"The lights get brighter as the earth moves further from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing cocktail music yellow, and the opera of voices launches a higher key The laughter is easier from minute to minute, spread with prodigality, announced with a joyful word The groups change more quickly, swell with new arrivals, dissolve and dissolve. already in the same breath form vagabonds, confident girls who slip here and there, among the most robust and the most stable, become for a lively and joyful moment the center of a group, then, excited by the triumph, glide through the ocean of changing faces, voices and colors under the constantly changing light 41).The Great Gatsby depicts the Prohibition era, or the Roaring Twenties, as a time of parties, wealth, of extravagance and drinking a falsity permeated throughout society, with “introductions forgotten on the spot” and false friends who simply took advantage of wealth to advance in society (41). The parties were laid back, with friendly but often insubstantial conversations, accompanied by soothing jazz music. Music has shaped and been shaped by the holidays. The music swelled with the influx of people and the repeated and often improvised passages of music matched the polite conversations taking place. The cocktail music is upbeat and welcoming, with a comfort similar to the alcohol everyone is consuming. The music reflects and creates the mood of the party; partygoers won't remember the details of each song after they leave, the same way they won't remember the other people they met at the party. By not distracting from the main group, the music creates ambiance without drawing attention to itself. Even when the atmosphere is threatened by a "gypsy...... middle of paper ......Putting sin into syncopation?" Journal of the Ladies' House (1921): 16-34. Internet. April 22, 2014. .Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print. Kellner, Bruce. “The Cotton Club.” World of pop culture: icons, idols, ideas. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. May 7, 2014. Savran, David. “The Search for the American Soul: Theater in the Jazz Age.” Theater Journal 58.3 (2006): 459 476 546. ProQuest. Internet. May 5, 2014. “Speakeasies, Flappers & Red Hot Jazz: Music of Prohibition.” » Riverwalk Jazz - Stanford University Libraries. Stanford University, 2005. Web. April 24, 2014. “Swing Music in the 1930s (overview). » World of pop culture: icons, idols, ideas. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. May 7, 2014. Young, William H. and Nancy K. Young. “Swing music and dance.” World of pop culture: icons, idols, ideas. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. May 7 2014.