A Song Turned to Protest

“Music is moonlight in the gloomy night of life,” words written by the romantic writer Jean Paul Richter, and they are ever so true. There have been numerous gloomy historical events within America’s 242 years since its establishment. One gloomy event in particular was the Vietnam War, and this war also became known as "America’s First Rock n Roll War." Anti-war songs were almost on every musician’s album, played on every radio, and added fuel to fiery protests against the war all over the nation. There was a musical being preformed on Broadway promoting these ideas against war. Protesters plastered lyrics from anti-war songs on signs as their rally cry. War, any war, can shape and change many things for the people being effected by it, but the Vietnam War, while changing and shaping different things, did something very important: It changed music in the late 60s and early 70s that showed just how powerful music really was and is. This war helped define the rebellious way that is Rock n Roll.

There were The Temptations with the song "My Girl," Elvis asking people to stay away from his "Blue Suede Shoes," and a musical trying to show the public that Oklahoma was not that boring. The 1940s and 50s seemed to be having an okay and somewhat nice life on the music front—not creating much ruckus except for Elvis’s hips—when the war that began in 1955 in Vietnam didn’t seem to effect music much. Then, in the year 1965, American boys started to get cards saying, “You are going to war,” and new songs came to the nation's ears. By 1968, there were 540,000 troops in Vietnam. There was one song in particular that voiced boys going off to war. One would see the band name “Country Joe and the Blow Fish” and think they are probably some children’s band, but that was far from the truth; this band had a song that defined the feelings of the young men going to war and their parents having to let them go. "I Feel Like I’m Fixing to Die Rag" was the song's name, and there is a stanza that stands out of the whole song:

“Come on mothers through out the land / Pack your boys off to Vietnam / Come on fathers, don’t hesitate / Send your sons off before it’s too late / You can be the first one on your block / to have your boy come back in a box.”

This song—especially this stanza—shows the parents having no choice in sending their children off to war. Also, the fear each young man had was coming back in a box, which by the time this song came out many had. Songs like this influenced men who had to enter into the draft to runaway or lie on medical exams—anything to avoid the chance of coming back in a box. Like the scene in Across the Universe, where the Army Sargent asks the character Max if there is any reason he should not be in the army and Max replies to avoid the possibility of coming back in a box:

Max: I'm a cross-dressing homosexual pacifist with a spot on my lung.

Army Sergeant: As long as you don't have flat feet.

Another song that was in protest to sending the boys away and shows the feelings of parents is by the legendary folk singer Bob Dylan, and that song was "The Times They Are a-Changin." The stanza that would stand out to any parent of this time would be this:

“Come on mothers and fathers / throughout the land / and don’t citizen / what you cant understand / your sons and daughters are beyond your command.”

That last part is what truly stands out. The minute the sons had to put their name in that draft, the parents had no control on what would happen next. This leads to one of the reasons people started burning flags; they felt hurt and betrayed by the American government. Their children were being forced into a war that was not really America’s war and dying for a country where half the people did not want them there. Phil Ochs song "We Ain't Marchin No More"describes it perfectly:

“We’re fighting a war we lost before the war began. We’re the white boots marchin in a yellow land.”

As there were many songs specifically about the draft and men going off to war, the more popular songs of the age were inspired by specific events and causes of the Vietnam War. For starters, when running down the line of anti-war songs, there is the song "War" by Motown. It is a song the gives a lyrical definition of what war is to people, not the definition in a book. This song can be used for any anti-war of any age, really, as long as one doesn’t go too far back. The iconic lines still ring in the present generation:

“War! / What is it good for? / Absolutely nothing!” The one line that a person of the time could know this song was specifically about the Vietnam War was, “War I despise, because it means the destruction of innocence!” because the Vietnam War was also called “The Death of Innocence” by some, as those drafted were mostly 17 to 23 years old.

Then there were songs that were inspired by the weaponry used during the war. The most popular of these was "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix, which was about the M-18 violet smoking grenade used by US soldiers—the grenade had the effect of oxygen depravation for those who inhale it. Then there was a song called "The Fortunate Son" by Credence Clearwater Revival; this song focused on the children of politicians and the rich who were able to avoid the draft. This song caused those who had family fighting in Vietnam to hate and be angry towards those who never even had to put their name in the draft.

