Why is it called rock ‘n’ roll?
Despite the general overuse of the term itself, few actually know what “rock ‘n’ roll” means or where it came from. Is it an attitude? An aesthetic? A specific surge of 1950s mainstream music? An energy? A buzzword? In today’s convoluted landscape, it’s likely safe to say it’s all of the above. But where did it come from, initially? And why did its meaning change over time?
As with many terms in today’s cultural vernacular, tracing the exact origins of rock ‘n’ roll is about as complex as finding a needle in a haystack. However, by analysing the decades where it surged as a mainstream cultural touchpoint and the communities that made its momentum possible, it becomes easier to understand the contexts surrounding its prevalence over the years.
Like many terms and musical sensibilities that still thrive today, rock ‘n’ roll as a slice of conceptual terminology blossomed in the late 1940s, mainly in rhythm and blues communities. However, the term “rock ‘n’ roll” didn’t actually exist then, and merely appeared as rumblings of a burgeoning movement that would define the entirety of the 1950s.
At the turn of the century, all of those incidental pinpricks became something far more wide-reaching, with rock ‘n’ roll branching out into various aspects of musical culture. Beginning in predominantly Black communities and spearheaded by a disc jockey who played their music, rock ‘n’ roll surged from the flames of Black rhythm and blues artists and rippled out into mainstream spaces, establishing the genre as something with immense fervour, influencing countless artists, including names like The Beatles, to continue with the same energy.
So, why is it called rock ‘n’ roll?
The etymology of rock ‘n’ roll is slightly confusing when compared to its usage in the music industry. In the music industry, it stemmed from the term rock, before colloquialisms started to take effect, causing “rock ‘n’ roll” to emerge as a catch-all for the energy of rhythm and blues and its convergence with the undeniable headiness of rock music. It was all about feeling, more than simple rock, as though the “roll” signalled something more primal about the experience of listening to and enjoying music.
However, before that, “rocking and rolling” was initially a phrase used by mariners in the 17th century to describe the rocky motion of a ship on the ocean. In the 20th century, it morphed into a slang term among Black communities to symbolise the hedonism of partying, before reaching other aspects of culture with similar connotations.
In a way, it makes sense if musical rock ‘n’ roll had stemmed from similar associations, especially when considering the perceived playfulness of the genre itself. By nature, it was about having fun, which often meant going against the rules, if only in a more lighthearted manner. So, unlike rhythm and blues, rock ‘n’ roll bred a different kind of flavour, where escapism fed into the humanistic desire to let loose, shapeshifting limbs into different motions along the steady, heart-thumping beat of a good rock tune.
Whether rock ‘n’ roll still exists in the same way is uncertain, especially when it comes to its transformation throughout the 1970s and 1980s as a more rebellious term associated with rockstars throwing televisions out of hotel windows, but it was always embedded in a certain type of societal rawness that exists in distinctive spaces, even if it feels entirely different.
