Preface
On May 4, 1970 the evening news on all networks were carrying the story of students on
the campus of Kent State University
being killed by National Guardsman for exercising their constitutional right of peaceful protest. The Vietnam war had come home to middle America. As millions of Americans watched in numbed shock of what had happened on that college campus in Ohio, the mood of the nation was about to change and the college campuses were about to erupt in anger and rage. These emotions were expressed in a number of ways one of which was music.
This page includes audio files for each of the tunes discussed in the Sampling Of Anti-War Songs section. To listen to the Real Audio files, you will need
The Free RealPlayer 
and at least a 56 k connection. Enjoy the tunes as you browse through the page.
[Contents |
Preface |
Protest Music |
Anti-War message |
Anti-War Songs |
Kent State |
Kent State Aftermath |
Vietnam Veterans |
End Notes |
Song Index]
Influence
Of Protest Music
Protest music has been with civilization, probably from when time began. I would assume that once a stringed instrument was conceptualized there had to be a troubadour somewhere singing a song with a message. During my lifetime we had the likes Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Big Bill Bronsy singing songs to encourage union organizers. During the civil rights movement, there were the likes of Harry Belafonte, the Weavers, Peter Yarrow, Josh White and Bob Dylan inspiring African Americans who wanted nothing more than to exercise their constitutional rights.
The antiwar music of the Vietnam era took the children of the 60’s to a different level. Musicians of this generation took the guitar strumming troubadour from the coffee houses, plugged them in, and sent the music and the message into the college dorm rooms and the homes of the youth of America.
This generation was not going to sit idly by while the government lied to the people about what was going on in Vietnam. Moreover, this was the first generation where combat veterans were returning prior to the end of the war and exposing the lies and pretzel logic that put us in Vietnam to begin with. This social climate, plus musicians who became the collective conscience of this generation through their lyrics and music became the foundation of ending a barbaric and unjust war, which the government tried to sweep under the rug by to calling it a 'conflict' or a 'police action'.
[Contents |
Preface |
Protest Music |
Anti-War message |
Anti-War Songs |
Kent State |
Kent State Aftermath |
Vietnam Veterans |
End Notes |
Song Index]
Songs As The Anti-War Message
As in many movements throughout history, music of the Vietnam era served as a rallying cry and a cause for action. However, it was not necessarily the music but the message. It was a form of communication that served as an uniting factor for a population that felt disenfranchised, much like the blacks during the civil rights movement. The message brought out emotions that made you feel angry. While the war had a numbing effect on everyone under the age of 30, the music would bring out the emotions of fear and anger that brought about the need to do something about it.
We are political animals and are involved in political actions on a daily basis from issues such as civil rights or war to the school or the office. Political messages have been in song forever. The War Between the States was loaded with songs and messages on both sides of the mason-dixon line. During World Wars I & II, there were a number of messages in song that praised the war effort. During the Vietnam War, there were songs that glorified the war effort as well, such as 'Ballad of the Green Berets'.
An even more fundamental point is that a political message in a song is not any different than free speech guaranteed under the US Constitution. As long as there is a cause or an event that provokes emotions, there will be songs and rhetorical speeches on both ends of any issue.
If one would even go back to the complacent 50's, there were protests over the atomic bomb in the 'Ban The Bomb' movement. I believe that the antiwar protests and the music associated with them were because of a single issue... the Vietnam War. However, even if there were a different cause, protest music would have sprung up. There was a new generation evolving from the 'baby boom' after World War II who didn't like the inequities of the 'system' and the exclusion of certain populations within US society. This generation was tired of the rhetoric of seeing 'commies' behind every bush and the war mentality that permeated society. By getting involved in the civil rights movement and the free speech movement, it was just a matter of time before a single issue would unite the 'boomers'.
The music then served as a catalyst that united this generation against war and in particular against the Vietnam War. Vietnam was on every young mans tongue and could be found everywhere...in the newspapers, radio, television movies, and magazines. Friends and neighbors were being drafted into the military, going to Vietnam and not returning. This hit home like a ton of bricks. Boys my age did not want to die for a cause that couldn't be defined nor did they want to be in a war...any war... that did not effect the freedom of the United States. So in essence, the music and the message was born generally because of the knowledge that war was not a solution to world problems, but specifically because of Vietnam and the thought of dying for a cause that could not be in any form, matter, or substance, be justified.
