I’ve been musing about the differences among different generations of Americans. As you are presumably aware various generations have been given nicknames: the G. I. generation—born 1901-1927 (Tom Brokaw’s “Greatest Generation”); the Silent Generation—1928-1945; the Baby Boomers—1946-1964; Generation X—1965-1980; Millennial Generation—1981-1996; and most recently Generation Z—1997-. That’s not even vaguely scientific and it’s not hard to find exceptions but I think there’s a kernel of truth in the notion. I think you can find characteristic attitudes or attributes in different age cohorts.
IMO these generations are greatly misunderstood, particularly among people who are younger than the generation about which they’re talking. I find that Silent Generation and Baby Boomers are frequently lumped together or mistaken for one another, for example. Or the G. I. generation and the generation that preceded them.
This morning I’ve been thinking about the individuals who might be thought of as the voices of their generations and thought I’d open up that topic for discussion. So, for example, F. Scott Fitzgerald was frequently considered the voice of the “Lost Generation”. Here are my first stabs at the voices of their respective generations:
| Generation | Voices |
| G. I. Generation | Richard Wilbur, Stephen Sondheim |
| Silent Generation | Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Carol King, Philip Roth, Maya Angelou |
| Baby Boom Generation | Jackson Browne, Janice Ian, Bruce Springsteen |
| Generation X | Douglas Coupland, Kanye West, Kurt Cobain, Billy Corgan |
| Millennial Generation | Lena Dunham, Taylor Swift, BeyonceÌ, Drake |
Do “generations” have no meaning? Does “voice of a generation” have no meaning? Any thoughts about my picks.
BTW, most of my colleagues, who tend to be Generation X or Millenials, have no idea of how old I am since I sound quite youthful. They know I’m older than they are since I speak blithely about things that happened before they were born. I get along fine with them. I’m told I’m extremely energizing, conveying enthusiasm which might surprise my readers.
CO:
Dolly Parton, yes, at least for a certain segment. Elvis Presley was an interpreter not a writer. I have no sense for how well Carrie Underwood represents her generation.
In your writings you seem so unflinching, methodical and pragmatic, that I picture you more in a conversational professorial mode than one having energetic enthusiasm.
Show biz family. “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players”. My role here is different from my role at work. They’re both honestly me, however. I fake nothing.
You have never seemed like a “faker†or imposter to me, Dave, rather someone who was meticulously “upstanding.â€
My kids “OK, Boomer” me, so its clear that not everybody appreciates these things.
I do think the division btw/ Boomer and Gen X makes sense. The baby boom ended in 64/65. The pill was approved in 1960, but not widely available for a few years; a right to contraceptives for the married recognized in 1965, leading to right to abortion in 1973. All pretty important demographic milestones. There are some cultural touchstones from a series of bad-child books/movies: Rosemary’s Baby (1967/1968); the Exorcist (1971/1973), The Omen (1976) and It’s Alive (1974). An earlier name for Generation X was the Baby Bust.
The odd thing though is that the artists associated with a given time period are often from the earlier generation. Woodstock in 1969 is associated with boomers, but with a lot of performers born before 1946 (for example, all of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young)
I think that “associated with” and “voice of” are two different things. All sorts of figures important to the G. I. Generation weren’t actually a part of that generation but of the one before.
That’s one of the reasons I picked those I did.
“Voice of” probably needs some fleshing out. I see you chose musicians. The pop culture voice? Pop culture that reflects the issues of the day? The political winds that reflect the issues of the day?
JFK and MLK would reflect the voice of a generation. No matter his age, Bob Dylan or Peter, Paul and Mary would be squarely in the Baby Boom classification.
The Beatles reflected only music evolution. In contrast, the bad boy Stones reflected a changing in culture and voice. They were the embodiment of an anti-establishment bohemian attitude and bacchanalian lifestyle…………and they were coming for your daughters. (Watch interviews with Jagger and Richards with far too nerdy types and you will get the gist.) Kurt Cobain is a perfect pick for Gen x. The rest not so much. If you are sticking with music try The Cure, The Smiths or even Radiohead.
I tuned out after the Millenials preferences. Rap and pop stars born of an electronic mixing machine seem formulaic and lifeless.
These 3 American singers represent their generations pretty well — Elvis Presley (silent), Dolly Parton (boomer?), Carrie Underwood (millennial).
Generations do have a meaning. Mish Shedlock had a chart showing average amount of debt person had by age and year of birth. It is striking how much more debt people born in the 80’s have compared to people born in the 90’s at the equivalent age. I have to assume that relates to people’s formative experience being peace and prosperity (early millianials in the Clinton Presidency) vs war and the great recession (born after 95 and the Bush/Obama years).
Because I think that songwriters are today’s most important poets and that has been the case for some time.
But not all of those I mention are primarily songwriters, e.g. Richard Wilbur, Maya Angelou, Douglas Coupland.
Greater federal government involvement in student loans has had the perverse effect of greatly increasing the volume of educational debt. It’s been great for the institutions, less great for the students, especially those who don’t graduate.
But that’s my point. Bob Dylan reflected the attitudes and aspirations of his own generation more than he did those of Baby Boomers. Yes, the Boomers were shaped by his music but that doesn’t mean he spoke for them.
Those who fought and died in Vietnam were MOSTLY Silent Generation. The Berkeley Free Speech movement was a Silent Generation phenomenon—Mario Savio was Silent Generation not a Baby Boomer.
One problem with the generational categories is that the tail ends overlap a great deal. As an early gen X (b Jan 1965) I feel like I belong to that cohort but some sources lump me into the Boomers (as do my children 🙂 ) There’s a board game called Mind the Gap based on historical and pop culture references- kids have a big disadvantage because they only know the recent stuff.
As the youngest child in my family, with parents born in the early 30s and siblings born mid 50s, I absorbed a good bit of boomer culture. My husband was the oldest and his parents much younger, so he grew up listening to folk rock while in my house it was Big Band and the Rat Pack.