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American Music History - Assignment

   

Added on  2021-06-18

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Running head: AMERICAN MUSIC AND HISTORYAMERICAN MUSIC AND HISTORYName of student:Name of university:Author note:

1AMERICAN MUSIC AND HISTORYPlaylist of 10 significant AMERICAN tunes from the end of World War II to 1963Music played an important role in the disseminating sentiments during the backdrop ofwartime America in War World War II. Unlike the World I that took place in the climate of pre-radio era, the World War II was fought during the period where almost every household inAmerica had radio. A survey found that 96. 2 per cent of the households in America owned radio(Baade, 2013). The songs during the World War II period remained testimony to theunprecedented history. This is because never were the recorded songs and live musicalperformances were common in the households in America. For a number of American citizens,music had a unifying effect and patriotic appeal for boosting the morale and fostering thepatriotic spirit of the citizens (Pettan, 2010). Music became a tool for motivating the Americansoldiers who were fighting war overseas and strengthening their morale confidence (Fauser,2013). Another aspect of the wartime music was that the African American recording artists tosend a message used it. They to expose the hypocrisy of the America’s lofty values of freedomand democracy on the global levels, whilst the blight of racism plaguing the black Africans backhome deployed the power of music. Therefore, music became a tool for praxis and entrenchingthe message of social transformation (Bérubé, 2010). This period witnessed the emergence ofdifferent types of music, however it was swing and jazz that became the most popular. Theunique American wartime music was banned in Germany and the occupied Europe as this posedas defiance and represented the beckon of hope for the Americans to pave the path for liberation,freedom, fraternity and democracy. The engagement of the nation into the war meant that music had a specific role to play toserve the needs and therefore had all kinds of music. The musicians of this time whether the

2AMERICAN MUSIC AND HISTORYsinging cowboy like Gene aunty or the opera singer like John Carter considered themselves ascultural combatants. For example, Aaron Copland was one of the many classical composers ofthe time who was intimately involved with the war. Therefore, it can be stated that the WorldWar II created a unique situation for music as earlier it was not possible to sing solo songs orveer for solo recordings (Terkel, 2011). Similarly, the States did not enjoy much power ondeciding what songs could be played and what songs could not be played or performed in frontof the live audience. The States during this time enjoyed absolute power in deciding what kind ofsongs can be played and what kind of songs can be recorded. Although there was a culture forlocal songs and it saw its emergence during this time, it faced stiff opposition from thecentralized culture of music that was prevalent during this period. Below there is a list of 10songs that were recorded from World War II to 1969 (Pettan, 2010). These songs were selectedbased on their production value, content and mass appeal.1.Rosie the Riveter- Rosie the Riveter is the fictional character that represents thestruggles and strength of millions of young women in America who are now visible in thepublic spheres of the factories, munitions plants, and shipyards during the World War II.Rosie became an iconic American image to fight the broader issues that emerged duringthe civil rights for women. The Japanese government along with the advertising agencieslikes J. Walter Thompson who deployed extensive campaigns to participate in theworkforce. The media made a vigorous effort to recruit women in the wartime workforce.Saturday Evening Post cover artist Norman Rockwell has been credited for popularizingRosie the Riveter Rosie appeared on the cover in the 1943 edition of the SaturdayEvening Post (That's Why We're Marching: World War II and the American Folksong

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