Vietnam Music Lyrics

Byron Johnson
Professor Briggs
Music 24B
3 December 2014

Stop and Listen to the Music
“War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing.” These are the lyrics from the 1969 smash hit titled “War.” Edwin Starr wrote this song in protest to the Vietnam War and it expressed many peoples’ feelings towards the war through a catchy melody. Music can have a profound impact on social politics, and can serve to connect people. Many of the songs written in the late 1960s captured the American public’s discontent with the war. Rock music and American social movements now go hand in hand, but it all started with the Vietnam War. During the war, Americans at home turned to music to express their discontent and used it as a form of protest.
Following World War II, the United States of America was the world’s only true superpower. Therefore, when radical communism movements started in emerge in the Asian Pacific, America felt it was their
duty to stand up and rid it out. Up to that point, all wars that America had been involved in had a clear entry date and a clear enemy. This was not the case in Vietnam, however. Initially, President Kennedy thought that sending a small team of American Special Forces into the country to train the opposition to defeat the communists would suffice. However, the enemy developed unique guerilla warfare tactics, something the United States never saw coming. For example, the fighters would blend into the civilian population during the day and attack at night, leaving the Americans fighting a war with no clear enemy. Americans did not volunteer for the war in large numbers and following the assassination of President Kennedy, President Lyndon Johnson raised the troop level to nearly one million servicemen, many of whom were selected to serve via the draft lottery. Former sociology professor Howard Schuman articulates his thoughts on the war when he observes “the Johnson administration wanted to fight this war with cold blood” (Converse, Schuman 17). Meaning that President Johnson initially thought it would be a quick and precise war and the domestic impact would be minimal if any. This turned out not to be true and support for the war slowly began to dwindle.
The horrors and realities of war became real to the American public during the Vietnam War. On a daily basis, the news would show images of villages being destroyed, Vietnamese children burning to death, and American servicemen being sent home in body bags. These images resonated with the people back home and lead to public outrage and a large anti-war movement. Young people did not want to go and fight for a war they did not believe in. Yet, the draft loomed over every young man’s head. At the time, musician Frank Zappa stated, “the youth were not loyal to flag, country, or doctrine, but only to music” (Anderson, 51). This led to the explosion of the rock music scene and its rebellious, anti-establishment themes. People needed an outlet to get away from the war, so Woodstock, a massive three-day music festival of peace, was created and took place on a dairy farm in the rural town of Bethel, New York. The performers included Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Grateful Dead, Credence Clearwater Revival, Santana, The Jefferson Airplane, and a variety of other 1960s musical icons. The festival planners had originally hoped for a turnout of 50,000 people, but ended up having more than 400,000 people attend the concert. The concert was a huge success and to this day is considered by many to be the greatest concert of all time because of the impact it had on the music industry and society.
Some of the more powerful songs that came out of the era include hits by Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and the Beatles. Young folk singer Bob Dylan, who later catapulted to international success, captured the anger of many Americans in his song “Masters of War.” Some of the lyrics were: “You fasten the triggers for others to fire, then you sit back and watch while the death count gets higher. You hide in your mansion as the young peoples’ blood flows out o’ their bodies and is buried in mud.” Dylan wrote the song to criticize American leaders that he believed were becoming numb and indifferent to war. Dylan, and many young Americans, saw the war as as a pointless act instead of a means of necessary defense. Additionally, rock star, and former soldier, Jimi Hendrix made an antiwar statement by making his guitar sound like a warzone with his distorted rendition of the National Anthem at the Woodstock festival. But no musical icons played a more critical role in the anti-Vietnam movement than the Beatles. One of their most famous songs was called “Strawberry Fields Forever.” The song depicts the life of a teenage boy, who enlists in the military in order to find himself. Since strawberries are red, the strawberry fields portrayed suffering, death, and bloodshed. The song title includes the word “forever” because at the time, the Vietnam War was the longest war in American history and probably felt like it was going to last forever. The song was a Top 10 hit which was evidence of its popularity and ability to resonate with the American public. These three songs are prime examples of the general feelings of the time.
Music during the Vietnam War had a profound impact and relationship to the social politics of the time.
Musicians at the time used their songs as way of communicating how they felt about the Vietnam War. Since the songs were written by such popular musicians, the message was easily communicated to the everyday person. Therefore, individuals who had no prior knowledge of politics were all of a sudden inundated with the political views of their musical icons. This led to a younger generation that was more aware of the world around them. Today, however, even though we are currently involved in the longest war in American history, it feels as though the general public could not care less about it. Before college, I served in the Marine Corps for five years and completed two deployments, so I have seen the impact that war has and the importance of having the country behind you. It is too bad this generation does not have a Bob Dylan to wake them up and realize the importance of holding politicians accountable and supporting the troops from
home.

Works Cited
Anderson, Terry H. American Popular Music and the War in Vietnam. 1986. Ebsco Host. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.
Bindas, Kenneth. Re-Remembering a Segregated Past: Race in American Memory. Vol. 22. 2010. 113. Ebsco Host. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
Bindas, Kenneth J., and Houston Craig. Takin Care of Business: Rock Music, Vietnam and the Protest Myth. Vol. 52. 23. Print.
Converse, Philip, and Schuman Howard. Silent Majorities and the Vietnam War. Vol. 222. Scientific American,17. Print.
Dylan, Bob “Masters of War.” The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. Columbia Records. CD. 1963.
Gilmore, Mikal. How the Beatles Took America. 1200th ed. New York: The Rolling Stone, 2014. 49-60. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.
Rejto, Adam B. Three Days of Peace and Music August 15-17 1969. 8th ed.Vol. 88. New York: 2007. Ebsco Host. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.