This study examines how the Beatles’ lyrics stand as a representation of the 1960s counterculture and how they were part of a persuasive movement toward freedom of mind. The phenomenon of freedom will be explored through a rhetorical criticism using Ernest Bormann’s Symbolic Convergence Theory, which is the emergence of a shared symbolic consciousness that encompasses understood meanings, emotions, values, and motives for human action amongst a social group. Several paths people chose in order to free their mind, and how themes from those paths were incorporated throughout the Beatle’s lyrics are focused on. This looks at a brief history of the music and mindset of the times surrounding the Summer of Love, and relates the lyrics to the freedom-seeking counterculture.
The research seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the social reality and motivation involved in the desire for a free mind. For as much as the Beatles and their lyrics were influenced and motivated by the times, the people and the sixties were also greatly influenced and motivated by the Beatles. The Beatles were indeed constructed by and through the times. While the Beatles encouraged people to live peacefully and rid their lives of negativity, the happenings in the sixties were what fed the Beatles ideas for their lyrics. Their songs embodied daily life. The lyrics illustrated relatable experiences.
The goal of this research is to develop a richer perspective on the changing social reality of the 1960s, and how the Beatles’ lyrics reflected and may have influenced those changes, in particular how they encouraged the push for freedom as a frame of mind.
About the presenterKristen A. Thomas
Recent graduate with Master of Arts in Communication Studies, emphasis in intercultural communication. Interested in culture, history, anthropology and any means to weave the three together.