Music of the Vietnam Era Essay

In the Vietnam songs, all of the songs were made as protest songs against war. These songs sent a message that war is not something that we as humans should be doing and that we shouldn't have to solve our problems by killing each other. The American society felt the same way. Why are we doing this? This is not what we should be doing as humans, and this was partly why the American people didn't really welcome veterans back from war. They thought that what they were doing was "wrong" and it's not really solving anything, it's only taking lives. In the first song, "War" by Edwin Starr, there is a very clear message that war is good for nothing. Life is to short to spend fighting in wars. War is nothing but a heart-breaker and it shatters young

Another thing was the music of the 1940s, the 1940s was the decade of “the crooner” as the other form of entertainment the musical entertainment also played tribute to the war by many popular songs like “God Bless America”. This songs were sometimes were taken to war and it made solders said that the music took them home and they loved it.

As the United States became more involved in the Vietnam War, the American society became fired up, not supporting the war, and questioned the United States foreign plan. The American people spread their messages in many ways from protest songs to protests. Protest songs were used as propaganda to send negative messages about the US and the war. One of the iconic protests songs at the time came out in 1965 by Country Joe and the Fish, “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die” (Doc B). This song gave off the message to America that there are other things then just enlisting in the war and that there is a lot of money to be made in America, while still being supportive, like helping supply the Army with the equipment needed to fight (Doc B). This 1965

General Lee once remarked, “Without music, there would have been no army” (Kehoe). The New York Herald concurred with Lee in 1862 when a reporter wrote, “All history proves that music is as indispensable to warfare as money; and money has been called the sinews of war. Music is the soul of Mars...” (Bowman). It is evident from these quotes the important role music played in helping soldiers from both armies cope during the war. The Civil War would have been immensely different without the considerable influence that music had on both the Union and Confederate armies. Music played a significant role in motivating soldiers to overcome their hardships in both the Union and the Confederate armies by entertaining and comforting, bringing back memories of home and family, and strengthening the bonds between comrades and helping forge new bonds.

Initially, wars involving the United States were typically well supported by the people, but the abhorrence towards the military 's actions in Vietnam lead musical artists to stand in opposition to the war, encouraging the anti-war movement.

Every war will have those who support the war and those who are against the war. In 1965, those who were against the Vietnam War made their views known by many forms of protesting such as forming organizations, rallying, and anti-war protest music. Anti-war protest music was an opportunity to put people’s perspectives into song to hopefully spread their message. Buffy Sainte-Marie wrote the song “Universal Soldier” in 1962 and her message was that “Universal Soldier is about individual responsibility for war and how the old feudal thinking kills us all” (Boulanger). The song “Universal Soldier” was used as a protest anthem during the Vietnam War and attempts to untangle one of the paradoxes of life that war never leads to peace through

In the 1960s, America found itself divided among various social matters. Conformity, civil rights, and the Vietnam war. While the older generations viewed fighting in the war as a civic duty and a true testament to what it meant to be an “American”, the counterculture did not share this belief. Regardless of how anyone felt about the war, it had escalated to epic proportions and as one citizen put it, “It was on our mind every single hour of the day” (PBS CITE). Vietnam was the first war ever to be televised, and with that came constant coverage and a growing concern from young Americans. In addition, the military draft made matters worse by forced the youth America to fight. “By 1968, the war in Vietnam had claimed over 15,000 American lives”(CITE PBS). Between the draft and the growing American casualties, greater tension in the US was created. Young Americans had to ask themselves if the war was worth fighting.

The Vietnam War sparked a lot of political controversy in the United States and tensions were high anytime the war was talked about. However, some were determined to re-establish nationalism through music like artist Lee Greenwood in "God Bless the USA." We as Americans take living in this country for granted, and this song aimed to put that into perspective. If you were to lose everything you worked for in your life, you should still be thankful that you live in the United States because they can't take away our freedom. Nearly a decade later, Waylan Jennings released "The Eagle," to remind listeners just how powerful our country is. The eagle serves as a metaphor for our country and that you should rest easy at night knowing that the eagle's "claws are sharper than ever...[and] ready for a fight." You should always remember that you are a part of this country and you will be protected, and not to lose sight in the power of our country. After the attacks on the World

