During the 1960s, the United States experienced an intense social revolution, driven by countercultural ideals of the youth.  The population that made up this revolution was attracted to a way of life and set of values that was opposite to the social norm.  Many factors aided the progression of this movement, but the following are some of the most influential.  The evolution of recording technology, along with the popularity of psychedelic drugs, led to the creation of a new style of music that the counterculture identified with.  Psychedelic drugs brought about strong themes of personal freedom and individuality, increasing the occurrence of the two in music and every day life, while discouraging societal conformance.  Artists used the messages in their music to make others aware of social and political injustices, and the feelings of the counterculture community.  In Jim DeRogatis’ article, “Old Friend Never Sounded Better”, Simon and Garfunkel are affected by the social and political changes of the 1960s.  Simon and Garfunkel’s album, “Bookends”, was successful in large part due to the 1960s counterculture.

The counterculture of the 1960s was responsible for the social and political changes that came about during the time period.  Several factors affected the movement through out the ‘60s and even beforehand.  Between 1946 and 1957, the pioneers of the countercultural movement of the 1960s, were born.  In the eleven years following World War II, a record twenty two million babies were born.  These “baby boomers”, as stated by Sheila Whiteley, were “born into an affluent economy, and a growing media technology”, and “they were to be an important part of the emergent youth culture of the 1960s” (81).   By the mid 60s, ninety percent of households owned at least one television (Miller). Television allowed people to hear current events easily, an important factor of the counterculture movement because of the negativity these events typically came with.  The War in Vietnam united the counterculture.  Young men and women unanimously objected to the draft, and viewed it as an act of oppression by society.   This generation developed a fear of conformity.  They “wished to break away from the bourgeois and technocratic world of their parents, and the increasing reliance upon technology and rational-scientific reasoning”(Whiteley 81).  The youth were threatened by the quickly changing society and the pressure of its expectations.  They took the same stance on controversial issues like the War in Vietnam, civil rights, and current political actions, creating the set of ideals that their counterculture followed.  The frequent social and political injustices along with the pressure to conform caused “baby boomers” to reject society’s expectations and follow the ideals of the counterculture.

Without the cultural changes in society and music during the 1960s, Simon and Garfunkel would not have experienced success as easily as they did.  In Jim DeRogatis’ article “Old Friends Never Sounded Better”, there are three clear ways in which the influence of 1960s counterculture affected the career of Simon and Garfunkel.  First, the message of a song needed to correspond to the feelings of the counterculture’s members, and communicate their message.  Simon and Garfunkel were able to create music the counterculture could identify to, an important ability that increased their popularity.  Secondly, the idea of personal freedom was glorified by the counterculture, and fueled by the rift between the youth and their parent generation.  DeRogatis writes about the presence of personal freedom in Simon and Garfunkel’s work.  Lastly, the advancement of technology, abstract feelings in the audience, and the influence of psychedelic drugs birthed in a style of music that encouraged creativity and uniqueness.  Simon and Garfunkel experienced great success with this style of music according to DeRogatis (278).  In Jim DeRogatis’ article, “Old Friends Never Sounded Better”, knowledge of the counterculture during the 1960s is needed to understand the success of Simon and Garfunkel. 

Personal freedom was one of the counterculture’s most important values.  In “Counterculture: The Classical View”, by Sheila Whiteley, and “The Times They Are A-Changin’”, by Robert Rosenstone, personal freedom is found as a common theme throughout the 1960s in songs and as a common value.  The pressure of society on “baby boomers” caused them to reject society’s expectations of them.  The “fear of being forced into an unwelcome slot underlies many songs of the period” because the opposite, the exercise of freedom, is viewed with such high value.  Artists began incorporating the theme of personal freedom into their works because it greatly appealed to the counterculture population.  In “Old Friends Never Sounded Better”, Jim DeRogatis’ summarization of Simon and Garfunkel’s song, “America”, exemplifies the type of freedom desired by the youth.  “Two playful, daydreaming lovers who set out to find “the heart of America” by hitchhiking through Michigan and taking the Greyhound bus out of Pittsburgh” (DeRogatis 277).  This couple has no restrictions, no requirements, and a total disregard for society’s expectations.  This is the personal freedom the counterculture adored.  The counterculture of the ‘60s saw personal freedom as a valuable necessity, causing artists like Simon and Garfunkel to incorporate into their works.

In the years before the counterculture movement, “nobody took popular music very seriously” (Rosenstone 132).  Music prior to the 1960s contained messages and themes that audiences could not relate to.  The youth of the 1960s were able to directly identify with the messages found in music.  In Simon and Garfunkel’s song “Mrs. Robinson”, Simon sings, “Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.” (DeRogatis 278-279).  These lyrics express a generation’s desperate need of a hero to save them from a corrupt and oppressive nation.  This is an example of how “songwriters and lyricists saw it as their artistic responsibilities to respond directly to current social and political issues” (Whiteley 83).  These songwriters acted themselves as heroes for the countercultural generation by acting “as a social force, expressing issues of cultural and political significance over a wide geographic” and demographic area (Whiteley 82).  These artists communicated their own stress and the stress of others, through their songs.  For example, the implication that a generation needs saving, in the song, “Mrs. Robinson”.  These messages were widespread because, “for the first time, popular songs became relevant to the lives of the teen age audience, the main audience buying records” (Rosenstone 133).  The expression of issues through messages in popular music, like the example from Jim DeRogatis’ article, provided the counterculture movement with the voice needed to communicate their feelings.  

The availability of new musical resources and a strong psychedelic influence resulted in the creation of a music style unique to the countercultural era of the 1960s.  This musical style used by many of the artists during this time period “broke down old forms and began using a variety of musical traditions and instruments” (Rosenstone 133).  This process is similar to the actions of the counterculture movement.  Customs of the past were replaced by the desire to try new things.  “The slicks and tricks of production”, the Beatles were known to love, influenced greatly their album, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (Whiteley 82).  This album was unprecedented and encouraged other artists to explore the style.  Jim DeRogatis claims the light-hearted and energetic style of this music, benefitted the creative nature of Simon and Garfunkel.  Garfunkel took it so far as to record conversations on the street and create a meaningless collage of them (DeRogatis 279).  The freedom of this new music style can be seen as another representation of the importance of personal freedom throughout the counterculture movement.  “The music industry thought revolution might be the next big marketing concept”, including Simon Garfunkel’s producer, Roy Halee.  He encouraged the duo to experiment with the new psychedelic style, in their album, “Bookends” (Whiteley 82; DeRogatis 279).  The encouragement to produce music of this style, by the industries, benefited the countercultural movement.  Their style of music was becoming increasingly more popular, and was influencing more and more people.  The music style that emerged during the late ‘60s symbolized the freedom of the countercultural movement, and spread the ideals of the movement through its popularity.

Without the knowledge of the countercultural movement that took place during the 1960s, the success of Simon and Garfunkel that Jim DeRogatis writes about cannot be understood fully.  DeRogatis does not communicate the magnitude of the social reformations America underwent during the time period he writes about.  He recognizes the influences of psychedelics and recording technology on the music that became popular during the late ‘60s but does not go into detail.  The theme of personal freedom found in DeRogatis’ article was created by the refusal to conform to society during the 1960s.  Understanding the importance of personal freedom, the evolution of music, and the impact of songs messages, during the 1960’s counterculture, is relative to the analysis of Simon and Garfunkel’s success by Jim DeRogatis’.
