Similarly, US music in the 1940s strongly reflected the status of America's involvement in the war. For example, the song "The Last Time I Saw Paris" quickly followed the fall of France, and the song "Goodbye Dear, I'll Be Back In A Year" became popular after the draft was announced.
Artists such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong dominated the music industry. Known as the "crooner decade", the 1940s produced lots of big band, jazz, blues, swing, and barbershop quartets. It was also the first decade to electronically mass distribute music through the introduction of "singles".
Frank Sinatra in the 1940s
Due to the war overseas, this era triggered a surge of patriotic songs. Emerging onto the scene came songs such as "There's a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere", "American Patrol", and "This is Worth Fighting For". These types of songs reflected the public's strong sense of American pride and grew in popularity due to their relevance in this decade.
However, this American pride also brought derogatory songs towards the Germans and Japanese. For example, songs sung by cartoons such as "You're A Sap, Mister Jap" and "Der Fuhrer Face" (a parody of the German song "Horst Wessel Lied") came out during this era. These not only reflected America's antagonistic spirit towards their military foes, but also served as negative propaganda against them as well.
American soldiers for the most part had access to the radio, so they were familiar with most of the popular tunes back home. Unfortunately, these troops and their girlfriends back in America lamented about the lack of romance in this era. Women complained about the shortage of men through songs like "They're Either Too Young Or Too Old" and "No Love, No Nothing (Until My Baby Gets Home)". Men also complained about not being with their partners, begging them "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree With Anyone Else But Me".
American music throughout the 1940s not only popularized genres still relevant today, but also reflected the feelings Americans often experienced throughout the era, such as disappointment with romance, American pride, and Nazi/Japan antagonism.
If you want to check out the Billboard chart toppers of the era, go to this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_number-one_singles_of_the_1940s
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role_of_music_in_World_War_II#Popular_music_permitted_under_the_Nazis
http://www.retrowaste.com/1940s/music-in-the-1940s/
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/world-war-ii/essays/forties-and-music-world-war-ii
https://www.veteransunited.com/network/big-band-in-the-barracks-looking-back-at-the-music-of-wwii-and-the-greatest-generation/
Wow, it's so interesting how directly correlated the music industry and international affairs are in the 1940's. Perhaps this was yet another way for people at home to feel involved in the war effort. Do you think connections such as this between music and politics still happen today? Are there other areas of pop culture that are effected by current politics?
ReplyDeleteThis post made a good connection between the music during 1940s and what was the center of American life. Your introduction paragraphs made it clear that music has always served as an indicator of how Americans truly felt during each era, despite what the nation advertised. It was also interesting how there is a ranking of the most popular songs; I was able to see that most songs on the list conveyed the emotions that the war was inflicting on people.
ReplyDeleteI found it really interesting that you connected music to the events of the time period because I don’t generally think of the influence of the world and its connection to the music being released. Like you said, much of the music from older time periods like the 40s is still popular and very representative of the era it came from. Genres like rock and disco come from times that truly represented the opportunity for artists to express themselves with music. While the Cold War probably did not have as big of an effect as World War 2 did on the American people, I wonder if it had influence on music. To answer Kate’s question, I found this article about the connection between music and politics today.
ReplyDeletehttp://liveforlivemusic.com/features/the-intertwined-relationship-between-music-and-politics/