sábado, 8 de noviembre de 2008

Hippie Movement

The Hippie movement appeared in the United States, in the 60´s decade. However, to understand the reasons of the appearing of the movement, some facts of the past have to be taken into account. In the 50´s, the world had passed through a big economical depression and two world wars; and this changed people´s way of thinking. Also, in USA it appeared the consumption culture. These facts make people react, and in the 50´s it appeared the Beat Generation, considered as the precursors of the Hippie Movement. Later on, in the 60´s, United States started participating in the Vietnam War; this was probably the fact that impulse the movement. Young people started reacting taking the ideas of the Beat Generation and the music of that time, and started protesting against the war, the racism, the poverty, and the lack of women rights. The beginning of the movement was in the year 1964 in San Francisco. For the Hippies, peace was the goal they persecuted trough protest and music festivals. They wanted to change USA way of thinking, life style, and culture of consumption. They used long hair and colorful clothes as a way of reflecting their movement. Drugs were also a big part of the movement, because it was a reactionary generation. The hippies wanted an utopian society in which they were allowed sexual liberties, and all kinds of differences (racial, class, social status, etc.) In music, some artists like Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin, took the folk music roots and started doing protest lyrics against war and consumption; this impulse the movement. The movement started to grow around USA, and expanded trough the world; they started appearing Hippies all around the world and musicians of different countries started composing protest and reactionary music. That´s how they organized important music festivals like the Newport Folk Festival, and of course Woodstock.

Woodstock was the biggest music festival in the history. They attended half million people most of them hippies. It lasted three days and it was the “three days of peace and music festival”. Woodstock is known as the high point of the hippie movement. Many important hippie artist like “The who”, The Doors” and Janis Joplin, presented and shared their message in the festival. They are lots of artist that were part of the hippies, inspired, or were inspired by the movement in a way. The most recognized of this artist are: The Beatles and John Lennon, who caused a big impact on United States society, and sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly, became part of the Hippie movement; they composed many songs that influenced the movement such as “Let it be” and “Imagine”. The Doors were a rock icon; they composed reactionary songs and participated in Woodstock. Bob Dylan, was one of the first artist that combined folk music with protest lyrics; he composed “Blowi´n in the wind”, that became an anthem in the fighting of the civil rights, and “Times are changing”. Jimi Hendrix is considered one of the most important musicians in the movement, he participated on Woodstock, and is considered a music legend; he wrote “Purple Haze” and “Voodoo Chile”. Janis Joplin, also one of the most important artist, who played folk music. Joni Mitchel was a Canadian folk singer, who was specialist in writing cynical lyrics; she did also play on Woodstock festival. The Rolling Stones, such as The Beatles, gave influences to the young people with their songs; the most recognized one in the movement was “Satisfaction” that reflected social anguishes. Carlos Santana, participated in Woodstock, and mixed rock music with Latin rhythms.

The name Hippie comes from the Beat Generation phrase I´m Hip. For this phrase some people started calling Beat Generation members, the “Hiptres”, and latter on, when the 60´s movement appeared, people started calling the last movement the hippies.


Beat Generation



The "Beat Generation" was a group of writers that appeared in the 50´s. Jack Kerouac is recognized as the leader of this movement; he invented the term Beat to describe his circle of friends, in the year 1948. The writers of this generation were influenced by writers like Henry David Thoreau (writer of "Walden, or life on the woods"), Walt Whitman (recognized poet, creator of the free verse), and William Blake. This movement influenced many important artists like The Beatles and Bob Dylan; anti-war movements like the hippism, and environmental movements to save the planet like Deep ecology.

The most recognized members of the “Beat movement” were:

Jack Kerouac:

He was born on the year 1922, and died because heavy drinking on the year 1969 at the adage of 47 years. Even he didn’t has a long life, he influences many writers, actors and musicians, such as “The doors”, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Dayana Kurtz, and others. His most recognized poems are “Mexico City Blues” (1959), “Lonesome traveler” (1960), and his novel “On the Road” (1957). This last one is the one that has influences the most people. Bob Dylan said that: “I read On the Road in maybe 1959. It changed my life like it changed everyone else's.”. Most of his writings were autobiographical, and made a reflection about lifestyle and the state of the world. His writings were also the sparks for the contra-cultures that appeared in the 60´s like the hippism. He consumed drugs like marihuana, and LSD, as most of the integrants of this generation.

Allen Ginsberg:

He was a radical poet known in USA as the successor of Walt Whitman. Was born on the year 1926 in Newark, New Jersey. His father was poet and teacher and his mother was a radical communist. He studied Laws in Columbia´s University where he met the other members of the Beat Generation. He was so obsessed with literature, drugs and sex, that he ended being expelled from the university. William Blake, Walt Whitman, Zen Buddhism, were the authors that influenced more his writing. His most recognized works are “Howl and other Poems” and Kaddish and other poems”. Ginsberg also influenced numerous artists. Latter he became part of the Hippie movement and invented the Phrase “Flower Power”. Die in New York on 1997.


William Burroughs:
Was born on the year 1914 in Missouri. At the age of 14 became a fan of the underground lifestyle. Then he graduated on Harvard and in the year 1943 met his friends of the Beat Movement. He was also addicted to several drugs. On 1915, he killed his wife on a party. Latter on he said that his wife´s dead influenced his writing a lot: "I am forced to the appalling conclusion that I would never have become a writer but for Joan's death." He lives in many places, and loved moving out to different cities. Died on August 2 of 1997, by a heart attack. His writhing are characterized by using an obscene language. His major works are: “The naked Lunch”, “Wild Boys”, “Electronic Revolution”, “The place of dead roads”, and his last one, My education: a book of dreams”.

By: María Camila Palacio Chiriví






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