ARCHIVE - protest music

Protest Music Sparking Social Change

by
Charles Meach

There is a lot to be said about protest music. Music can show how popular culture thinks and what is most important to the generation producing, singing and listening to it. During the Vietnam War music was able to spark a generation of protest. Protest music is essential to any major change that can occur. Music helped a generation to make change and end a police action.

Music used in protest can be looked at in many ways. A good way to see how well a song helped to make change is by looking at how popular it was. It is a lot easier for many different people to understand the concepts in the music instead of other forms of protest. It would be interesting to see if the protest music was listened to by people just at home or maybe even by the military personel as well. J.W. Jackson wrote "It was during the 1950's that America's merchandisers first began to cultivate teenagers as a social phenomenon-all the better to tap into an unmined consumer source- and pre- teens aspired to the status and life and life of apparent frivolity experienced by that group. For the first time, not only did teenagers enjoy a separate sense of identity; unlike their predecessors they had money to spend."1 The more popular the music the more the division of generations disintegrates. I think that if a song can be heard and be popular world wide it can force a nation to change its agenda and even maybe be a part of ending a conflict through non-violent means. Songs can uplift people as well they can help to make the struggle for change a little less stressful. Songs can be a way for people to cope with the tragedies of war as well.
soldier 2

The Vietnam War occurred for Americans from 1959 to 1975. Other social struggles were also going on during this time that affected music and the way Americans were protesting, because there were really three major social changes going on. Of course my main focus is on the Vietnam war. There was the civil rights movement that started to really come in to its own in 1954 and lasted into the early 1980's. This was something that was definitely affecting the war protesters and music of the era. Another social movement that was overlapping the Vietnam War was the feminist movement. Second wave feminism was gaining momentum during this time. The start of the movement was in the early 1960's and was coming to an end in the late 1980's. All of these things were affecting popular and protest music of the time. So many great changes were occurring during these times that were affecting almost everyone. No wonder so many great songs came out during this era that showed the thoughts of so many people. It is almost sad that in great adversity and the struggle to overcome these cultural miseries had some of the greatest songs that echoed through the times. I also feel sad that some of these songs could be cries of what we are trying to overcome today. "An even more fundamental point is that a political message in a song is not any different than free speech guaranteed under the US Constitution. As long as there is a cause or an event that provokes emotions, there will be songs and rhetorical speeches on both ends of any issue."3

Protest music has probably been around since the invention of music and song. During the 1950's to really the late 1970's there were so many horrendous things going on in the spotlight that really it makes sense that people needed a way to express their feelings.

soldiers

I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die-Rag

I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag
Joe McDonald (1965)

Well, Come On All Of You, Big Strong Men,
Uncle Sam Needs Your Help Again.
He's Got Himself In A Terrible Jam
Way Down Yonder In Vietnam
So Put Down Your Books And Pick Up A Gun,
We're Gonna Have A Whole Lotta Fun.

And It's One, Two, Three,
What Are We Fighting For ?
Don't Ask Me, I Don't Give A Damn,
Next Stop Is Vietnam;
And It's Five, Six, Seven,
Open Up The Pearly Gates,
Well There Ain't No Time To Wonder Why,
Whoopee! We're All Gonna Die.

Come On Wall Street, Don't Be Slow,
Why Man, This Is War Au-Go-Go
There's Plenty Good Money To Be Made
By Supplying The Army With The Tools Of Its Trade,
But Just Hope And Pray That If They Drop The Bomb,
They Drop It On The Viet Cong.

And It's One, Two, Three,
What Are We Fighting For ?
Don't Ask Me, I Don't Give A Damn,
Next Stop Is Vietnam.
And It's Five, Six, Seven,
Open Up The Pearly Gates,
Well There Ain't No Time To Wonder Why
Whoopee! We're All Gonna Die.

Well, Come On Generals, Let's Move Fast;
Your Big Chance Has Come At Last.
Now You Can Go Out And Get Those Reds
'Cause The Only Good Commie Is The One That's Dead
And You Know That Peace Can Only Be Won
When We've Blown 'Em All To Kingdom Come.

Come On Mothers Throughout The Land,
Pack Your Boys Off To Vietnam.
Come On Fathers, And Don't Hesitate
To Send Your Sons Off Before It's Too Late.
And You Can Be The First Ones On Your Block
To Have Your Boy Come Home In A Box.