[Contents |
Preface |
Protest Music |
Anti-War message |
Anti-War Songs |
Kent State |
Kent State Aftermath |
Vietnam Veterans |
End Notes |
Song Index]
A Sampling Of Anti-War Songs
I first became smitten by the music and the message while I was stationed in the Presidio of San Francisco in the late sixties ('68 to be exact) while waiting to find out if the next levy would have my orders for Vietnam. Of course at that time I was young and naive and thought going to Vietnam was my patriotic duty.
Looking back, it should be noted that all of us waiting for our free trip to the orient were young and quite impressionable. However, we were not stupid. Once witnessing the horrors of war, our hippie innocence was forever lost and we began questioning the US involvement in a military action that was in essence, a civil war.
We witnessed barbaric acts, political corruption, insane military missions and of course wondering why blacks and other minorities, poor white kids, and less fortunate male youths were being drafted, while the more fortunate white males were enjoying life on college campuses or cushy jobs in the armed forces reserves. This had all the appearances of a bunch of old men sitting in Washington, D.C. and making uninformed decisions which would send young men halfway across the world to die in order to stroke their egos. Of course this was all shaded in the pretense of preserving the world for democracy.
Once returned to the world, the music became even more meaningful and thought provoking as the war continued on. Song lyrics became an inspiration for us anti-war Vets. We were angry, distrusting and cynical about anything the government had to say about Vietnam.
But, I digress. The music and the message did inspire and energize us, to the extent possible given the situation. Perhaps the anthem of this place and time was the Country Joe and the Fish song - 'I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die-Rag'.
According to the author of the song, Joe McDonald: ' I wrote fixin-to-die-rag in summer of 1965 after I had been discharged from the US Navy for several years. It just popped into my head one day and I finished it in about 30 minutes. I did not have a conscious purpose in mind although I had been working on another song about the Vietnam War called Who Am I for several days so I had the war on my mind. The Who Am I song was part of a play I was writing songs for titled Change Over, written by Fred Hayden and directed by Nina Serrano. It was performed twice, once on the University of California Berkeley campus and once on the San Francisco State College campus. 1965 was the year that the Vietnam War became big news and a big protest issue with students.
The song attempts to address the horror of going to war with a dark sarcastic form of humor called GI humor'. GI humor is a way people have of complaining about their situation so it will not get them in trouble and keep them from going insane in an insane environment: war.'
[Contents |
Preface |
Protest Music |
Anti-War message |
Anti-War Songs |
Kent State |
Kent State Aftermath |
Vietnam Veterans |
End Notes |
Song Index]
I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die-Rag
I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag
Joe McDonald (1965)
Well, Come On All Of You, Big Strong Men,
Uncle Sam Needs Your Help Again.
He's Got Himself In A Terrible Jam
Way Down Yonder In Vietnam
So Put Down Your Books And Pick Up A Gun,
We're Gonna Have A Whole Lotta Fun.
And It's One, Two, Three,
What Are We Fighting For ?
Don't Ask Me, I Don't Give A Damn,
Next Stop Is Vietnam;
And It's Five, Six, Seven,
Open Up The Pearly Gates,
Well There Ain't No Time To Wonder Why,
Whoopee! We're All Gonna Die.
Come On Wall Street, Don't Be Slow,
Why Man, This Is War Au-Go-Go
There's Plenty Good Money To Be Made
By Supplying The Army With The Tools Of Its Trade,
But Just Hope And Pray That If They Drop The Bomb,
They Drop It On The Viet Cong.
And It's One, Two, Three,
What Are We Fighting For ?
Don't Ask Me, I Don't Give A Damn,
Next Stop Is Vietnam.
And It's Five, Six, Seven,
Open Up The Pearly Gates,
Well There Ain't No Time To Wonder Why
Whoopee! We're All Gonna Die.
