Singers and Songwriters
In some ways the "Me Decade" of the 1970s echoed some of the trends Fitzgerald points to in the 1920s. In a period of disillusionment following a costly war, Americans turned to material success and a culture of glamor and high living, as embodied in the disco clubs of the major cities.
At the same time, it was a time when new voices emerged in the music scene, often calling into question the direction the country had taken. the singer-songwriter movement grew out of the folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s, and followed Bob Dylan's astonishing success at bringing a personal voice and well-crafted lyrics to a broad popular audience. Here are two songs from the 1970s that exemplify this movement and its critique of the material culture of its day: Paul Simon's "American Tune" and Jackson Browne's "The Pretender."
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