Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Writing Research Exercise: Songs of War From John Link

The Vietnam War was not just trouble and turmoil within Vietnam. Within America was one of the largest anti-war movements to date through peaceful protest. One such way the war was being protested was through song and music. These protests from bands ranging from The Jimi Hendrix Experience to Black Sabbath helped spread the mentality of ending the Vietnam War. The songs covered a variety of topics and all had a very profound way of expressing the feeling behind the song. "Four Dead in Ohio" is song by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young that protest the Kent State Massacre that occurred on May 4th, 1970. The song was written a few days later by Neil Young and reached the top 20 hits  on the radio stations. immortalizing the song as a commemoration for those who lost their lives and a reminder to the living to not forget what occurred at Kent State. "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival is arguably one of the most well known songs of the era, made popular by the movie "Forrest Gump" when Forrest was on his way to the command post in Vietnam. The song was a strong protest to the draft that was occurring on america because of the need for more troops to be deployed in Vietnam. It was released in 1969 and has been known by generations since its release as one of the most profound protests of the era. "All Along the Watchtower" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience was released in 1968 and again is well known by many generations forward from when it was released. It protested the to embody the Vietnam War as a whole by holding back information and showing the confusion what is happening in the surrounding world. The song shows the disconnection from the people and the government of the time. There were many more songs that continued to be release to protest different elements of the Vietnam War such as "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath. These songs helped unite the people in a collective protest to end the nation's involvement in Vietnam.


9 comments:

  1. it's interesting to see how the whole country was involved in some way with the war, including the music industry. I wonder how big the effect of the music made on the culture and sentiments and how many people got their opinion of the war from music and songs.

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  2. Its interesting how many songs came out during the war that had a to do with war. The songs had a meaning with war and it made people think about what was going on.

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  3. A lot of the songs that have war topics linked to them I have heard countless times before and not even realized that they were referring to the war. After knowing the meaning behind the words though, now when I listen, war and the effects of it is all I can hear.

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  4. It is interesting to me that even someone as notorious as Ozzy Osbourne would have such strong feelings against the war as to devote one of his songs to it.

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  5. It's strange how war and music have a closer connection than one would believe.

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  6. I never looked at how these songs reflected the war. It's so interesting how many people really were against the war.

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  7. Songs have always been a peaceful form of protest for wars. These songs were very interesting to me because of how well they were received.

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  8. Songs have always been a peaceful form of protest for wars. These songs were very interesting to me because of how well they were received.

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  9. In American History (as a high school Sophomore) we had a whole unit on just Vietnam protest songs. One that will always stick with me will be Jimi Hendrix's rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.

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