Well, Come On Generals, Let's Move Fast;
Your Big Chance Has Come At Last.
Now You Can Go Out And Get Those Reds
'Cause The Only Good Commie Is The One That's Dead
And You Know That Peace Can Only Be Won
When We've Blown 'Em All To Kingdom Come.
And It's One, Two, Three,
What Are We Fighting For ?
Don't Ask Me, I Don't Give A Damn,
Next Stop Is Vietnam;
And It's Five, Six, Seven,
Open Up The Pearly Gates,
Well There Ain't No Time To Wonder Why
Whoopee! We're All Gonna Die.
Come On Mothers Throughout The Land,
Pack Your Boys Off To Vietnam.
Come On Fathers, And Don't Hesitate
To Send Your Sons Off Before It's Too Late.
And You Can Be The First Ones On Your Block
To Have Your Boy Come Home In A Box.
And It's One, Two, Three
What Are We Fighting For ?
Don't Ask Me, I Don't Give A Damn,
Next Stop Is Vietnam.
And It's Five, Six, Seven,
Open Up The Pearly Gates,
Well There Ain't No Time To Wonder Why,
Whoopee! We're All Gonna Die.
While 'fixin'-to-die' became the satirical anthem of the anti-war movement, there were other messages being sent through the FM airwaves from the likes of the Jefferson Airplane
and a little known Chicago garage band know as Mason Profitt.
After
Grace Slick joined Jefferson Airplane in 1966, the music became more
daring and more political. According to Airplane biographer Jeff Tamarkin, during the recording of the After Bathing
At Baxter's LP, Grace Slick was exploring intellectual lyrical pursuits.
The song rejoyce was based on the novel Ulysses by James Joyce. Grace Slick: 'I just assumed that most people of our generation have had at least a couple years of college and I further assumed my generation would understand the black humor of the song, the idea of a mother saying how wonderful their kid was because he killed a lot of people. Kind of a disgusting war mode thing.'
rejoyce
rejoyce
Grace Slick (1967)
Chemical Change Like A Laser Beam
You've Shattered The Warning Amber Light
Make Me Warm
Let Me See You Moving Everything Over
Smiling In My Room
You Know You'll Be Inside Of My Mind Soon.
There Are So Many Of You.
White Shirt And Tie, White Shirt And Tie,
White Shirt And Tie, Wedding Ring, Wedding Ring.
Mulligan Stew For Bloom,
The Only Jew In The Room
Saxon's Sick On The Holy Dregs
And Their Constant Getting Throw Up On His Leg.
Molly's Gone To Blazes,
Boylan's Crotch Amazes
Any Woman Whose Husband Sleeps With His Head
All Buried Down At The Foot Of His Bed.
I've Got His Arm
I've Got His Arm
I've Had It For Weeks
I've Got His Arm
Steven Won't Give His Arm
To No Gold Star Mother's Farm;
War's Good Business So Give Your Son
And I'd Rather Have My Country Die For Me.
There Are So Many Of You.
Sell Your Mother For A Hershey Bar
Grow Up Looking Like A Car
There Are;
All You Want To Do Is Live,
All You Want To Do Is Give But
Some How It All Falls Apart!
Mason Profitt, on the other hand, were one of the first groups to have the vision to cross over from folk to rock to country and still send a message to the youth of America. In their 1969 LP, Wanted! was the song Two Hangmen. This became an underground FM staple about the troubling direction the country was heading in the late sixties. Mason Profitt are considered in some circles to be the best band that never made it to the big time.