And It's One, Two, Three
What Are We Fighting For ?
Don't Ask Me, I Don't Give A Damn,
Next Stop Is Vietnam.
And It's Five, Six, Seven,
Open Up The Pearly Gates,
Well There Ain't No Time To Wonder Why,
Whoopee! We're All Gonna Die.4

purpleheart
2

I found this song very interesting because it really had a feeling of a dichotomy of fun and war. When you read the words for this song you almost feel appalled of what Vietnam and the war is about. It is almost saying that mothers and fathers are thinking it is good to send them to war, but you will end up seeing them in a box coming home. This song seems to be showing the comic side of war. It has a very funny tone to the music like you're at a carnival and it is fun. The song also shows the main reason a lot of people thought the war was about--the communist scare and of course for the purpose of making money--economics.

rejoyce

Grace Slick (1967)
Chemical Change Like A Laser Beam

You've Shattered The Warning Amber Light
Make Me Warm
Let Me See You Moving Everything Over
Smiling In My Room
You Know You'll Be Inside Of My Mind Soon.

There Are So Many Of You.
White Shirt And Tie, White Shirt And Tie,
White Shirt And Tie, Wedding Ring, Wedding Ring.

Mulligan Stew For Bloom,
The Only Jew In The Room
Saxon's Sick On The Holy Dregs
And Their Constant Getting Throw Up On His Leg.

Molly's Gone To Blazes,
Boylan's Crotch Amazes
Any Woman Whose Husband Sleeps With His Head
All Buried Down At The Foot Of His Bed.

I've Got His Arm
I've Got His Arm
I've Had It For Weeks
I've Got His Arm
Steven Won't Give His Arm
To No Gold Star Mother's Farm;
War's Good Business So Give Your Son
And I'd Rather Have My Country Die For Me.

There Are So Many Of You.
Sell Your Mother For A Hershey Bar
Grow Up Looking Like A Car
There Are;
All You Want To Do Is Live,
All You Want To Do Is Give But
Some How It All Falls Apart!5

This song has a very dark tone to it and has a lot of very deep meaning. When listening to her voice I almost get a feeling of pain and not understanding the concept of why it is ok to kill people. I love the quote "and I'd rather have my country die for me." 5 It is amazing to hear the pain in her voice. This song is a way to cope with the pain. Music can be able to help people with loss; loss of a loved one, loss of an arm, and loss of a country that use to protect freedom not take it away.

chicago

It Better End Soon
It Better End Soon
Robert Lamm-Terry Kath (1969)

Can't Stand It No More
The People Dying
Crying For Help For So Many Years
But Nobody Hears
Better End Soon My Friend
It Better End Soon My Friend Can't Take It No More
The People Hating
Hurting Their Brothers
They Don't Understand
They Can't Understand
Better End Soon My Friend
It Better End Soon

Hey, Everybody
Won't You Just Look Around
Can't Anybody See
Just What's Going Down
Can't You Take The Time
Just To Feel
Just To Feel What Is Real
If You Do
Then You'll See That We Got A Raw Deal
They're Killing Everybody
They're Killing Me And You
They're Killing Everybody
I Wish It Weren't True
They Say We Got To Make War
Or The Economy Will Fall
But If We Don't Stop
We Won't Be Around No More
They're Ruining This World
For You And Me
The Big Heads Of State
Won't Let Us Be Free
They Made The Rules Once
But It Didn't Work Out
Now We Must Try Again
Before They Kill Us Off
No More Dying!
No More Killing
No More Dying
No More Fighting
We Don't Want To Die
No, We Don't Want To Die
Please Let's Change It All
Please Let's Make It All
Good For The Present
And Better For The Future
Let's Just Love One Another
Let's Show Peace For Each Other
We Can Make It Happen
Let's Just Make It Happen
We Can Change This World
Please Let's Change This World
Please Let's Make It Happen For Our Children
For Our Women
Change The World
Please Make It Happen
Come On
Come On
Please
Come On
It's Up To Me
It's Up To You
So Let's Do It Now
Yeah
Do It Now

Can't Stand It No More
The People Cheating
Burning Each Other
They Know It Ain't Right
How Can It Be Right
Better End Soon My Friend
It Better End Soon My Friend6

demonstration
7

I really feel this song is a great example of how music really can appeal to all. This song's sounds go fast and then slow. The speed of the song is used for a kind of dramatic effect. The music gets really loud in the parts that are most important. The tone has more of a jazz taste to it. This song plays on the thought of people trying to make a better future, and the idea of influencing future generations and our own children. The songs were much longer and there were more the instrumentals in the music that play a part during this era's music. Music now usually consists mainly of lyrics not the sounds made by the instruments. The sound of the voice has a sense of desperation to it and seems to be pleading with the audience. This song goes into the politics and economics side of the war. The audience seems to be geared more toward the more affected lower class and not so much toward the politicians. It is amazing how many morals are brought up in this song; killing, cheating, thinking of future generations, love, what is real, and listening to each other. Music is a way to communicate to a mass public and get them to listen to others ideas and convictions.

