Images of age in rock music
An explorative study by the Institute of Work and Technology at the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences examines the question of how ageing is portrayed and processed in rock music over several epochs.
In the early years of rock music, age was primarily seen as a reflection of conservative values and morals. Driven by the generational conflict, which, due to the leitmotif described above, raised a critical relationship between the generations, the music and the associated lyrics can be seen as a mouthpiece of rebellion against existing value systems. As the bearer of these values and moral concepts, the older generation becomes a target and a natural enemy.
The rebellious leitmotif became even more extreme in the 1970s with the rise of the punk movement and was transferred further in the lyrics to the external view of older people. Some of the examples of how older people are stereotyped range from the extreme to the highly offensive. This leitmotif has persisted in the texts to this day. In general, it is noticeable that the external portrayal of old age is characterized by a very deficient view that in no way corresponds to the heterogeneity of old age that exists today.
Full original article: https://www.iat.eu/media/forschungaktuell_2023-07.pdf