Two Hangmen
Two Hangmen
Terry Talbot (1969)
As I Rode Into Tombstone On My Horse His Name Was Mac
I Saw What I'll Relate To You Goin' On Behind My Back
It Seems The Folks Were Up In Arms A Man Now Had To Die
For Believin' Things That Didn't Fit The Laws They'd Set Aside
The Man's Name Was I'm A Freak The Best That I Could See
He Was The Executioner A Hangman Just Like Me
I Guess That He'd Seen Loopholes From Workin' With His Rope
He'd Hung The Wrong Man Many Times So Now He Turned To Hope
He'd Talk To All The People From His Scaffold In The Square
He Told Them Of The Things He Found;
But They Didn't Seem To Care
He Said The Laws Were Obsolete, A Change They Should Demand
But The People Only Walked Away, He Couldn't Understand
The Marshall's Name Was Uncle Sam He Said He'd Right This Wrong
He'd Make The Hangman Shut His Mouth If It Took Him All Year Long
He Finally Arrested Freak And Then He Sent For Me
To Hang A Fellow Hangman From A Fellow Hangman's Tree
It Didn't Take Them Long To Try Him In Their Court Of Law
He Was Guilty Then Of Thinking A Crime Much Worse Than All
They Sentenced Him To Die So His Seed Of Thought Can't Spread
And Infect The Little Children; That's What The Law Had Said
So The Hangin' Day Came 'Round And He Walked Up To The Noose
I Pulled The Lever But Before He Fell I Cut Him Loose
They Called It All Conspiracy And That I Had To Die
So To Close Our Mouths And Kill Our Minds They Hung Us Side By Side
And Now We?re Two Hangmen Hangin' From A Tree
That Don't Bother Me At All
Two Hangmen Hangin' From A Tree
That Don't Bother Me At All
Political
awareness was affecting middle of the road bands too. Chicago a.k.a. Chicago Transit Authority began delving into politics as well. In their 1st LP released in 1969, the band included chants from demonstrators outside the 1968 Democratic Convention. In the 1970 LP Chicago II Robert Lamm penned a song titled It Better End Soon about the kinds of questions the youth of America were asking and specifically about the Vietnam War.
Robert Lamm: 'I think just being alive in those times and watching that conflict in asia unfold on television daily because lord knows we all sat around and watched a lot of television, then the culture shock of moving from chicago to california. and then the alternative press, the L.A. Free Press, was very much into the hot topic of revolution. It seemed that the generation of which i was a member and the generation which was peopling the new bands had a connection, and so it seemed natural to give voice to some of the thinking. my opinions and those of some of my contemporaries felt really real, and also it felt like it was right, it was right that a lot of bands at the time were giving voice to the idea of the average person having a certain amount of power, and power maybe enough to stand up to the policies of the government and protest the war.'
The LP itself included a dedication of political consciousness:
With this album we dedicate
ourselves, our futures and our energies to the people of the revolution...And the
revolution in all its forms.
Robert Lamm
Terry Kath
Walter Parazaider
James Pankow
Lee Loughnane
Daniel Seraphine
Peter Cetera
James William Guercio
January, 1970
It Better End Soon
It Better End Soon
Robert Lamm-Terry Kath
(1969)
Can't
Stand It No More
The People Dying
Crying For Help For So Many Years
But Nobody Hears
Better End Soon My Friend
It Better End Soon My Friend
Can't Take It No More
The People Hating
Hurting Their Brothers
They Don't Understand
They Can't Understand
Better End Soon My Friend
It Better End Soon
Hey, Everybody
Won't You Just Look Around
Can't Anybody See
Just What's Going Down
Can't You Take The Time
Just To Feel
Just To Feel What Is Real
If You Do
Then You'll See That We Got A Raw Deal
They're Killing Everybody
They're Killing Me And You
They're Killing Everybody
I Wish It Weren't True
They Say We Got To Make War
Or The Economy Will Fall
But If We Don't Stop
We Won't Be Around No More
They're Ruining This World
For You And Me
The Big Heads Of State
Won't Let Us Be Free
They Made The Rules Once
But It Didn't Work Out
Now We Must Try Again
Before They Kill Us Off
No More Dying!
No More Killing
No More Dying
No More Fighting
We Don't Want To Die
No, We Don't Want To Die
Please Let's Change It All
Please Let's Make It All
Good For The Present
And Better For The Future
Let's Just Love One Another
Let's Show Peace For Each Other
We Can Make It Happen
Let's Just Make It Happen
We Can Change This World
Please Let's Change This World
Please Let's Make It Happen For Our Children
For Our Women
Change The World
Please Make It Happen
Come On
Come On
Please
Come On
It's Up To Me
It's Up To You
So Let's Do It Now
Yeah
Do It Now
Can't Stand It No More
The People Cheating
Burning Each Other
They Know It Ain't Right
How Can It Be Right
Better End Soon My Friend
It Better End Soon My Friend
Kent
State
On May 4, 1970 four students had been shot dead by the Ohio National Guard on the
campus of Kent State University. The writing and recording of the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song Ohio is somewhat of an urban legend.
