3 Rock Songs From the 1960s That Parents Were Actually Scared Of

Rock music put a lot of fear into the hearts of parents way back in the 1960s. Everywhere they looked, there was a new song from some rock band that talked about love, romance, breakups, or worse.

And that’s just what we wanted to dive into here below. We wanted to highlight three rock tracks from back in the day that had parents clutching their pearls. Indeed, these are three rock songs from the 1960s that parents were actually scared of.

“Sympathy For The Devil” by The Rolling Stones from ‘Beggars Banquet’ (1968)

There was a real fear in the 1960s that rock music was the devil’s music. Parents feared that if their kids listened to it, they would somehow start to worship Satan and his dark teachings. Ha! What nonsense! Well, actually… when The Rolling Stones released “Sympathy For The Devil” in 1968, that gave parents some real justification for their fears. Sympathy? For Satan? Well, of course, The Rolling Stones wrote and released that track with a smirk on their face. They don’t actually believe the devil deserves any sympathy, right? Right!?

“Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” by The Beatles from ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ (1967)

Along with the devil, parents in the 1960s were quite worried about the influence of drugs on their kids. With good reason, drugs can be very dangerous. But sometimes when you worry about something, you start to see it in places where it’s not there. Enter: “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” by The Beatles. The 1967 song was inspired by a drawing John Lennon’s young son made—not LSD, as the song title’s first letters seem to indicate. Either way, parents weren’t believing it. They were just that worried back then.

“The End” by The Doors from ‘The Doors’ (1967)

This is another song that put fear into the hearts of pearl-clutching parents. Indeed, The Doors were champions of psychedelic music. And that worried many older folks with kids. They didn’t want their children taking drugs and zoning out, wondering about wacky philosophy. People needed to work and be productive! Yes, rock songs of the day certainly had people thinking outside of the box, and The Doors were at the forefront of that mind-expansion music.

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