Then there was the most iconic of songs based off of protests against the Vietnam war. This song was about a massacre that happened on May 4, 1970 at a school called Kent State University. The song was called "Ohio" and it was by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. The protest took place due to Nixon making the decision to bomb and invade Cambodia with 8,700 men. Kent State had a protest that went on for four days against this invasion. On the fourth day, the protest turned violent against the cops and National Guardsmen, tear gas was thrown, and they fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others. The song "Ohio" was written primarily about this protest gone violent against the Vietnam War.

“Tin soldiers and Nixon coming / We're finally on our own. This summer I hear the drumming / Four dead in Ohio.”

The song was blaming Nixon and him sending the soldiers to Cambodia for the four dead, all who, were 19t o 20.

Neil Young wrote in Decade: "It's still hard to believe I had to write this song. It's ironic that I capitalized on the death of these American students. Probably the biggest lesson ever learned at an American place of learning.... In speaking for ourselves, [listeners] recognized that we were speaking for them, too.”

Then there was a musical by the name Hair, which was controversial to say the least; it had heavy use of profanity, rock n roll sounds, drug use, sex, and every mother’s nightmare: Men with extremely long hair. It was a visual representation of how music had drastically changed. It showed how music began to promote and praise drugs, revolt against parents and authority, and sex. Something Woodstock had a lot of, but most of all, just like the famous music festival, it was about peace and alternative means for one to forget the trouble of the world. This musical just continued to “sell dangerous ideas.” The musical broke new ground for the “rock musical” age. The musical came to Broadway in 1967, and it follows a gang of longhaired hippies who fight against the “system” who also had a friend in the group who's trying to avoid the draft. Songs like "Don’t Put It Down" and "Where Do I Go" sing of men burning their draft cards and wanting to disregard the flag—something many did during this time. The big song in the musical was "Three-Five-Zero-Zero," during which violent bloody war images are shown and acted out to show the death of innocence. The musical could possibly be one of the best visuals of the 60s, showing how the youth on the American front were feeling about the war. The musical was one big protest in itself. Hair showed how the youth were being forced to grow up too fast, to take on responsibilities that they never dreamed of having, and thinking about death at only 17. The musical showed how the Vietnam War was the heaviest of dark clouds on the youth of America. At any moment, they could be taken from the bowling rink or football practice and a machine gun was shoved in their hands, told to go kill people. Hair was the musical visual example of why free love, drugs, and doing what ever you wanted whenever you wanted was such a big deal during the 60s. It was that the 17-year-olds had to live it up now because, at any moment, they would be shipped off and most likely come back in a box. Sadly at the end of the musical, the friend who tried to avoid the draft did come back in a box. The critic Charles Isherwood, writing for the New York Times, said this of the historic musical:

“For darker, knottier and more richly textured sonic experiences of the times, you turn to the Doors or Bob Dylan or Joni Mitchell or Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin. Or all of them. For an escapist dose of the sweet sound of youth brimming with hope that the world is going to change tomorrow, you listen to Hair and let the sunshine in.”

These songs are a far cry from the war song "Yankee Doodle," a song written during the Revolutionary War. That song was more about keeping spirits happy, whereas these songs were about protesting a war. The Vietnam War was one of the biggest influences in Rock n Roll history, which is obvious to see. There are those that say the music during the 60s promoted nothing but sex, drugs, and breaking rules—and maybe it did. While the anti-war songs were anthems to protests across America, the same bands sang songs about sex and drugs, but maybe they promoted these things because they were an escape. This was a time where the old kept leaving and the young kept dying. The music during the time was offering the young some relief; either it was promoting sex or drugs, or it was filling their hearts with protest and defiance against the government. Rolling Stones, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Tommy James and the Shondells, the Doors, Jeffereson Airplane, Black Sabbath, the Beach Boys, and many more all wrote songs that were based on the Vietnam War. Music took a dramatic turn when America went to Nam. The baby boomers watched as their Supremes and Frank records were replaced by their children’s music, which they called the “noise.” They watched as songs went from "Singing in the Rain" and "Dancing in the Moonlight" to, “War, children, it's just a shot away It's just a shot away.” A person of today’s generation, without watching or talking to anyone of the time of the war, can easily look at some pictures and the music during the time and understand the feelings and the life being lived.