As the
story goes David Crosby and Neil Young were hanging out when Crosby handed Young a copy of Time Magazine with the now infamous picture of the student grieving over the body of a dead protesting classmate who was shot dead by the National Guardsmen. Apparently Young sat down and wrote the song and within 24 hours, the band was recording the song.
Acording
to Neil Young's biographer, Jimmy McDonough, 'In ten lines, Young captured the fear, frustration aand anger felt by the youth across the country and set it to a lumbering D-modal death march that hammered home the dread.'
[Contents |
Preface |
Protest Music |
Anti-War message |
Anti-War Songs |
Kent State |
Kent State Aftermath |
Vietnam Veterans |
End Notes |
Song Index]
Ohio
Ohio
Neil Young (1970)
Tin Soldiers And Nixon's Bombing
We're Finally On Our Own
This Summer I Hear The Drumming
Four Dead In Ohio
Gotta Get Down To It
Soldiers Are Gunning Us Down
Should Of Been Done Long Ago
What If You Knew Her And
Found Her Dead On The Ground
How Can You Run When You Know
La La La La La La La
La La La La La La La
La La La La La La La
Tin Soldiers And Nixon's Bombing
We're Finally On Our Own
This Summer I Hear The Drumming
Four Dead In Ohio
Four Dead In Ohio
Four Dead In Ohio
Four Dead In Ohio
Four Dead In Ohio
The
Kent State Aftermath
I was ending my tour in Uncle's Army when the massacre at Kent and Jackson State happened. While in Uncle's army I had become radicalized and more anti-war, anti-military and anti-government each day, but this numbed me. Now the government was not only sending American youth to kill Asian youth but it was killing its' own children on college campuses...what's next?
This was
when the music and the message became louder and bolder. David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash &
Young released a solo LP later in 1970, If I Only Could Remember My Name,
that would address issues such as drugs, love and war. In the song What Are Their Names Crosby wondered who the old men were who could send children off to war and perhaps we should pay them a visit. Backed by a who's/who of San Francisco musicians, this LP is perhaps the most creative music Crosby was ever to release as a solo venture.
[Contents |
Preface |
Protest Music |
Anti-War message |
Anti-War Songs |
Kent State |
Kent State Aftermath |
Vietnam Veterans |
End Notes |
Song Index]
What Are Their Names
What Are Their Names
Neil Young-Jerry Garcia-Phil Lesh-Michael Schrieve-David
Crosby (1970)
I wonder who they are
The men who really run this land
And I wonder why they run it
With such a thoughtless hand.
Tell me what are their names,
And on what street do they live
I'd like to ride right over
This afternoon and give
Them a piece of my mind
About peace for mankind
Peace is not
An awful lot
To ask
The aftermath of Kent State and Jackson State even had some of the hippie bands of
San Francisco talking about their distrust of the government and expressing
more anti-war themes. One such case was
Quicksilver Messenger Service.
QMS member,
Dino Valente penned a number of songs under different pseudonyms that expressed hippie hopefulness like Get Together that the Youngbloods turned into a hit. But in 1970 Valente penned
What About Me in the QMS LP of the same name about the disgust and distrust
of the Vietnam era America that still rings true in America of the Bush League
elite today.