For instance, the song “Ohio” seems to lament the Kent State shootings at the surface level, but from a more analytic perspective, condemns Richard Nixon and the United States military for their irresponsible and unwarranted actions in the Vietnam war, which will be discussed more later in the paper. The mood and tone of the song, which captures the frustration that the youth of America felt regarding Nixon regarding the war in Vietnam when this song, parallels the mood and tone of Starr’s motown classic, “War.” Much like “Ohio,” “War” also delivers a clear and powerful mood and tone of frustration towards the powers that be regarding the war and its drastic effects on society. “War” differs from “Ohio” in the method that it uses to portray this mood, in that “Ohio” utilizes a somewhat typical chorus-verse style to deliver its message, while “War” relies on audience involvement through the use of a call-and-response technique. Throughout the song, Starr takes on the role of a feux-preacher, begging his audience to join with him as they sing, equating their beliefs that the war in Vietnam is worthless and detrimental to society. In spite of these similarities in mood and tone, the two songs could not be more different from a musical perspective, as “Ohio” uses

What Americans were unaware of was the additional violence happening in Laos. Music has always been an effective way for one to release their anger and frustration and many Americans were angry and frustrated with the government for allowing their men to die in Vietnam. One of their methods of portraying their irritation to the government were through musical protests. The largest musical anti-war movement was in 1969, 4 years before the end of the Secret War and 6 years before the end of the Vietnam War at Woodstock (Candaele, n.d.). The audience consisted of approximately 500 000 Americans and 33 performers. Among the performers were worldwide renowned artists like Jimi Hendrix and The Who (Harrison, 2009). The use of the performers would have stirred up support from their other fans; similar to celebrity endorsement advertising techniques. Moreover, wars are expensive to fund and “in recent years, Republicans have been characterized by two principal positions: They like starting wars and don’t like paying for them” (Bartlett, 2009). In 1968, Republican president Nixon imposed a 10% surtax to pay for the Vietnam War. The tax was largely paid by the poor and middle class. The Vietnam War cost “$25 billion per year and disillusionment was beginning to reach greater section of the taxpaying public…adding fuel to the fire of the anti-war movement” (History, n.d.). On top of that there was an extra “$1.5 billion per annum” (McCoy, 1996) going

Music played a major role in the way people lived during the World War II era. It affected the way people coped and the way people grieved. While this era was a very serious and bleak time, people still found joy in music. World War II was the first war to happen in the age of electronically mass distributed music. The role of music during this time helped keep positive spirits among people all around the world. On a different note, the Germans played music to their soldiers to motivate them to continue to fight. Music was used as propaganda throughout the countries involved to gain public support.

Throughout all the anti-war protests and marches during the Vietnam War, it is interesting to note the changes in the music of that time. From the beginning of the war, where support and loyalty from Americans was present in songs, to the end of the war, where anger and distrust was evident in musical lyrics, American’s opinion changed about the war. This change in opinion was easily recognized by the altering of musical lyrics about the war when Americans grew tired of the constant sending of U.S. troops to Vietnam. The growing dissatisfaction with the Vietnam War led to increasing levels of anger and hostility in the popular music of the time.

Throughout history, protests have been proven to be the more effective methods of getting a message across, whether it’s to express disdain for the misdeeds of police officers, or to protest the U.S.’s involvement in war. This was seen especially during the Vietnam War, one of the more recent wars this country has been involved in. Many people around the country expressed their opinions about the idea of war, in several forms, including riots, protests, and draft dodging. Along with this form of expression and practicing of free speech, several music artists, including Creedence Clearwater Revival, Marvin Gaye, and Edwin Starr, joined in the anti-war movement by conveying their own two cents about the matter through the lyrics of catchy, impassioned songs. In the song “War” by Edwin Starr, Starr attempts to portray his negative view on war, through the use of pathos to create a more intimate bond with his listeners, a very aggressive, yet passionate tone, and the song’s close resemblance of a protest, in auditory form.

Throughout time, music has been an influential part of society. As a form of entertainment and expression, its impact has always been felt both economically and emotionally. During the Vietnam war, music evolved into more a form of expression rather than pure entertainment. Emotionally charged songs became a method to oppose the war, and vent frustrations. While many songs opposed the war, numerous others focused on peace and happiness. They provided a positive perspective in an otherwise depressing time. Along with incorporating passion into music, cultural diversity increased in music greatly. Black artists became progressively more popular and accepted in the musical scene. This respect

The Vietnam war was a major event to America because it had major conflicts with personal opinions of the people of 1960’s. In this era, plenty of people were rethinking on why they were fighting in a war that they did not need to be fighting. and joined the anti-war movement. This can explicitly be seen from the type of music that people were listening to at the time. The song that I am going to be analyzing is “Paint it Black” by the Rolling Stones. This song resonated with the persona of the people for multiple reasons because it was a song that was about losing a loved one and dealing with the sadness.