The Iconic Music of The Vietnam War
While the Vietnam War may have divided this country, the music of that time united the youth and left its mark on this nation forever.
Music has always been there for our soldiers during a war. The Revolutionary War had “Yankee Doodle”, “Chester”, and the song “Liberty” to keep the spirits of the men who were fighting high. “The song, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”, which was sung during the civil war in support of the Union, was a counterpart to “Dixie” which was popular with the Confederate army. WWI gave us Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America”, and “The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” was the rage of WWII. These songs were linked to the wars of their times, each song was performed to help support and inspire the soldiers that were fighting. None, however, have the historical significance of the songs produced during the Vietnam War. The songs of this war were not written in support of the troops, but instead, they were written in support of the anti-war movement.
The 1960s brought about many changes. During the 60s almost half the American population were young adults. Because this was a generation of youth, it brought about a different culture than the conservative 50s. Many of the “baby boomers” as they were called, were at risk of being drafted and sent to fight in Vietnam. At the onset of the war, Americans were accepting of it and felt we were justified in being there. But as time went on and the body count rose, the opinion of the American people began to change. With this change came the anti-war protests, and along with the protests came a new style of music. Unlike any other style of music, the artists of the Vietnam war era used their music to influence the American people to stand up to the government and unite the nation in peace. In the beginning, the most often used genre of music to express their resistance to the war was folk. This movement became known as the peace movement.
Together with the peace movement, came the hippies. Hippies used music to express themselves politically, spiritually, and emotionally. The hippie movement was a celebration of youth, peace, love, and individualism. They quickly joined the protest against the war and sang anti-war songs at rallies. During the hippie movement, many American flags and draft cards were destroyed by fire as a show of their discontent with the government’s involvement in the Vietnam War. They coined the slogan “Make love not war” which pretty well summed up their beliefs on peace (Rothman, Lily).
As the peace movement spread, more and more young people joined. Students, along with the hippies, held anti-war rallies across American college campuses. As well as students and hippies, musicians joined in the peace movement. Joan Baez, a nonviolent singer/songwriter, sang songs like “Saigon Bride” in front of massive audiences. John Lennon also joined the protests, singing songs like “Give Peace a Chance” (Glider Lehrman). By 1968 the draft began to reach the student population, causing the campus protests to escalate. As the protest grew, the music began to change. Rock music joined with folk to become a core music style of the anti-war movement.
A key figure among the music anti-war spectrum was Jimi Hendrix. “It should be underlined that Hendrix, who was a former soldier himself, was not an official protestor of the war, and he actually sympathized with the anti-communist view. While Hendrix’s point of view was probably not similar to the protestors, his songs became anthems to the anti-war movement and a driving force during the war years, even after his death.” (Wikipedia, Wikimedia, Foundation, May 2019)
Similarly, another performer who had a strong influence on the youth of that time was Bob Dylan. “Dylan’s songs were written to cause a reaction and to wake people up to what was happening. His song “Blowing in the Wind” perfectly represents Dylan’s opinion on the war. His song “The Times They are a Changing”, gave warning to the government that changes were coming that they would not like.” (Sarappa, Paola.)
As more musicians joined the movement, the public had no choice but to take notice. Famous singers and songwriters were marching beside hippies and students in protest over a war they felt we never should have joined. Songs were being written to express the anguish that the youth felt over their friends being sent to what they felt, would surely be their death. Little did they know that death would soon come to them.
On May 4th,1970 at Kent State University, in Kent, Ohio, four unarmed college students were shot and killed by the Ohio National Guard. This tragic event inspired singer-songwriter Neil Young of the group, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to write the song “Ohio.” The song was released 10 days after the shootings and became a protest anthem as Americans of all ages became overwhelmed and fed up with the war.
Some of the most powerful and emotional songs came out during the Vietnam War: Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” (1969); John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” (1969); Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s “Ohio” (1970); John Lennon’s “Imagine” (1971) and Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” (1971). The song, however, that was the most popular with the protestors was Edwin Starr’s “War”.
The music of the Vietnam war era will always be remembered as the time when all genres of music came together in support of a cause. It was a time when music was used to express the anguish and resentment the youth of our nation felt at being forced to fight in a war they did not believe in. It was a time when our youth stood up and through music and protests, said “enough, no more need to die”. The music of this time will live far beyond any other style of music because it was written from the heart and performed with the intent to spread a message. It does not matter what age you are, when you listen to the songs from this era, you understand the message it was spreading loud and clear, “All we are saying is give peace a chance.”
Works Cited
- Editors, History.com. “Vietnam War Protests.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 22 Feb. 2010, www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-protests.
- Moores, Sean. “Vietnam: The First Rock and Roll War.” Stars and Stripes, 10 Nov. 2016, www.stripes.com/news/special-reports/vietnam-stories/1966/vietnam-the-first-rock-and-roll-war-1.438304#gallery.
- “Opposition to United States Involvement in the Vietnam War.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 May 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_United_States_involvement_in_the_Vietnam_War.
- Rothman, Lily. “The Vietnam War: Why That Conflict Produced Iconic Music.” Time, Time, 27 Sept. 2017, time.com/4949617/music-vietnam-war/.
- Sarappa, Paola. “The Vietnam Conflict: The Rock ‘n’ Roll War.” Paola Sarappa | Blog, 18 Dec. 2016, paolasarappa.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/the-vietnam-conflict-the-rock-roll-war/.
- “The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Advanced Placement United States History Study Guide.” The Sixties and Protest Music | AP US History Study Guide from The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, 5 July 2012, ap.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/sixties/essays/protest-music-1960s?period=8.
