The 1970s was a very influential time in American society and will certainly be remembered for some time to come. Most of the music created in the early 1970s was heavily influenced by the psychedelic rock music of the 1960s. However, towards the end of the decade, the psychedelic movement became less popular. Although the 1970s did not bring as much innovation or creativity as the 1960s, it was the decade that shifted American music from the hippie lifestyle of the 1960s to the more conservative, preppy lifestyle of the 1980s and despite many musical, social and political changes that took place during the 1970s, the main focus remained almost the same for most of the decade: lyrics with subtle, underlying messages. underlying to stand up and fight for the changing times, hidden behind a relaxing leisure sound. The attitude of most living in the 1970s was a growing discontent with the United States government and its leaders that began in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which allowed Americans to discover how their own leaders could be corrupted as well as the fact that action could be taken. place in their country and their government where nothing was said to them. Worse still, the Kent State massacre, in which the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a crowd of university protesters and left four dead and nine injured, occurred a few years ago before the Watergate scandal. This incident led to numerous protests across the country on college campuses as well as the creation of songs by musicians regarding these types of events. (Undercofler 1997) Faced with so much dissatisfaction across the country, teenagers began to mobilize, speaking... middle of paper... a step closer to the goals of some of the decade's other genres. The songs were generally shorter with fast, bold music with simplified instrumentation and lyrics that harkened back to the dissatisfaction with the government that previous genres displayed. The 1970s saw many changes within society. It was a time when teenagers, African Americans, and women were able to find their voices and almost every group of people began to publicly stand up for what they believed in. Likewise, people were starting to find ways to incorporate more downtime into their activities. their daily lives and began going out more, going to all-night dance clubs and using drugs. Growing discontent with the government was on the rise, which allowed almost every musical genre of the decade to influence others, creating a web of musical characteristics that linked many..