The 1970s were a very influential time in American society and will surely be remembered for a while to come. Most of the music created in the early 1970s was heavily influenced by the psychedelic rock music of the 1960s. However, towards the end of the decade, the psychedelic movement became less popular. Although the 1970s did not provide as much innovation or creativity as the 1960s, it was the decade that shifted American music from the hippie lifestyle of the 1960s to the more conservative, preppy lifestyle of the 1980s and despite the numerous musical, social and political changes occurred during the 1970s, the main focus remained almost the same throughout much of the decade: lyrics with subtle, underlying messages to stand up and fight for the changing times hidden behind a soothing sound . The attitude of most people living in the 1970s was a growing discontent with the US government and its leaders that began in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which allowed Americans to discover how corrupt their own could be leader. be as well as the fact that there may be actions taking place within their country and their government that they have not been informed about. To make matters worse, the Kent State massacre, in which the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a crowd of university protesters and left four people killed and nine injured, occurred a couple of years ago before the Watergate scandal. This incident resulted in numerous nationwide protests on college campuses and musicians creating songs about these types of events. (Undercofler 1997) With so much dissatisfaction across the nation, teenagers began to step forward, speaking... middle of paper... a little more toward the goals of some of the decade's other genres. Songs were typically shorter, with fast-paced, edgy music, simplified instrumentation, and lyrics that harked back to the discontent with the government displayed by previous genres. The 1970s saw many changes within society. It was a time when teenagers, African Americans, and women were able to find their voices and almost all groups of people began to publicly stand up for what they believed in. Likewise, people were beginning to find ways to incorporate more free time into their activities. into their daily lives and began going out more, engaging in all-night clubbing and drug use. There was growing discontent with the government that allowed nearly every musical genre of the decade to influence others, building a network of musical characteristics that linked many together..