OK, another confession. I love to listen to 60’s music because…I grew up then! But many times I’ve really paid attention to the music and today again I was struck by the messages we heard over and over again. You have to wonder what ideas we then-kids incorporated into our thinking because of those messages.
For instance, today I heard:
*Simon and Garfunkel’s “I Am An Island.” Message: rocks don’t have pain. Be a rock. Separate your heart from people and you won’t get hurt.
*Dusty Springfield’s “Believe Me.” The words are something like, “You don’t have to say you love me, just be close at hand.” Sheesh! Talk about victimization.
*”Cool Jerk” by ?????: basically, do what it takes to be cool. That’s the goal of life.
There’s so many more. Most of the themes of that era are victimization, love gone wrong, take whatever anyone gives you, etc.
I can’t really say specifically how these things affected me, but it’s good to think about it.