The 1950s: Life in Britain, for the last decade, had been bleak, and in the post-war world, little had changed. The sixties represented the cultural end of the shadow that World War Two hung over society: people began to forget about rationing and planning, and a generation of young people were able to express themselves freely.
Enter The Beatles: Four Liverpudlian lads; John, Paul, George and Ringo, who embodied a postwar era of youth, optimism, prosperity, and joy. The fab four are renowned for their huge influence on British pop music and British culture as a whole. It can be said that the Beatles influenced Britain during their reign which shaped the nation into the country it is today.
They influenced British society with their sense of music that had not been heard in Britain before, and in turn, changed how music was seen and enjoyed. Their music struck a chord in the youth of Britain, people started thinking of musicians as serious artists, and wanted to know what Lennon or McCartney meant in their songs.
During Beatlemania (approximately 1963-1966), when their fame reached a high, the Fab Four had an unbelievable (and often rebellious) impact on the young, and a powerful influence on everyone else. Their wild clothing, rebellious hairstyles (cue the Mop Top), romantic lyrics and the introduction of the hippy movement led to Britain becoming a well-rounded, diverse nation.
They were also renowned for going way beyond the constraints of the ordinary, and lived out their period in all its foolishness and extremity. New cultures were introduced into what was considered to be a relatively stable country, and the beginning of changes such as the hippy movement and rebellious teenage boys meant that British society struggled to maintain order for some time during the reign of The Beatles. It wasn’t until people finally accepted the ripples that four guys from Liverpool would inevitably have on British culture, and the rest of the world.