What About Me
What About Me
Dino Valente(1970)
You Poisoned My Sweetwater You Cut Down My Green Trees
The Food You Fed My Children Was The Cause Of Their Disease
My World Is Slowly Falling Down And The Air's Not Good To Breath
And Those Of Us Who Care Enough We Have To Do Something
Oooooh What You Gonna Do About Me
Oooooh What You Gonna Do About Me
Your Newspapers They Just Put You On
They never Tell You The Whole Story
They Just Put Our Young Ideas Down
I Was Wondering
Could This Be The End Of Their Pride And Glory
Oooooh What You Gonna Do About Me
Oooooh What You Gonna Do About Me
I Work In Your Factories I Study In Your Schools
I Fill Your Penetentiaries And Your Military Too
And I Feel The Future Trembling As The Word Is Passed Around
If You Stand Up For What You Do Believe Be Prepared To Be Shot Down
Oooooh What You Gonna Do About Me
Oooooh What You Gonna Do About Me
And I Feel Like A Stranger In The Land Where I Was Born
And I Live Like An Outlaw And I'm Always On The Run
And I'm Always Getting Busted And I've Got To Take A Stand
I Believe The Revolution Must Be Mighty Close At Hand
Oooooh What You Gonna Do About Me
Oooooh What You Gonna Do About Me
I Smoke Marijuanna But I Can't Get Behind Your Walls
And Most Of What I Do Believe Is Against Most Of Your Laws
I'm A Fugituve From Injustice But I'm Going To Be Free
Cause Your Rules And Regulations They Don't Do The Thing For Me
Oooooh What You Gonna Do About Me
Oooooh What You Gonna Do About Me
And I Feel Like A Stranger In The Land Where I Was Born
And I Live Like An Outlaw And I'm Always On The Run
And Though You May Be Stronger Now My Time Will Come Around
You Keep Adding To My Numbers As You Shoot My People Down
Oooooh What You Gonna Do About Me
Oooooh What You Gonna Do About Me
Oooooh What You Gonna Do About Me
Oooooh What You Gonna Do About Me
Music
and Vietnam Veterans
In 1973,
Graham Nash, of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, brought the vision of
anti-war veterans to light in the music. Nash knew that political subjects don't necessarily lend to commercial
success. However, In his LP Wild
Tales, Nash wrote Oh! Camil (The Winter Soldier) to tell the story of one
member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). This told the story of how war and the spoils of war can change
one's life. Nash has done benefits for
VVAW to help raise money and it was from a benefit in Detroit in 1972 that Nash
saw the story of Scott Camil. Nash,
approximately 15 years later, would again address the plight of Vietnam
Veterans by writing the song Soldiers Of Peace.
[Contents |
Preface |
Protest Music |
Anti-War message |
Anti-War Songs |
Kent State |
Kent State Aftermath |
Vietnam Veterans |
End Notes |
Song Index]
Oh! Camil
Oh! Camil (The Winter Soldier)
Graham Nash (1973)
Oh
Camil, tell me how do you feel
You fought for your country
for God and for war,
now your heart tells you that can't be real.
So you tell me your story from beginning to end
all the blood and the guts and the gore
will you tell all the people
'bout the people you killed,
not for God, but for country and war
Oh! Camil, tell me what did you mother say,
when you left those people out in the fields,
rotting along with the hay
Did you show her your medals
Did you show her your guns
Did you show her the ears that you wore
Did you show her a picture of the people you killed
not for God, but for country and war
br>
Oh!
Camil, tell me why are you in this place
When you stood up for justice your country replied
by throwing it back in your face.
When you tell me your story
are you making amends for all of the hatred you saw
Will you tell all the people about the people that cry out for God
not for country or war
Soldiers Of Peace
Soldiers of Peace
Graham Nash, Craig Doerge
& Joe Vitale (1987)
Soldiers
of peace are not fighting a war
Are not looking for enemies behind every door
Are not looking for people to kill or to maim.
Soldiers of peace are just changing the game.
Men who were fighting for all of our lives
Are now fighting for children, for homes and for wives,
Fighting for the memory of all who fell before,
But the soldiers of peace just can't kill any more.
So
come all you warriors who live for the fight,
Come listen to somebody, somebody who might
Have been there before you and they have the right,
They've been dying to tell you the score.
The old warriors don't want you to hurt any more.
Soldiers of peace can still hear the cries
When the people were screaming and losing their lives,
When bodies were broken and spirits were torn
The soldiers of peace do not want you to mourn.
