The musicians themselves thought the words were extremely important. As singer and song writer Bob Dylan said, "There would be no music without the words." Bob Dylan produced many songs of social protest. He wrote anti-war songs before the war in Vietnam became a violent issue in the United States.

One was called "Blowin' in the Wind."

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In addition to songs of social protest, rock and roll music continued to be popular in America during the nineteen sixties. The most popular group, however, was not American. It was British -- the Beatles -- four rock and roll musicians from Liverpool.

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The Beatles' song "I Want to Hold Your Hand" went on sale in the United States at the end of nineteen sixty-three. Within five weeks, it was the biggest-selling record in the country.

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Other songs, including some by the Beatles, sounded more revolutionary. They spoke about drugs and sex, although not always openly.

(MUSIC: "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds")

In the nineteen sixties, "do your own thing" became a common expression. It meant to do whatever you wanted, without feeling guilty.

(MUSIC: Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock)

Folk singer Joan Baez sits at the corner of Haight and Ashbury streets in San Francisco in September 1967during the "Summer of Love"

Five hundred thousand young Americans did their own thing at the Woodstock music festival in nineteen sixty-nine. They gathered at a farm in New York state. They listened to musicians such as Jimi Hendrix and Joan Baez, and to groups like The Who and Jefferson Airplane.