Pop and politics
Explore the connections between pop music and political change from the 1950s to the present. Break week: 30th Oct 2025
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- Start Date: 25 Sep 2025End Date: 04 Dec 2025Thu (Daytime): 11:00 - 13:00In PersonFull fee £269.00 Senior fee £215.00 Concession £188.00
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What is the course about?
We’ll examine the way that popular music has expressed and reflected society’s political, cultural and economic conditions, not just through explicit commentary like protest songs, but through mood, feel, styles, instrumentation, sounds and imagery. If you’ve ever wondered why 60s music sounds optimistic, 70 music sounds ornery, 80s music sounds bright and brassy, or 90s music retro, this course will explain both why and how.
What will we cover?
Each week we’ll look at a different era, starting with the 50s and rock’n’roll’s rejection of social conformity and conservatism, then looking at the tumult of the 60s through beat music and psychedelia and the militancy of the 70s through glam and ghetto-funk. We’ll explore the songs of work and hedonism of the heady, divisive 80s, then the post-80s refusals of rave, hip hop and grunge, before the 90s brought the political capitulation of Britpop and gangsta rap.
Along the way we will take in songs by Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, T.Rex, ELO, The Eagles, The Sex Pistols, The Human League, Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson, Public Enemy, NWA, Nirvana, Blur, Missy Elliott, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and the Weeknd.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Identify the dominant historical events and cultural impulses of each decade from the 1950s to the 2020s
-Understand how the artists and songs studied explicitly or implicitly reflect or respond to these events and impulses.
-Understand the way that politics infuses not just the overtly political song but all forms of popular culture, including the love song (or occasionally the instrumental!)
-Learn to read lyrics beyond surface content, but as an (often unconscious) expression of its historical time and place.
-Understand the way the ‘meaning’ of a song resides not just with the artist, but audience response.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
All you need is a basic appreciation of music in general and enthusiasm for British and American pop music in particular, and an open mind! You do not need to be able to read music or understand musical terminology (though your tutor will introduce some easy musicology).
All texts – handouts, PowerPoint presentations - will be in English.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
- Tutor presentation and explanation, including handouts with lyrics etc
- Guided listening and watching of audio and audio-visual examples.
- Class discussion and debate about the issues raised.
- Listening and reading outside class is encouraged.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
You may wish to continue reading after your course has finished. We recommend: Mixing pop and politics by Toby Manning (Repeater, 2024) which is available in the City Lit library.
You may also wish to purchase some of the other music books or recordings discussed in class, links to these materials will be available online (via Google classroom) after each session.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
City Lit offers a wide range of Music history courses. For more information, visit our Guide to the Music history programme.
Toby teaches music appreciation and history at City Lit. He is a longtime music journalist - having worked for NME, The Word, Q and The Quietus - and writer on pop culture. He is the author of the Rough Guide to Pink Floyd (2006) and Mixing Pop and Politics (2024), and a contributor to The Velvet Underground: What’s Going On (2022) and Talking Heads (2025), as well as to the journals Key Words and Red Wedge. Toby has taught at the University of Birmingham, Brunel University and Queen Mary University, and has given talks at the Barbican, the Victoria and Albert Museum (as part of David Bowie Is…) and at St George’s Hall, Blackburn.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.