Abstract
Andrew Saltoun, an 18th-century Scot, claimed, “I care not who makes the nation’s laws, so long as I can make its songs” (as cited in Gleason, 1970). This statement implies that music is a potent vehicle of communication and can be influential in shaping attitudes and lifestyles. I share this view and along with other investigators (Horrocks, 1962; Rosenstone, 1969; Gleason, 1970) have increasingly developed the opinion that music has a very significant impact on adolescent behavior. Adolescents are in a fluid and impressionable stage of life and look to cultural avenues for information about themselves and their society. In light of this, I have been surprised that the adolescent experience has not traditionally been addressed in popular music. The absence of teenage music was most conspicuous after World War II as a youth culture emerged. The Depression and the war had ended, an age of affluence started, and adolescents appeared as visible and important consumers.
You’re not a dream, you’re not an angel, you’re a man.
I’m not a queen, I’m a woman, take my hand....
—Buffy Sainte-Marie, 1965
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Marks, J. (1979). “On the Road to Find Out”: The Role Music Plays in Adolescent Development. In: Kopp, C.B. (eds) Becoming Female. Women in Context: Development and Stresses, vol 2. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3560-3_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3560-3_13
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