Written by: Jovany Ruiz
What happens in today’s world should matter to everyone. Not only this, but knowing about our culture is among the most important. According to Cultural Studies UNC, “Cultural studies is an innovative interdisciplinary field of research and teaching that investigates the ways in which “culture” creates and transforms individual experiences, everyday life, social relations and power.” This field of study is best used in giving us several methods in adapting to our own worlds as well asking ourselves and others questions about issues that are either in the past, present or future.
From as early as the 19th century we start seeing the true influences of music in modern day culture and its representation in the many decades to follow. In the United States music has been one of the many resources that has been used to convey messages to the public from the artists’s values and most importantly shape certain ideas out to an entire country.
Here we’d have an example as such with a man by the name of Francis Scott Key, the song writer of the well known “Star-Spangled Banner”. Created in 1814 and wasn’t properly embedded as the national anthem until 1931. This was used simply by its patriotic nature and is a clear example of pride and influence in American Culture. A question that is not often made is why in modern day we continue to end the anthem with a firm tone, when there is truly a question mark. “O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, o’r the land of the free and the home of the brave?”
Another view of how American music has been used to shape culture can be seen in Bruce Springsteen’s release of “Born in the USA” in 1984. What was interesting is how the song was originally interpreted as patriotic, when Bruce meant for it to give voice to the veterans return from the Vietnam war that were treated poorly and almost no recognition. If values can’t be shifted and are much stronger than personal beliefs the important thing to note here is that what was written by the artist was a message being sent to the public being transformed into another groups own personal intentions.
Then onto the 21st century from Green Day a song under “American idiot” questions the capitalist values that America’s society has lived under for generations. The connection that can be made here to cultural studies is simply by looking into the message behind the song itself. At the time and even now it challenged society to seemingly fight back at the media.
Works Cited:
https://the-artifice.com/america-cultural-study-music/
https://www.biography.com/news/francis-scott-key-star-spangled-banner-facts
http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2013/06/you-asked-we-answered-why-is-there-a-question-mark-at-the-end-of-the-star-spangled-banner.html
American Music and American Values and Beliefs 