The Vietnam War is one of the most controversial wars in all of history. This seemed to be the first time where the majority of people living in the United States were unhappy with the government’s decisions to go to war, and the first time that the government actively chose to ignore the complaints of the people. Protests broke out across the country- in the streets, in Washington, even on college campuses. These protests were very forward, but one way that many people used as a medium to express their unhappiness with the U.S’s involvement in the Vietnam War was through music, or more specifically, rock and roll.
Rock and roll first appeared in the United States in the 1950’s and was a fusion of electric blues, boogie, country and jazz. This music was created for the younger generation and explored risqué themes for the time (obviously these themes grew more vulgar as the years went on), but when these songs came out, they were targeted at the younger generation and almost always made the older ones scoff in disbelief. This transformed rock n’ roll into the rebellious and powerful genre it is now. Its music had such a wide fan base, especially in the younger generation, that it was able to serve as a fantastic medium to get thoughts and values of the bands to others, and also served as a way so that the rock and roll fan base could express their own values.
When the Vietnam War began, people already felt that the U.S did not need to be involved since they had already just spent nearly twenty years at war with their involvement in WWII and the Cold War. The Vietnam war also turned out to be expensive, much longer than predicted, and resulted in more than 58,000 american casualties. To state that people were not happy with these facts after not wanting to join the war would be an understatement. The majority of Americans were angry with their government, especially the younger generation since they were the ones forced to go fight in Vietnam: this began a surge of protests across the country, many of which ended up violent, however rock and roll artists were able to take their music and incorporate the emotions they were feeling at the time which began a whole new way people were able to express their opposition to the war.
Since musicians were now writing songs left and right urging for a change during this war, there was a greater chance for the people’s voice to be heard. One song that grew very famous and popular during the time of the Vietnam war war was Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.” This song delves into the horrors of the war, and urges people to look around and ask themselves what is really being fought. Springfield also urges everyone to look around and realize how many people are against the war, because if people, specifically those in the government, were to just look beyond their close-minded opinions, they would see how many are angry, hurt, and trying to show their leaders that they are not happy. With this song, it is very obvious that Springfield was trying to bring the war protests to an even greater level. With his ability to share his music with so many, he had the power to bring this issue to light. Although many other people were able to make a difference with their protests, many of the most notable protests were violent ones, and Springfield was able to share his anger and frustration through a peaceful means. These rock bands even began addressing their concerts as a way to protest peacefully: Woodstock was advertised as being “three days of peace and music.” This is very important to note, considering the riots that were occurring at colleges like University of Buffalo, Kent State, and many others. These musicians were able to change the ways people were protesting which resulted in much fewer injuries and deaths, and also showed the government that these people were willing to work out issues in a peaceful and reasonable manner, something they may not have seen through all of the violence in previous protests.
Seeing what all of these musicians did to speak out against war despite the controversy makes it difficult to get angry at the athletes who have begun to protest the National Anthem. Although many people see it as a sign of disrespect, this is a peaceful way to make it clear that they are in opposition to to obvious racism that lies within the anthem’s lyrics, as well as the racism that still exists in the country. Music has always been a way for people to peacefully protest while also getting their message out to hundreds of thousands of people and will continue to be a means for people to express their dissatisfaction. The music during the Vietnam War is only one small portion of music that was written to share frustration with political issues, but nonetheless, these seemingly simple rock and roll songs became a powerful way for people to express their anger with the government at the time. Of course the war did eventually end and rock and roll moved onto different, up to date topics, but these songs, especially “For What It’s Worth,” will remain in history as songs that allowed people to speak their mind and make a change in the world with out harming one another.