“It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing

It don’t mean a thing all you got to do is sing

It makes no difference

If it’s sweet or hot

Just give that rhythm

Everything you’ve got”

Those are the opening lines of a famous song from The Jazz Age, and believe it or not, that song was just covered by Lady Gaga last year.

The 1920’s culture is seeing a revival, just as the other notable decades have in the past. With classier clothing and swing, jazz, and blues music seeing a comeback. And it’s not just in the media and clothing, but even within politics and societal standards.

“The Jazz Age” as it was called was a time of movement within the United States, as technology was advancing at an alarming rate and there was a huge generational gap between children and their parents. There also has been a resurgence in women’s rights and equality for other types of people as well.

Now there are plenty of trends coming back from this era, with looser flapper like dresses becoming more common and shorter boyish looking hair on women. And with the men, Prohibition style haircuts are appearing, with the sides of their heads being shaved while leaving the top with long slicked back hair. Even in men’s clothing, the era is making a come back, as vests and classier clothing becomes a trend for men.

The era is also making a resurgence in music, as soul, blues, and swing are slowly becoming more trendy and popular. A new genre has even arisen, known as electro-swing, which is a mix of modern dance/rave music and 1920’s and 30’s swing. It is a beautiful blend of new and old, and the groups Caravan Palace, Tape Five, and Swing Republic are a few groups who are spearheading the genre. A great example of the older styles of music coming back is the song “All About That Bass,” it is bluesy and has some soul in it, just like in the days of old.

There is also something known as the “Great Gatsby Curve”, which is a measure of inequality financially/social class between generations, which was very high during the time “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald was written in the 1920’s. And this curve has been on the rise since 1980 and has been hitting a peak in the past few years, and this could also account for people going back to the trends of the 1920’s.

Now this poses the question as to why, why is this happening? It could be a number of things or a combination of them.

According to history teacher Mr. Dave Majofsky, old school stuff can become trendy.

“People always think  it’s trendy to bring back the stuff from “yesteryear” it’s just a trend, people have done the 50’s-90’s before,” he said.

He believes that it’s just a fad in pop culture, saying that the 1920’s have never been redone before, so it’s the next cool thing to do.

Some other news outlets have written about how today’s generation can relate fairly well to the young generation of The Jazz Age. Today’s youth are so much different than their parents, much like in the 20’s, due greatly to the technology gap. Today we have the Internet, social media, and other “crazy” technologies, much like the television, telephone, automobile, or the radio changed the world.

There is also the fact that the current generation have had to deal with similar situations, as both times had to recover from a large war, then an economic recession or depression, which seems to be easier to relate too, than Katniss Everdean running around in the forest.

Also, the ideals of the past have come back as equal rights movements for various reasons occur regularly, and today’s youth seemed to have adopted the loose moral code of the 20’s.

Today’s youth are growing up in a time very similar to the period of the 1920’s, so it makes sense that the youth would want to bring back all of the culture and ideals. So explore the past a little, dress a little classier, or listen to some jazz or some swing.