Only love can conquer hate... The 1960s was a time of social change. Many young people wanted a different kind of lifestyle, with new fashions, new ways of thinking, new sounds in music.
I love this song! Thanks for posting, Louise. Some young people I know want different futures from their parents. So many are upset about our societal priorities.
Yes! Although the circumstances are different, we’re again seeing more of the values of human respect/justice and care for the environment that were prevalent in the youth of the 60s. Gives me hope!☮️
What's also interesting is how the song was made. Barry Gordy, the owner of Motown records wanted to make happy pop songs that appealed to everybody. When Marvin Gaye started writing songs with social commentary, Barry refused to let him record them, saying that no one wanted to hear songs about depressing topics. Marvin waited until Gordy was away on vacation, went into The studio and recorded his album "what's Going On?" which included this song, "Trouble Man," and other topical songs. This album became Gaye's magnum opus, a wildly successful hit record, and one of the very first albums to focus on social commentary. Still considered one of the great albums of all time.
Wow, that’s good to know. Thank goodness Gaye stuck to his guns and saw it through or else we might not have had such classics as WGO, Mercy, Mercy Me, Save the Children, etc.
Thank you for surfacing this song to your students and for weaving in the historical context. This album is one of the greatest ever written and will be studied for generations after us all. Unfortunately, we're still living with systemic racism and war for greed so the song is as poignant as ever.
So thought provoking. The 1960s brought so much change and I remember it well. Have things REALLY changed? Or is history just repeating itself? Same script, different locations, different actors. We could benefit from learning more from our historical roots and growing from them.
Songs do reflect the times and carry the message forward. How profound!
Sometimes we do learn from history. Most of the time, we do not.
I read somewhere recently that the students who are participating in the protests to stop the violence in Palestine learned some tactics from the 1960s protests against the Vietnam War. That peace movement had an effect on the government's decisions. Perhaps the current protests will also. Maybe there are historical parallels in a positive way.
Yuri Kochiyama said, "This whole period of what the Japanese went through is important. If we can see the connections of how often this happens in history, we can stem the tide of these things happening again by speaking out against them." [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApXSv6845cU]
@loistb, do you think that more people today speak out sooner than we did, say, in the early 60s?
I think some people are speaking out sooner now than in the 1960s. However, I’m not convinced they are expressing their own thoroughly researched and well-informed opinions. Propaganda seems to be shaping more opinions and stirring up protests - pitting opposing sides obstinately against each other.
While our young people are busy protesting violence in Palestine, millions of undocumented foreigners have come across our Southern border. Perhaps the focus would be better placed on the home front. As a nation, we are not invincible. Surely, history has lessons to teach about nations that don’t take care of their own business first.
Thank you for your comments, Lois. I always learn something from what others have to say. You've also given me a suggestion for a topic to cover in a future article. For the moment, however, you (and others) might be interested in Woody Guthrie's song, Deportees (https://louisehaynes.substack.com/p/deportees-have-names).
1960, it was a great year, with good and bad things....and I was born ;)
One of the good things!
I love this song! Thanks for posting, Louise. Some young people I know want different futures from their parents. So many are upset about our societal priorities.
Yes! Although the circumstances are different, we’re again seeing more of the values of human respect/justice and care for the environment that were prevalent in the youth of the 60s. Gives me hope!☮️
What's also interesting is how the song was made. Barry Gordy, the owner of Motown records wanted to make happy pop songs that appealed to everybody. When Marvin Gaye started writing songs with social commentary, Barry refused to let him record them, saying that no one wanted to hear songs about depressing topics. Marvin waited until Gordy was away on vacation, went into The studio and recorded his album "what's Going On?" which included this song, "Trouble Man," and other topical songs. This album became Gaye's magnum opus, a wildly successful hit record, and one of the very first albums to focus on social commentary. Still considered one of the great albums of all time.
Wow, that’s good to know. Thank goodness Gaye stuck to his guns and saw it through or else we might not have had such classics as WGO, Mercy, Mercy Me, Save the Children, etc.
Thank you for surfacing this song to your students and for weaving in the historical context. This album is one of the greatest ever written and will be studied for generations after us all. Unfortunately, we're still living with systemic racism and war for greed so the song is as poignant as ever.
Yes, it is a song that will endure. And as you say, the challenges are still there.
So thought provoking. The 1960s brought so much change and I remember it well. Have things REALLY changed? Or is history just repeating itself? Same script, different locations, different actors. We could benefit from learning more from our historical roots and growing from them.
Songs do reflect the times and carry the message forward. How profound!
Sometimes we do learn from history. Most of the time, we do not.
I read somewhere recently that the students who are participating in the protests to stop the violence in Palestine learned some tactics from the 1960s protests against the Vietnam War. That peace movement had an effect on the government's decisions. Perhaps the current protests will also. Maybe there are historical parallels in a positive way.
Yuri Kochiyama said, "This whole period of what the Japanese went through is important. If we can see the connections of how often this happens in history, we can stem the tide of these things happening again by speaking out against them." [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApXSv6845cU]
@loistb, do you think that more people today speak out sooner than we did, say, in the early 60s?
I think some people are speaking out sooner now than in the 1960s. However, I’m not convinced they are expressing their own thoroughly researched and well-informed opinions. Propaganda seems to be shaping more opinions and stirring up protests - pitting opposing sides obstinately against each other.
While our young people are busy protesting violence in Palestine, millions of undocumented foreigners have come across our Southern border. Perhaps the focus would be better placed on the home front. As a nation, we are not invincible. Surely, history has lessons to teach about nations that don’t take care of their own business first.
Just some thoughts of mine….
Thank you for your comments, Lois. I always learn something from what others have to say. You've also given me a suggestion for a topic to cover in a future article. For the moment, however, you (and others) might be interested in Woody Guthrie's song, Deportees (https://louisehaynes.substack.com/p/deportees-have-names).
Thank you for sharing this with me Louise.