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— Scott Allison and George Goethals
Interesting thing about the 50s– the decade embodies the concept of nostalgia, even for those of us who didn’t experience it directly. I suspect that, like the Colonial Era and the Wild West, the 50s will endure as an iconic period of Americana, eternal in our collective national memory. And Buddy Holly will be there, singing what’s in our hearts.
It was a terrible tragedy when those men were killed. But the day the music died? As much as I hate to disagree with Don McLean, this music will live forever. 8)
Great point, Lupine. In other blog posts (see Dana Reeve and Wesley
Autrey), we define a heroic moment as a time of crisis that promotes
heroism.
So why not heroic years, or even decades? These would be prolonged
periods of crisis, or cultural transition, that serve as fertile soil from
which great people emerge.
Periods of war, or periods characterized by paradigm shifts, could be heroic
periods. The 30s and 40s had heroes borne out of World War II. The 50s
witnessed a revolution (and hence heroes) in music, and the 60s saw civil
rights heroes emerge.
People also tend to romanticize time periods, forgetting the villainy that
takes place in them. During the 50s, consider the cancer of McCarthyism,
and the tens of thousands lost during the Korean War.
Thanks for this excellent thought-provoking idea!
It is a very interesting idea. I guess we first need to figure out why each decade has its own character, despite being an arbitrary division of time. The convention of using decades must have an effect on the collective consciousness of society and, aided and abetted by random events– war, migration, technological innovation– creates a ‘mini society’ within the larger one. Sort of like weather and climate. Particularly heroic decades might be ones of change– the taming of the West, the advent of the automobile culture, for example. Very interesting indeed….
Great article. I wasn’t aware of the reason the Beatles were called the Beatles. Now I do. I think Buddy was way beyond his years musically and even though many stars that die young are immortalized for their achievements, Buddy had many more achievements in him. What a shame the music world lost such a great artist too early. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Holly managed to bridge the racial divide that marked music in America.