Rock music Is a group of related music styles that have dominated popular music in the West since about 1955. Rock music began In the United States, but It has Influenced on a broad field of cultures and musical traditions, Including gospel music, the blues, country music, classical music, folk music, electronic music, etc. Thus, rock music is now felt worldwide. Actually, Rock Music is not only a kind of entertainment or music style. There are many meaningful values which lie hidden beneath its music surface and behind its styles and ways of playing.

It also functions s a medium which the artists can convey their social experiences and their attitude toward society and life to their audience. On each point of Its development, rock music has become the carriers of very specific meanings which reach deep Into the lives of its fans. Rock music commonly refers to music styles after 1959 and it has its roots in sass’ rock and roll and rockabilly. The term “rock and roll” itself was black slang for dancing or sex, first appeared on record In 1922 on Tried Smith’s “My Baby Rocks Me With One Steady Roll”.

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According to an online website MANS Incarnate , the word “rock” means to swing or sway backward and forward or from side to side, or cause something or somebody to swing or sway in this way, especially with a slow gentle rhythm. The verb “Roll” was a medieval metaphor which meant “having seer. This kind of musical style began to emerge in United States during the late 1 sass as a combination of the rhythms of the blues, R&B, African American culture, and from America’s country and western music.

According to an online website Wisped, “Rock and roll (also known as rock roll), Is a genre of music that evolved in the united States in the late sass and became popular in the early sass, quickly spreading to the rest of the world. It later spawned the various sub-genres of what is now called simply “rock”, usually accompanied by lyrics. ” After World War II, a famous DC (shortened from ‘disk Jockey’) in American, Alan Freed, adopted this term to his program “Moods Rock roll Party. ” He also began broadcasting the rollicking R music In his program and borrowed the term rock and roll to describe this musical form.

Hence, this term started to prevail. However, Rock music did not prove to be main stream until the emergence of many outstanding and great precursors. As the book “The Apocalypse of Pop Music” (1994, p. 5) indicates, there was no such musical form which predominates music circles before Elvis Presley made his debut. However, the first rock singer who first familiarize rock;n roll with the mass population Is 3111 Haley and his song “Rock Around the Clock. ‘TLS song came In the first place on the charts both in America and in England and has been considered as one of the greatest songs in rock music.

At the same time, Elvis Presley, also known s “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll”, started to establish his fame as the most significant rock singer in this field. It has been claimed that there are over 500 US fan clubs and that they exist in every state. According to the American Demographics magazine, “84% of the US people say that their lives have been touched by Elvis Presley In some way, 31% have bought an Elvis record, CD or video,…… , and 5% have seen the singer in concert. ” During the post-WI economic boom of the sass, many parents were able to give their teenage children much higher allowances.

The stabilization resulted in a group of energetic teenagers. They gradually became aware of life’s humdrum, so they sought for new excitation. Elvis Presley young, handsome appearance and his sepulchral, emotional voice have fulfilled the youths’ requirement for an idol. As a result, he became the hit. The prevalence of Elvis Presley also indicated the teenagers in that time in want of a music style which were unruly and frantic. By the help of Elvis Presley and the social factors, rock music has become the first and the real main stream in the history of pop music.

By the sass, America no longer has its leading place. At that time, many British young people started to form bands resulted from the effect of the rock music wave. This trend began in Liverpool, a flourishing harbor located in the middle of England, in which the local teenagers could get in touch with American rock music easily and quickly. Thus The Beetles led the musical “British Invasion” into the United States. They are considered as the greatest band in the world. The Beetles are the best- selling musical act of all time in the United States, according to the Recording

Industry Association of America, which certified them as the highest selling band of all time based on American sales of singles and albums. This commercial success was repeated in many other countries. Actually, the Beetles were not the kind of singers that would show consideration for the society and reflect reality in their early period. Although their music was popular, the content of it was all about love and romance. Not until the released of their album, Help, can we see their careful and deliberate attitude towards composing music.

In 1967, the war happened in the Middle East became more and more fierce. Out of solicitude, the Beetles wrote a classic song “All You Need Is Love. ” By the broadcasting of artificial satellite, there were about two thousand millions of people saw their message of love immediately. As we can see in the lyrics, “There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done. Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung. Nothing you can say but you can learn how the play the game… All You Need Is Love,” they choose to express their concern and to call on people’s attention and care.

Rock sic as the medium between people and society can be seen in here. Another good example of how rock music act as the reflection of reality is the Sex Pistols in 1977. They have been described as “the definitive English punk rock band. ” It happened to be the economic crisis and serious unemployment question in England at that period of time. They criticized the authority and the bourgeoisie sharply from the point of view of the lower class in the society. They created an original, inelegant and violent way of playing, that is, punk rock.

They advocated nihilism and sang in favor of anarchy, as the lyrics of their song “Anarchy in the I-J” indicates, “l am an anti-Christ. I am an anarchist…. I want destroy it, punch it, break it. I want be an anarchist. ” Punk music is the collective rebellion of teenagers. In the aspect of society and politics, teenagers were dissatisfied with the organizational system; in the aspect of possible showing simplicity and real pleasure in playing. It was the main reason why a new musical revolution, punk rock, emerged. It also proves that there seems to be a set of ideology to support every kind of music styles.

Rock music, as a mutinous yep of music, is an exact representative of the youth culture. This musical form gives teenagers the chances to experience delight, sorrow and anger. There are a great many of the evidences that people can appreciate the Joy of life or express their indignation at society through rock music. Rock music is not only a means of entertainment; it is also a kind of art and a means of self-expressing. The history of rock music is also the history of the young spirit which is brave in revolt and not afraid of innovating.

According to Peter Wicked (1990), since sass, rock music has Ovid from the margins of American popular music to the center of a global industry. Closely connected with youth culture, the influence of rock and roll is far- reaching, and has had significant impact worldwide on fashion, film styles, and attitudes towards sex and sexuality and use of drugs and alcohol, etc. This impact is broad enough that “rock and roll” may also be considered a lifestyle in addition to a form of music. (Wisped) By the advance technology and the growth of the mass media, rock music continues to play a central role in the popular culture of the world.