Popular Music In Vietnam Essay

As public approval of the Vietnam War dwindled in the latter half of the 1960s, popular music artists began to record songs that reflected this disapproval and ultimately became a new method of protest. Popular music at the time echoed the opinions of many University Students during and many years after the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War played a significant role in the growth of the music industry as the controversy surrounding Vietnam became the driving force of musicians writing hundreds of songs talking about the war. Rock music bacame another form of popular music in which many artists used as a protesting tool. Protest music began its demise once President Nixon began gradually withdrawing troops out of Vietnam; this led to the traditional messages of romance and courtship back into popular music. Popular songs
To attract other people to their cause, the concert promoters use popular musical artists to entertain and educate the masses on the anti-war efforts of the 1960s. Finally, John Lennon, an ex-band member of the popular rock group The Beatles, recorded a song called “Give Peace a Chance” in 1969. The popular song is essentially a live cut, recorded by crowding several people into a Montreal recording studio. Backed only by Lennon’s guitar, a tambourine, and the chants and claps of people, the song asks the listener to ponder the main chorus, “Give Peace a Chance.” While many of the lyrics are controversial in their approach, Lennon alludes to several popular key figures, including the aforementioned Bob Dylan. One verse alludes to the urgency for the United Nations to end the war when Lennon Sings, “regulation, integrations/meditations, United Nations/Congratulations.” The song is an effective and artful protest of the war, since everyone sings in harmony, showing how many people can find a common ground in their protest of the Vietnam War. In essence, the song is perhaps the simplest anthem of the late 1960s, appealing to everyone affected by the