The Four Songs Of The Vietnam War

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

Dylan’s most famous protest song is “Blown’ in the Wind”. It became the anthem for the civil rights movement in America during the 1960s, and as result Dylan was viewed as the spiritual leader of the civil rights movement. “Blown’ in the Wind” became very popular among the American people because the lyrics of the song could be applied to any situation as the lyrics were all about humanity learning from its mistakes and a call for freedom. “Only a Pawn in Their Game” was Dylan’s most offensive protest song that he wrote, and it was first performed at a civil rights rally in Greenwood, Mississippi. This song was about a civil rights activist who was murdered by “just a poor dumb

The 1960’s was an era of revolution and social change in the United States. Painters, dancers, actors, musicians and many more artists all wanted to portray societies immoral issues through their art. Musicians played a very prominent role in providing society with an outlet on the importance of this change. Within these musicians was a folk rock singer and songwriter by the name of Robert Allen Zimmerman, or as America knows him, Bob Dylan. He is known and honored around the world for his influence on popular music and culture, however, he is much more than that (Wood 313). The beginning of Bob Dylan’s career as a singer and songwriter was marked by his repetitive emphasis on social change throughout his protest songs which include “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall,” “Masters of War,” and “The Times They Are a-Changin’”; with each song, Dylan exposes many issues that affected, not one, but many lives as he aimed to spread social and political consciousness to society.

2. Is the intent of this song to promote or protest the Vietnam War? Why?

Edwin Starr transformed an obvious point of protest into a revelation through his enthusiasm and dedication towards the music. “War” changed the conservative face of Motown through the power of its lyrics and widespread support of its anti-war message. “War” generated momentum and motivation among the public. America became forever united under an anthem of

Starr’s three songs war, 25 miles and stop the war now war a major successes in the time of 1960.

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

The War Between the States was complex. If you wish to understand the events, you should refer to a textbook. Music of the time, however, helps us delve into people’s thoughts and opinions on the war, slavery, and many other important issues in our country’s history. Prior to the civil war, American music followed its European roots. During the civil war, American music began to develop in its own way, largely influenced by the music of the African-Americans. The war produced many well-known songs. These songs were important in their time and they are still known to many people today.

Mick Jagger states in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine when asked about his songs released about rape, war, murder and addiction, “ Well, it's a very rough, very violent era. The Vietnam War. Violence on the screens, pillage, and burning. And Vietnam was not war as we knew it in the conventional sense. It was a real nasty war, and people didn't like it. People objected, and people didn't want to fight it.” (Mick Jagger, Mick Jagger Remembers, Rolling Stone) Around the time Gimme Shelter was written and released things such as the Tet Offensive, My Lai Massacre, and the bombing of Cambodia made many people question what the true motives were behind foreign involvement in Vietnam. Anti-War protests became prominent and even radicalized as a credibility gap between the federal

War is something that everybody has been affected by at some point in their lives. Whether it be a family member that was in a war, a close friend, maybe even that one weird guy you ended up being good friends with. War will always be around us in some way, shape, or form. And, that fact is shown in Stop The Sun by Gary Paulsen. In Stop The Sun, Terry’s dad served in the Vietnam war, where he had to face the conflict of himself versus Viet Cong(VC). This kind of conflict is can be found in this story when Terry had asked his dad about the Vietnam war. “... and then we caught it. We began taking fire from three sides, automatic weapons, and everybody went down and tried to get low, but we couldn’t. We couldn’t get low enough. We could never

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 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

“Where Have All The Flowers Gone?” by Pete Seeger became a popular anti-war protest song during the 1960s. This song did not only protest against the Vietnam War but also made their generation more aware about the global problems. Songs like “Not Ready to Make Nice” by Dixie chicks about freedom of speech was written after they received death threats for singing against the Iraq war, protests against the violation of human rights. But music is not only used to protest, it is also used to give hope and optimism. “We Shall Overcome”, a song sung by Guy Carawan together with the Montgomery Gospel Trio and the Nashville Quartet, is perhaps the best known example of civil rights song. Instead of blaming the government, this song registered a feeling of hope and faith among African-Americans during the civil rights movement.

Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin” is a unique song that was written in the early 1960’s during a time of political and military upheaval. The poem/song was written to influence the younger generation, and to serve as a rallying call for the people to come together to bring about a needed change. The civil rights movement was the main influence of the song but it can also be applied to the frustration, and anger the American people felt as a whole towards the Vietnam War. What truly makes the song unique is the way the song was written and its hypnotic verses that can be used to describe several different time periods where the people needed a rallying call for change. The most recent event being the war in Iraq and

The two songs we had listened to in class are “Masters of War” by Bob Dylan and “I Rag and Roll” by Clint Black. Both of them describe human feelings and conditions during wars and how they impacted people’s lives. While listening to the lyrics and the melody, the two factors that differ both of the songs are the tone and the style. On the other hand, the similarity of these two songs is the imagery.