Ohio
Neil Young (1970)

Tin Soldiers And Nixon's Bombing
We're Finally On Our Own
This Summer I Hear The Drumming
Four Dead In Ohio

Gotta Get Down To It
Soldiers Are Gunning Us Down
Should Of Been Done Long Ago
What If You Knew Her And
Found Her Dead On The Ground
How Can You Run When You Know

La La La La La La La
La La La La La La La
La La La La La La La

Tin Soldiers And Nixon's Bombing
We're Finally On Our Own
This Summer I Hear The Drumming
Four Dead In Ohio

Four Dead In Ohio
Four Dead In Ohio
Four Dead In Ohio
Four Dead In Ohio

kent 7

"On May 4, 1970 four Kent State University students were gunned down by Ohio National Guardsmen during an anti-war demonstration. This Neil Young penned song came out only a few months later. He wrote it after viewing still photographs of the carnage. In all of the research and television documentaries I have seen, I have still never been convinced of a good reason of why the National Guardsmen fired. A sad, tragic affair." 8

This song topped out on the American charts at number 14. This song was very popular at the time. I chose this piece because the lyrics were powerful. I could not get over the feeling of anti-nationalism to the words. It is amazing how much the feeling that our country let us down was becoming popular even then. I like how this song specifically directs the attention to President Nixon. The most moving part of this song is that it refers to the killing of four college student protesters during the war. Who thinks it is right to kill protesters? This song and event really seemed to spark a very anti war sentiment.

What Are Their Names
Neil Young-Jerry Garcia-Phil Lesh-Michael Schrieve-David Crosby (1970)

I wonder who they are
The men who really run this land
And I wonder why they run it
With such a thoughtless hand.
Tell me what are their names,
And on what street do they live
I'd like to ride right over
This afternoon and give
Them a piece of my mind
About peace for mankind
Peace is not
An awful lot
To ask9

2

This piece is great because I wanted to show how the thoughts of Americans that were shifting to an anti-nationalist sentiment and a skepticism of America and the people in power. I think that they were not only targeting politicians, but powerful business people as well. I think that there was a large sense of being lied to at this time. The lies were not only about war but other social movement going on as well. There were a lot of people really fighting the changes occurring during this time. The sad thing about it is that most of it had to do with money, status and people fearing the change. In hindsight I wish people could have looked at the struggles women, civil right fighters and anti war protesters were going through and cared a little less about themselves and more about others.

nash
Oh! Camil (The Winter Soldier)
Graham Nash (1973)

Oh Camil, tell me how do you feel
You fought for your country
for God and for war,
now your heart tells you that can't be real.
So you tell me your story from beginning to end
all the blood and the guts and the gore
will you tell all the people
'bout the people you killed,
not for God, but for country and war

Oh! Camil, tell me what did you mother say,
when you left those people out in the fields,
rotting along with the hay
Did you show her your medals
Did you show her your guns
Did you show her the ears that you wore
Did you show her a picture of the people you killed
not for God, but for country and war

Oh! Camil, tell me why are you in this place
When you stood up for justice your country replied
by throwing it back in your face.
When you tell me your story
are you making amends for all of the hatred you saw
Will you tell all the people about the people that cry out for God
not for country or war10

vietnam
2

When listening to this song it has a certain slow sad and angry melody to it. I feel sorry for those men who came home veterans of war, but our country did not accept them. Many soldiers came home to people spitting on them and calling them baby killers. People during this tragic time should have taken out their frustrations on the people in power in the government who sent the soldiers over there to be killers maybe they should have spit on them. I fell sorry for those soldiers that were just fighting for their lives and became martyrs for a government who just left them out their to hang for all of our mistakes.

vvaw

Soldiers of Peace
Graham Nash, Craig Doerge & Joe Vitale (1987)

Soldiers of peace are not fighting a war
Are not looking for enemies behind every door
Are not looking for people to kill or to maim.
Soldiers of peace are just changing the game.

Men who were fighting for all of our lives
Are now fighting for children, for homes and for wives,
Fighting for the memory of all who fell before,
But the soldiers of peace just can't kill any more.

