Music During the Vietnam War
During the Vietnam War, many Americans did not agree with our involvement in the war, specifically the draft that came along with it; therefore causing many backlashes and protests. This caused the counterculture of rock n roll and "hippie music" to remain as strong as it ever was, creating the "anti-war" and peace mindset among young people. The media thrived on this, and so did the musicians, many taking to song writing to show their disappointment with American involvement in the war, thus increasing their popularity and fan base, starting stuff that they never thought was possible. The importance these songs and music had on this subject was absolutely vital. Music was the heartbeat to the anti-war and hippie mindset in regards to the Vietnam War, it started a movement, one that would change our future as a nation. This movement still affects us today, the ideology that it brought appeals to the young people of our society now.
"Four Dead in Ohio" by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Written by Neil Young, in reaction to the May 4, 1970 Kent State shootings, this song highlighted the shock and outrage felt by the public in regard to the shooting of four students shot by members of the national guard during a relatively peaceful war protests. The public and specifically the youth felt bullied and reformed by their government during this time period, making them rebellious and eager to make their point because they felt the war and all that came along with it was unjust. Young and many other artists started a movement, one that was independent and didn't feel as we should be mindless to all going on around us. In regards to the lyrics, many applauded Young for his braveness to directly saying Nixon's name in the song, calling him on his actions and involvement in the conflict, which is really what ultimately resinated with his audience.
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| Protesting in regards to the Kent State Shootings |
Link to Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCS-g3HwXdc
Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Released in 1969 by Creedance Clearwater Revival, this song instantly became another one of the anti-war anthems, because of it's honesty and rebellion against the government actions regarding the Vietnam War. This song captures the feeling of feeling "imprisoned" by the impact of the war and the pressure to support it by the government. He repeats "It ain't me, It ain't me" regarding being one to blindly believe in something that is unjust. The song also criticizes the people who do, and the fortunate people who support the war but have no direct effects of the outcome of the war. Similar to Young's song, this song sparked thought and many became proactive in anti-war movements, this was a revolution of sorts.
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| Protesters using ideology from "Fortunate Son" by CCR |
All Along the Watchtower by Bob Dylan
Although written and once released by Bob Dylan, this song really gained its popularity and movement when Jimi Hendrix re-released it a few years later. The song itself has undertones referring to revolution and the spark of rebellion in the time period, but it came to life as an anti-war anthem when Jimi Hendrix covered it, at the time he was an influential musician that spoke outwardly about the war, he also did a rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" causing up-rise and revolution when he performed the song on stage at Woodstock in 1969. The musicians of this time really drove this counterculture to be as big as it was, it opened everyone's eyes to reality, which was necessary after the "levitt town" and suburban mindset that concluded WWII.
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| Jimi Hendrix performing at Woodstock (1969) |
Link to Song (Bob Dylan): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyIlDPLDCP0
Link to Song (Jimi Hendrix): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLV4_xaYynY
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(Extremely informational, I could write for days on this subject)
I think it's cool that music can have that big of an influence on people. All of these singers are sending out a very strong message, and the media is supporting it. A lot of people were against the war, and that has a big part of the success of these songs.
ReplyDeleteI love that you did this topic. Its incredible how much music played a role in the Vietnam Era. I never would have thought of the music as being a part of the war but now I know different.
ReplyDeleteI love that you did this topic. Its incredible how much music played a role in the Vietnam Era. I never would have thought of the music as being a part of the war but now I know different.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's great that these public figures who we see as our role models a lot of the time are so willing to speak up for what they believe in. I love that they can put their feelings behind these lyrics instead of being something that just rhymes or is cool at the time. Music is such a big impact on our everyday lives and it was when this war was going on as well. This truly is something amazing.
ReplyDeleteI find this piece of history to be amazing, with celebrities risking their career by giving straightforward political messages to the government about the war and the hypocrisy surrounding it by using music that revolved around current events, there and here. It was a great example of a protest.
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ReplyDeleteI think your post was very well laid out in format as well as information, thumbs up! Thanks for the links, it made it easy to use. Fortunate Son is probably my favorite song of this time era for it raises questions and comments still valid to today's war in Iraq. It does pose a question of if the media coverage was not as prevalent thus limiting what the music world had to sing about, would the public have treated the returning soldiers as they did?
ReplyDeleteMusic is so important throughout life and it's really cool to see how events going on influence the kinds of music that is being produced. It's more rare today to see songs like this, but they have such huge messages.
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge fan of all these songs, and I didn't even know until I got older that they were anti-war. I finally am able to understand the true meaning behind each of these songs, though All Along the Watchtower is an odd one. These huge artists were very influential through the music they made and I believe their had a large role in the Vietnam War era.
ReplyDeleteI always liked Jimi hendrix rendition of All Along the Watchtower but i never realized it had to do with this war. It's really moving to see how powerful music can be to some people even influencing the way they think. Its refreshing to know there are other ways to make people feel empathy than with just rhetoric or simple speech.
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