So come all you warriors who live for the fight,
Come listen to somebody, somebody who might
Have been there before you and they have the right,
They've been dying to tell you the score.
The old warriors don't want you to hurt any more.
Soldiers of peace are not fighting a war.
No more, no more, no more, no more.
End
Notes
Sometimes
as we get older we forget that we have locked certain memories and
recollections in the deep recesses of our minds. Sometimes a person or an event will jog those memories and you think to yourself...wow...I forgot how deeply I felt about that issue. Well, this is one of those times. I was contacted, via email, by a high school
student who had perused my personal web site on the internet. After reading my initial piece about rock
& roll music and how it impacted the peace or antiwar movement, she wanted
some more information for a history project.
This web page, then, is my reaction to a
number of questions posed to me by this high school student. What has amazed me about this endeavor was
that it made me think about who I was during these trying times, and has made
me recognize that while the Vietnam era was tragic, it was also a learning
experience that will stay with me the rest of my life. I want to thank Allison for providing me the
vehicle for me to dig deep into my recollection and uncover some old memories
and archive some of those memories of the music and the message. For further information about me and Vietnam Veterans Against the War see my 'treatise' on anti-war Veterans and VVAW.
[Contents |
Preface |
Protest Music |
Anti-War message |
Anti-War Songs |
Kent State |
Kent State Aftermath |
Vietnam Veterans |
End Notes |
Song Index]
Perhaps the best way to
summarize the effect of the Vietnam War in song and message is through a song
written by the late Steve Goodman, which I believe could be the mother of all anti-war songs. Goodman recorded this song acapella.
Ballad Of Penny Evans
Ballad Of Penny Evans
Steve Goodman (1971)
My Name Is Penny Evans And My Age Is Twenty-One
I'm A Widow Of The War That Was Fought In Vietnam
I Have Two Baby Daughters And I Do The Best I Can
They Say The War Is Over But I Think It's Just Begun
I Remember I Was Seventeen When First I Met My Bill
At His Father's Grand Piano We Played Old 'Heart And Soul'
I Only Knew The Left Hand Part, He Knew The Right So Well
He's The Only Boy I Slept With, And The Only One I Will
First We Had A Baby Girl, We Had Two Good Years
And Next The Warning Notice Came, We Parted Without Tears
Then It's Nine Months From Our Last Goodbye Our Second Child Appears
And It's Ten Months And A Telegram Confirming All Our Fears
So Once A Month I Get A Check From Some Army Bureaucrat
And Once A Month I Tear It Up And Mail The Damn Thing Back
Do They Think That Makes It All Right? Do They Think I'll Fall For That
They Can Keep Their Bloody Money, It Won't Bring My Billy Back
I Never Cared For Politics, Speeches I Don't Understand
Likewise I'll Take No Charity From Any Living Man
But Tonight There's Fifty Thousand Gone In That Unhappy Land
And Fifty Thousand 'Heart And Souls' Being Played With Just One Hand
My Name Is Penny Evans And My Age Is Twenty-One
I'm A Widow Of The War That Was Fought In Vietnam
I Have Two Baby Daughters - Thank God I Have No Son
They Say The War Is Over But I Think It's Just Begun
Song Index
Country Joe & The Fish - I-Feel-Like_I'm-Fixin'-To-Die-Rag
Jefferson Airplane - rejoyce
Mason Profitt - Two Hangmen
Chicago - It Better End Soon
CSNY - Ohio
David Crosby - What Are Their names
Quicksilver messenger Service - What About Me
Graham Nash - Oh! Camil
Graham Nash - Soldiers Of Peace
Steve Goodman - Ballad Of Penny Evans
[Contents |
Preface |
Protest Music |
Anti-War message |
Anti-War Songs |
Kent State |
Kent State Aftermath |
Vietnam Veterans |
End Notes |
Song Index]
Listen to Resist War. Chris Brown and Kate Fenner wrote the song Resist War during the latter part of 2002, as the USA moved closer to embarking on a war with Iraq. For more information Click Here.
VVAW: A Retrospective ~ JW Anderson
VVAW Logo & Images