The punks, grunges, rockers. The ultimate musical creatures of the trends that had an effect on the Generation called “X”. The letter “X” defines a generation as “lost” but also open to an immense unknown. Although they have various musical tastes in their occult, the main difference comes to life as a dystopian cultural perception, for they all have the same kind of gloomy pattern in their way of thinking, but they are varying in the political activism embedded in the notes of their music. For that instance Rock music can be described as a mass medium that cultural values and meanings circulate, reaches far beyond the material nature of music (Wicke 9). Therefore, the songs are not isolated from the cultural context which owes their existence in social and political relations as well as to the particular environment of their listeners (Wicke 8). The content of rock music is not merely grounded in the musical form of the songs. On the one hand this content is determined by the contexts which its admirers give it, and on the other hand it is also precondition and distribution together with the institutional contexts in which these stand. In other words, these contexts become a component of the lyrics, a component of a cultural text formed from cultural symbols of the most varied kind (images, technology, leisure objects, the everyday materials of the consumer society), and the music is the medium for the formulation of this cultural text (Brottman 42). Because of this, rock music is a very complex cultural form in which the mass media, media images, styles of dress are included as well as music.
The time that covers the world is constantly changing, whether it is with generations, or milestone events. Music itself too, is constantly changing; the rock and roll tunes like Bill Haley’s Rock Around the Clock in 1954, or latter day’s phenomenon, The Beatles, and its constantly changing, evolving, and more and more involving perspectives to the world changed into a more dystopian activism in 60s and 70s. The year of 1967 was a milestone of this activism, when Rolling Stones made a big concert in San Francisco; the audience welcomed the crowd with a speech full of anarchist-communist propaganda, like as follows:
(…) they will not escape the blood and fire of the anarchist revolution. We will play your music in rock and roll marching bands as we tear down the jails and free the prisoners, as we tear down the State schools and free the students, as we tear down the military bases and arm the poor … and create a new society from the ashes of our fires. (…) ‘Rolling Stones – The youth of California hears your message! Long live the revolution!’ (Wicke 105)
The constant change would not ease in the years that were coming. Late 70s and 80s were the peak points of the Cold War era. Implicit and clear references and criticism directed to the authorities. Rock music was now placed in a context in which it no longer defined itself merely in musical terms, but also in political terms, however these were expressed in misleading manner (Wicke 105). Rock stars were also a big influence for they started to be differentiated from the ‘plastic pop stars’. Thus the political activism of the students, who are frustrated from isolation in the family, school or at work, flourished.
It can be said that the media saturated stars of popular culture were thrown into this newly founded arena of consumption. These so-called stars were not an influence, but mere tools of entertainment. However the youth of Generation X was still learning how to consume this cultural bombardment. They could not affect the culture on their own, even if they were studying in the universities and forming the future’s holders. They have just let the ‘culture’ come to them for it was impossible to maintain a standard and quality. The impossibility of affecting this cultural wasteland made it mandatory to make little dents of their own individualities throughout this big dystopian sculpture. That’s why the individual and anarchist depressive culture was born and grew this wide. Punk rock culture was the first thing that can come into mind alongside these characteristics. Therefore the origins of punk culture needs to be identified, the Sex Pistols, the band known as the first punk rock band, and their groundbreaking single, “Anarchy in the U.K.”
The Sex Pistols were the embodied anarchist – politically disengaged Generation X prototype and “Anarchy in the U.K.” was the peak point of political disengagement of Generation X. Actually they made fun of and despised anything that contributes to the boundaries of constitutions. They made non-academic criticism (it can be said that was why they were influential on general public) on monarchy, the queen of England (“God Save the Queen”), the government (“Anarchy in the U.K.”), the human body (“Bodies”), multinational corporations (“EMI”), and the Jewish Holocaust (“Belsen was a Gas”) (Brottman 15). The Generation X youth made out a hero of Sid Vicious, name of the Sex Pistols’ front man, who was the “Punk God”, the alias given to him by his admirers. He was a kind of “god”, who accused of killing his girlfriend in a hotel room, let out from prison with bribery, a heroin addict, and a man, who tried to commit suicide several times, but died of heroine overdose. That can depict the view of Generation X to the world. The anarchy they wish destroys the authority and implements chaos. To some people, punk rock was the direct musical expression of unemployed teenagers’ political protest against a society that had turned them into useless outsiders (Wicke 137). Generation X determined its life with the help of disbelief and its offspring, indifference, but also they were in need of any hope, even though it would come from a drug addict, ignorant, teenager, who says he was the anti-Christ as in the song “Anarchy in the U.K.”.
