VIETNAM WAR PROTEST MUSIC

 There were hundreds of songs released during the Vietnam War, which also overlapped with the Civil Rights Movement, students' movements, women's movement, gay rights movement, and environmental movements. I tried to focus explicitly on songs that spoke about or became important symbols of the Vietnam War. The list of 13 songs below was compiled through looking at Billboard charts, my knowledge of the music, and others' research. The sources that I used are located here. To listen to these songs, click here​.

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The songs that I chose to analyze are listed below by order of release date: 

• Masters of War by Bob Dylan, 1962

• What Are You Fighting For by Phil Ochs, 1963

• Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire, 1964

• Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation by Tom Paxton, 1965

• Bring 'Em Home by Pete Seeger, 1966

• Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag by Country Joe & the Fish, 1967

• Waist Deep in the Big Muddy by Pete Seeger, 1967

• For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield, 1967

• Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1969

• Give Peace a Chance by Plastic Ono Band, 1969

• War by Edwin Starr, 1970

• Imagine by John Lennon, 1971

• Happy Xmas (War is Over) by Plastic Ono Band, 1971

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Three of the main themes that I found in these songs, and in music about the Vietnam War in general, were anti-war and pro-peace sentiments, feelings of disconnectedness, and despair.

 

The messages of the music evolved throughout the war. In the early years, the main theme that came through was a feeling of disconnectedness from the war and confusion as to why the U.S. was involved in the first place. Masters of War by Bob Dylan exemplifies the disconnectedness that many young men who were drafted feel from the fight; the rich men who started this war would not feel any of the devastating effects of it, but those who were forced to fight would. Masters of War in 1962 presents the war as more of an abstraction, likely because there was not yet large scale knowledge and press coverage of it. In Eve of Destruction, Barry McGuire speaks of how the young men being drafted are old enough to travel overseas to kill, but are not allowed to vote and have any say in the decisions that started this war. Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation and Bring 'Em Home express a desire for the peace and de-escalation that was promised.

 

At this point about halfway through the 1960s, there was not much media coverage of the Vietnam War. In that sense, artists like Dylan, Ochs, and McGuire were a bit ahead of the curve in their questioning of the war. This changed in 1965 when the U.S. sent 200,000 troops to Vietnam. Sending so many more troops caught the attention of the media. By August of 1965, there were over 400 press corps in Vietnam, as opposed to fewer than 50 the previous year. The music released after this shift took on a different tone than that of the early years of the war. Waist Deep In the Big Muddy spoke much more specifically about the war than early songs did. Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag, released in 1967, took on a fairly resigned, satiric tone. Similarly, For What It's Worth (which was not intended to be an anti-war song) had a resigned tone as well. 

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1968 was an important anti-Vietnam War protest year. The Tet Offensive in 1968 was a turning point in the Vietnam War. The seemingly successful attack by the communists sparked further distrust in the U.S. government who had been insisting the the Vietnamese were incapable of such an attack and that the war was nearing an end. After the Tet Offensive, media coverage of the Vietnam War was overwhelmingly negative, with fewer victories and more casualties shown. The anti-war music being released since the early 1960s, specifically the volume of music released in 1967, could have primed the American public to react so immediately and viscerally to the news of the Tet Offensive. 

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After the Tet Offensive, the majority of the music released was pro-peace and/or anti-war. Although the war didn't officially end until 1975, the first explicitly pro-peace song was released in 1969. Give Peace a Chance by the Plastic Ono Band (with John Lennon) expressed the desire for the end of the war 6 years before it actually happened. War by Edwin Starr was a very straightforward anti-war song that was #1 on the Billboard charts for three weeks. In 1971, Imagine and Happy Xmas (War is Over) were released, which were radically pro-peace and represented most Americans' weariness with the war and longing for peace.