So come all you warriors who live for the fight,
Come listen to somebody, somebody who might
Have been there before you and they have the right,
They've been dying to tell you the score.
The old warriors don't want you to hurt any more.

Soldiers of peace can still hear the cries
When the people were screaming and losing their lives,
When bodies were broken and spirits were torn
The soldiers of peace do not want you to mourn.

Soldiers of peace are not fighting a war.
No more, no more, no more, no more.11

peace
2

I chose this song to show how even 12 years after the official end of the Vietnam War many were still struggling with what happened in Vietnam. I really enjoyed the melody to this song it really seems like the singer is trying to uplift the soldiers of Vietnam and those who were at home and still trying to understand what went on and how to deal with it. There were many people with PTSD or posttraumatic stress disorder after the war. This song seems to me to be speaking to these people and soldiers that are still coping. Another thing is that there was a need for the soldiers to speak and get out there frustrations out, but there was really no support system for these veterans except each other and some through music as is why I chose this song.

Ballad Of Penny Evans
Steve Goodman (1971)

My Name Is Penny Evans And My Age Is Twenty-One
I'm A Widow Of The War That Was Fought In Vietnam
I Have Two Baby Daughters And I Do The Best I Can
They Say The War Is Over But I Think It's Just Begun

I Remember I Was Seventeen When First I Met My Bill
At His Father's Grand Piano We Played Old 'Heart And Soul'
I Only Knew The Left Hand Part, He Knew The Right So Well
He's The Only Boy I Slept With, And The Only One I Will

First We Had A Baby Girl, We Had Two Good Years
And Next The Warning Notice Came, We Parted Without Tears
Then It's Nine Months From Our Last Goodbye Our Second Child Appears
And It's Ten Months And A Telegram Confirming All Our Fears

So Once A Month I Get A Check From Some Army Bureaucrat
And Once A Month I Tear It Up And Mail The Damn Thing Back
Do They Think That Makes It All Right? Do They Think I'll Fall For That
They Can Keep Their Bloody Money, It Won't Bring My Billy Back

I Never Cared For Politics, Speeches I Don't Understand
Likewise I'll Take No Charity From Any Living Man
But Tonight There's Fifty Thousand Gone In That Unhappy Land
And Fifty Thousand 'Heart And Souls' Being Played With Just One Hand

My Name Is Penny Evans And My Age Is Twenty-One
I'm A Widow Of The War That Was Fought In Vietnam
I Have Two Baby Daughters - Thank God I Have No Son
They Say The War Is Over But I Think It's Just Begun12

coffin
7

When listening to this song I almost began to cry. It was interesting how there were no instruments to this song, it added to the dramatic affect of the song. You can really hear the pain in the singer's voice. The story to this song is about a woman who became a widow from the war. She has two children with Billy, who died in Vietnam. The thing I really enjoy about this song is that every time she gets money for the loss of her husband, she tears it up and mails it back to sender. She doesn't want their blood money. I really never thought about blood money like that I always just assumed it had something to do with a crime. But in thinking about what happened during this war, it was a crime! The reality of this war is that we were wrong and the only ones paying for it were the men who died and those who came back being spit on or with PTSD!

" Despite the increasing use of music as a tool for social and political commentary, we know relatively little about the protest song. In discussing this phenomenon it is quite easy to fall into platonic clichés about the power of music to corrupt the young and unaware. Indeed, many have done so."13 I ask myself did the social change songs stemming from the Vietnam War really have any affect on the United States leaving Vietnam? I would like to think so. When you listen to the music and look at the pictures and see what ended up happening I do feel that it had some affect on the government to decide to leave Vietnam. But now I feel the real effect of the music was on the soldiers, the protesters and even just the everyday normal American. "The antiwar music of the Vietnam era took the children of the 60's to a different level. Musicians of this generation took the guitar strumming troubadour from the coffee houses, plugged them in, and sent the music and the message into the college dorm rooms and the homes of the youth of America."14 The main point of the music was for everyone to release their frustrations. There were many people coming home from this tragic affair with a lot of emotional problems. As well there were many people at home who were feeling anxiety about what their country was doing and they were kind of a part of it. The protest songs of the time really got into mainstream America and the tragedies of this war were being talked about on a much larger scale. Music can really communicate to everyone and create social change. It is amazing how much affect music had on everyone at this time. I wonder if these songs were sung today about The War On Terrorism if it would make change like it did with the Vietnam War?

