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3 Rock Songs From the 1960s That Predicted Alternative Rock With Scary Accuracy
American Songwriter has published a feature identifying three rock songs from the 1960s that the writer argues foreshadowed the sound and sensibility of alternative rock, decades before the genre existed. The piece is an opinion-driven retrospective rather than breaking news, tracing musical and lyrical DNA from proto-punk and experimental rock acts of the era through to grunge and alt-rock bands of the 1990s.
The three tracks highlighted are "H*roin" by The Velvet Underground (1967), praised for its noise, taboo subject matter and stripped-back two-chord structure, which the author links to Sonic Youth; "1969" by The Stooges (1969), whose repetitive riff and raw vocals are tied to the influence on Nirvana and Mudhoney; and "Shangri-La" by The Kinks (1969), whose Ray Davies-penned storytelling and irony are credited as an influence on R.E.M. and The Smiths.
In short
- Article names three 1960s songs said to foreshadow alt-rock.
- Picks: Velvet Underground's "H*roin", The Stooges' "1969", The Kinks' "Shangri-La".
- Author links each song to later influence on bands like Nirvana and R.E.M.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
These three songs represent genuine musical and thematic precursors to alternative rock's aesthetic. The Velvet Underground's embrace of noise and taboo subject matter directly informed Sonic Youth's approach; The Stooges' minimalist repetition and raw delivery provided an explicit template for grunge bands; The Kinks' sophisticated storytelling influenced the literary ambitions of R.E.M. and The Smiths. Rather than coincidence, these are documented artistic lineages showing how 1960s innovators anticipated the values and sounds that would define alternative rock.
The case against
Identifying these songs as 'predictions' commits retrospective pattern-matching—we see the connections only because we know what alternative rock became. The artists involved were responding to their own era, drawing from blues and folk traditions, not predicting future genres. Countless 1960s rock songs could claim some connection to 1990s alt-rock, but selecting these three based on prior knowledge of where music was heading is selective reasoning. The piece mistakes general influence for prescience, cherry-picking examples to fit a thesis rather than demonstrating these songs uniquely foreshadowed the genre compared to others.
Explained simply
Alternative rock emerged as a major commercial force in the 1990s, defining the sound of mainstream music for much of that decade. But this genre was not invented suddenly—it drew inspiration from experimental and provocative rock music from the 1960s, when certain bands began challenging the conventions of what rock music could be.
The Velvet Underground, The Stooges and The Kinks were key figures in this earlier experimental movement. Each band adopted unconventional approaches to recording, lyrics and songwriting that would later be embraced and developed further by alternative rock acts of the 1990s.
Understanding these historical connections provides context for how popular music evolves and why certain artists achieve lasting cultural influence. It demonstrates that innovations in underground music can shape mainstream trends many years after they first appear.