But what was the rock’s part in this depressive play? Was it only an artistic outcome of the time, or had it created its own generational characteristics from one point on? The answer can be given within the generational context. The predecessor generation of Generation Xers, the Baby boomers (1945-1960) have failed to bring about most of the benefits outlined in the rock & roll ‘to save the world’, whales, rainforests, ozone, or on political context, to bring down the bourgeoisie, or even legalizing the marihuana. The basis of rock entwined with these failures. From the time of Bill Haley, for 20 years, rock music said so much on behalf of the boomers and did nothing (Pollock 284). However, from late 70s and on, Generation X emerged as anti-utopian listeners and contributors of rock music culture. The public policy of those times in the U.S. was not different from the implemented social plan called the New Deal by Roosevelt in 30s after the Great Depression. Public policy was moved to right wing policies, and so the hope of a normal politics into which the pursuit of equality and social justice could be incorporated never came to life. However, the movements were institutional, the civil rights, women’s, peace and environmental movements peaked (Darnovsky, Epstein and Flacks 258). Nevertheless these activists were boomers, and as their age grew older they forgot their activist past, and only wanted a settling down. They raised their children to think as their old selves, and to be politically disengaged. Therefore, the late 80s were times that the movements lost will and capacity to mobilize direct action protest (Darnovsky, Epstein and Flacks 258). The general cynicism and pessimism affected Generation X activism, they were no longer the “Paint it Black” anti-authority anarchists of Rolling Stones, but they were the depressed kids that think no one loves them. They started to make songs saying that they were “negative creeps” and “they were stoned”, like in Nirvana’s “Negative Creep”. With the help or as the outcome of this cultural U-turn, the submissive behavior became widespread in Generation X. They submitted the facts that they will always have McJobs, the Cold War, gender and race discrimination and unsuccessful lives. The reason that generated economic, social ,sexual and psychological problems –even the deficit to the divorce rate to AIDS- inherited by Generation X, from the “hippies” and “yuppies”, both successful and self-indulged collective of figures. As Neil Howe and William Strauss says, Xers are, “the clean up crew” of hippies and yuppies (qtd. in Ortner 5).
A point should be made here regarding their cultural breakdown. The haven they have taken refuge in was MTV and the culture that MTV was imposing that ‘the Generation Xers were truly damaged by the world in which they find themselves’: they feel themselves to be worthless losers (one anthem of the generation was a rock song by Beck, of which the refrain is, “I'm a loser, baby, so why don't you kill me”; the band in Richard Linklater’s Slacker was called “The Ultimate Losers”) and are deeply depressed. The suicide of rock star Kurt Cobain (of Nirvana), and the empathetic responses to it, typifies this cluster of images (Ortner 6). The media made it essential to be one of the so-called ‘losers’ for it was the only way of being. Apocalypse and depressive images are also significant in MTV’s generation creation. One ultimate creature of this perception was the band, Duran Duran; clearly making simple music, a synthesizer based rock, dance tunes and such, but MTV comes into action beyond the lyrics or music. Their single “Wild Boys”, had a video in 1984 that has an immense effect on viewers for it was an exemplary video. The simple, basic rhythm some whining high pitched voice of standard song, made a hit by video. Video of this song shows a surrealistic and apocalyptic world full of confusing symbolism. Nightmarish, dark, unconnected images rush by frantically in no particular order, bathed in a pale blue light or in the flickering of flames. There are really vivid scenes of torture and the scenery is dominated by battle, attack, aggression and stylized force (Wicke 164). However, the attackers (here they can be interpreted as activists) are wild, prehistoric, half-naked men with leathers. The political awareness, the activism is undermined to savages and they were getting tortured ‘because of their actions’. As a conclusion, while the video industry was making enormous profit and gaining success, implicit messages were given to the typical Generation X audience: “watch and do not act.”
Nevertheless, it would be an overstatement to say that every member of this generation shares the same characteristics in rock music culture. For example, in the late 1980s, one of the most popular forms of rock & roll was ‘heartland rock’. It was characterized by a straightforward musical style, a concern with the average, working class American life, and a conviction that rock music has a social or communal purpose beyond just entertainment. It was going on par with the blues and rap culture, for the heartland rock were criticizing the social, economic, and physical inequality and isolation with the help of real rock music. Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger and Tom Petty were making decent comments about the society, about discrimination and freedom with rock music. Their voice, however, can never be louder than the MTV strengthened “grunge”. The rock in late 80s made a name with its unawareness and non-challenging lyrics and images of bands. R.E.M., which is still a band that is being known and loved by many people, had not started helping raise funds for environment, feminist or human rights since 2000s. Another popular culture icon, The Cure, first mainstream ‘gothic’ band, just tossed gloominess, horrific elements and again, deep depression to their cohort. The bands which were advanced Lyric-wise also were not contributing the political awareness. The Smiths, whose lyrics is said that full of implicit political references were just seen as superficially depressing and sometimes sarcastic (Pollock 297). It is not a surprise that Generation X became apathetic and depressive in their youth, while the cultural influence center of this generation was MTV which was pumping a constant gloominess through its viewers.
Generation X is the most typified and stereotyped generation of all. However some may say that they are only a collective of experiences and emotions to create a generational identity with big voids. This eclectic life and culture of Generation X made them vulnerable to any cultural change and it leads to submissive behavior for their identity was also open to change by mass cultural effects. The late 70s destructive anarchist punk rock, gave way to more and more disturbing grievances of grunge rock, and complete apathy. The cultural wasteland made them be individuals of their own selves and own problems only. Sense of collectiveness, feel of productivity was discarded for ‘self’s sake’. The nature of rock music was important for any political involvement with it, for it is mainly an underground cultural aspect. However, behind this music, very contradictory and socially conflicting cultural processes lie. If the music itself to be taken as a textual embodiment of ideology, it can be said that throughout the years rock music become more and more apathetic, indifferent, passive and depressive instead of aggressive and active; and also made the Generation X gain these epithets.
Works Cited
Brottman, Mikita. High Theory / Low Culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
Darnovsky, Marcy, Barbara Epstein, and Richard Flacks, eds. Cultural Politics and Social Movements. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995.
Ortner, Sherry B. "Generation X: Anthropology in a Media-Saturated World." Cultural Anthropology 13.3 (1998): 414-40. EBSCOhost. Bilkent Library. 15 Apr. 2009.
Pollock, Bruce. Hipper Than Our Kids: A Rock & Roll Journal of the Baby Boom Generation. New York: Schirmer Books, 1993.
Wicke, Peter. Rock Music Culture, aesthetics and sociology. Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1991.
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