These social masks of cultural rebellion made the impact yesterday, however, society doesn’t want to retire these masks. The youth still need to rebel, and the commercial sector includes this part of human nature, youth rebellion, as a ready and reliable income.
So what's wrong with freedom? It's given to them by legality, their individuality, and rights. So why do they need to rebel? The rights and laws of today do not reflect those of this society a hundred years ago. Why would anyone need to rebel today, given that rebelling yesterday was a thing, and doing what we did yesterday is now, today, accepted. It almost seems like there is no more rebelling left? All the fun of an adult; it's only inherent that anyone reaching this age should feel relief, or beset with accomplishment. It is like surpassing a benchmark in individuality. So why take the stand as a cultural icon if not to cause a reaction? And if the action was set on getting attention, where the spirit of rebellion has left its image as the impression, it seems like imitating is the only manner of freedom. Are there any social rights left to be unearthed? Do the children of the new generation find their energy in attention-seeking as a political stance? When the image became the message, with respect to the dawn of the advertisement age, we all(society), became a little more narcissistic. And I believe, that from generation to generation on to the next, the social and youth energy leaned more and more, decade after decade, dipping into the art of devising their own appearance for the sake of wanting change. But what change is that? Do they actually even want change? While the youth of yesterday, today, and tomorrow all live individual lives beset to their own fate, I cannot mislead anyone from the fact that each person is prone to their own complications or tragedies, wherein rebelling may only be their individual choice. However, given the image of our society, youth rebellion today is purely a playground, where there are no longer any dangers but the common mirror, and people from the outside cordially throw the ball back in.
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