Works cited:

Anderson, J.W. "Vietnam Era Anti War Music." 23 May 2006. Online Posting. http://www.jwsrockgarden.com/jw02vvaw.htm
BBC. "In pictures: The Vietnam War." 2007. Online Posting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/in_pictures_the_vietnam_war_/html/2.stm

Chicago. "It Better End Soon." Chicago II. Columbia, 1969

Country Joe McDonald and the Fish. "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag." I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die. BMI, 1968
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. "Ohio." Four Way Street. Atlantic. 1970.
Denisoff, R. Serge. Sing a Song of Social Significance. Bowling Green. Bowling Green State University Popular Press. 1983
Graham Nash. "Oh! Camil." Wild Tales. Atlantic. 1973
Graham Nash, Craig Doerge & Joe Vitale. "Soldiers of Peace." Atlantic. 1987
Jackson, John A. American Bandstand, Dick Clark and the Making of a Rock 'N' Roll Empire. New York. Oxford University Press. 1997
Jefferson Airplane. "Rejoyce." After Bathing at Baxters. BMG/RCA, 1967.
Neil Young-Jerry Garcia-Phil Lesh-Michael Schrieve-David Crosby. "What Are Their Names." Atlantic. 1970
Steve Goodman. "Ballad Of Penny Evans." Somebody Else's Troubles. Atlantic.1971
Think Quest. "Radical times: The Anti War Movement of the 1960's."1999. Online Posting. http://library.thinkquest.org/27942/indexf.htm

Other good work to look at:

1st Battalion, 50th Infantry. "Music of the Vietnam War - Top of the Charts." 2003. Online Posting. http://www.ichiban1.org/html/music.htm

Bindas, Kenneth J. America's Musical Pulse, Popular Music in Twentieth-Century Society. Westport. Greenwood Press. 1992
Clarke, Donald. The Rise and fall of Popular Music. New York. St. Martin's Press. 1995
Dickerson, James. Goin' Back to Memphis. New York. Schirmer Books. 1996
Durkee, Rob. American Top 40. New York. Schirmer Books. 1999
Lasser, Furia. America's Songs. Great Britain. Routledge. 2006
Lull, James. Popular Music and Communication. Park. Sage Publications. 1987
Manuel, Peter. Popular Musics of the Non-Western World. New York. Oxford University Press. 1988
Perone, James. Songs of the Vietnam Conflict. London. Green Wood Press. 2001
Pichaske, David. A Generation in Motion, Popular Music and Culture in the Sixties. New York. Schirmer Books. 1979
Sanjek, Russell. Pennies From Heaven, The American Popular Music Business in the Twentieth Century. New York. Da Capo Press. 1996
Scheurer, Timothy E. Born in the U.S.A.. Jackson. University Press of Mississippi. 1991
Smith, Joe. Off the Record, An Oral History of Popular Music. New York. Warner Books. 1988
Velsey, Jenness. Classic American Popular Song. New York. Routledge. 2006

1 Anderson, J.W. "Vietnam Era Anti War Music." 23 May 2006. Online Posting. http://www.jwsrockgarden.com/jw02vvaw.htm

2 BBC. "In pictures: The Vietnam War." 2007. Online Posting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/in_pictures_the_vietnam_war_/html/2.stm
3 Denisoff, R. Serge. Sing a Song of Social Significance. Bowling Green. Bowling Green State University Popular Press. 1983

4 Country Joe McDonald and the Fish. "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag." I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die. BMI, 1968

5 Jefferson Airplane. "Rejoyce." After Bathing at Baxters. BMG/RCA, 1967.

6 Chicago. "It Better End Soon." Chicago II. Columbia, 1969

7 Think Quest. "Radical times: The Anti War Movement of the 1960's."1999. Online Posting. http://library.thinkquest.org/27942/indexf.htm

8 Anderson, J.W. "Vietnam Era Anti War Music." 23 May 2006. Online Posting. http://www.jwsrockgarden.com/jw02vvaw.htm

9 Neil Young-Jerry Garcia-Phil Lesh-Michael Schrieve-David Crosby. "What Are Their Names." Atlantic. 1970

10 Graham Nash. "Oh! Camil." Wild Tales. Atlantic. 1973

11 Graham Nash, Craig Doerge & Joe Vitale. "Soldiers of Peace." Atlantic. 1987

12 Steve Goodman. "Ballad Of Penny Evans." Somebody Else's Troubles. Atlantic. 1971

13 Jackson, John A. American Bandstand, Dick Clark and the Making of a Rock 'N' Roll Empire. New York. Oxford University Press. 1997