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In order to assess the effects of popular music in Vietnam, one must first look at the popular music of that time. As related to Vietnam, two types of music were of paramount importance, rock and folk. Rock music in itself was a very controversial form of music in the 1960's and early 1970's. Many Americans believed that rock 'n' roll was immoral due to its musical content and lyrics. However, these issues were magnified when examined in the light of the Vietnam War and how immorality could affect the lives and performance of American soldiers.
Protest Music
Rock 'n' Roll. It does not take much effort to find anti-war rock music. Rock music became a haven of lyrical calls for peace and an end to the conflict in Vietnam. The first example of this was Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction," which was released in 1965. In its first stanza, the song not only speaks of the horrors of war, but criticizes the drafting of young men into the military who, at the time, were not even eligible to vote.
The Eastern world it is exploding, violence flaring and bullets loading,This was promptly followed by the less popular, "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag," recorded by Country Joe and the Fish in 1965, which made a similar statement.
You're old enough to kill, but not for voting,
You don't believe in war, but's what's that gun you're toting?
And even the Jordan River has bodies floating
And you tell me, over and over and over again my friend,
Ah, you don't believe we're on the Eve of Destruction.3
And it's one two threeSongs like these became more common as the 1960's passed. Perhaps the most overt example of anti-war rock music is Edwin Starr's "War," which was released in 1970. With its extremely direct lyrics and biting rock sound, "War" encapsulates in one song the message that so many rock artist were trying to convey.
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
There ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopie--we're all gonna die.4
War! / Hunh! Yeah / What is it good for / Absolutely nothingWhile it may speak in more general terms than the "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" in that its references to Vietnam are indirect, it is remembered by so many, in part, because its lyrics constitute an easily understood inditement of war in general.
War, it ain't nothin' but a heartbreaker
Friend only to the undertaker
War is an enemy to all mankind
The thought of war blown my mind
War has caused unrest within the younger generation
Induction, then destruction--who wants to die.5
While many rock artists protested the war in general, some were more specific in their protest music and took on specific issues about the war. Perhaps the best example of such a song is "Fortunate Son," sung by Credence Clearwater Revival, written by their lead-singer, John Fogerty, and released as a single in 1969.6 In "Fortunate Son," Fogerty asserts that the Vietnam War was fought disproportionately by the working class and not by "Senators' sons." As Fogerty sees it, the working class is the foundation on which the United States is built. Yet, when war comes, this group of people is burdened with fighting it while college students stay in their classes.
Yeh, some folks inherit star spangled eyes,The use of the word inherit is important. It conveys Fogerty's belief that many upper class citizens and politicians have not even earned their places in society, but have inherited them from their fathers. These are just a few of the examples of anti-war messages which found a popular voice in rock music.
ooh, they send you down to war, Lord,
And when you ask them, how much should we give,
oh, they only answer, more, more, more, yoh.7
Rock 'n' roll, however, did not have to contain references to Vietnam to frighten some authority figures. Many people feared rock 'n' roll for its inherent defiance of authority. Rock music often took rebellious, countercultural topics like sexual liberation and drug use and incorporated them into its sound. These qualities, especially rock's references to drug use, made many rock 'n' roll songs that contained no references to Vietnam a threat to the military structure. After all, the military is a hierarchical system. If a rock 'n' roll song encouraged drug use counter to the wishes of that hierarchy, the song could be looked at as a direct threat to the proper workings of the armed forces. Drug use amongst soldiers could seriously affect the performance of soldiers in both the field and the rear. Rock also had inherent civil rights repercussions. Rock music, especially its sexual nature, was based on African-American music of the 1940's and 1950's. As one looks at the interviews of the Rochester-area veterans done in this study, one will see how African-American music styles such as rock (and even jazz) could affect the atmosphere in Vietnam regardless of lyrical content.
Folk. Rock 'n' roll was not the only kind of music which became intimately linked with the Vietnam War. Much of Vietnam-era music was an outcropping of the folk-ballad revival of the 1960's that produced acts like Peter, Paul, and Mary and Bob Dylan.8 There is no better example of the importance of folk music to the anti-war movement than "Masters of War," which Dylan recorded in 1963. Through his folk lyrics, Dylan criticized those who prosecuted the war (though he never mentioned Vietnam directly) from the safety of their own homes when he wrote, "You hide in your mansion / As young people's blood / Flows out of their bodies / And is buried in the mud."9
Songs of Support
Folk music provided something to the war music of the era that rock music did not. After all, not all of the music written about the Vietnam War was negative. Much of the music written in support of the American soldiers in Vietnam was country and western.10 Country and western had roots in folk music. One of the most popular of these songs is Barry Sadler's "The Ballad of the Green Berets" (1964), in which he writes
Back at home a young wife waitsMerle Haggard followed "The Ballad of the Green Berets" with his own popular hit, "Okie from Muskogee" in 1969. This country hit gave "hippie-haters" a voice and is another example that shows that not all American popular music of the Vietnam era carried an anti-war theme.12
Her Green Beret has met his fate
He has died for those oppressed
Leaving her his last request
Put silver wings on my son's chest
Make him one of America's best
He'll be a man they'll test one day
Have him win The Green Beret.11
We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee,While the stance against the hippie-culture alone is significant, the third line of the song is particularly relevant. Burning draft cards was a popular form of protest and was in direct defiance of the war effort. Arguably, Haggard's work makes an even bigger statement than Sadler's, seeing as it came near the peak of the anti-war movement. Haggard’s work is in direct contrast to anti-war and hippie movements as they were reaching their most influential positions.
We don't take our trips on LSD;
We don't burn our draft cards down on Main Street,
We like livin' right and bein' free.
We don't make a party out of lovin',
We like holdin' hands and pitchin' woo;
We don't let our hair grow long and shaggy,
Like the hippies out in San Francisco do.
I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball;
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightnin's still the biggest thrill of all.
The Emotional Is Political13
A third set of songs is relevant to Vietnam, not because of its genre or political message, but because of the emotions it could invoke in American troops. These songs, like "I'll Be Home For Christmas," while they did not contain any direct reference to Vietnam or to the counterculture, could be damaging to morale because of what their lyrics meant to men who heard them.
I'm dreaming tonight of a place I loveIt is not hard to imagine how a song like "I'll Be Home For Christmas" could tug at the heart-strings of men fighting a war thousands of miles away from their families.15
Even more than I usually do
And although I'm lost, it's a long road back
This I promise you...
Well, I'll be home for Christmas
You can plan on me
So, please have snow and lots of mistletoe
And presents under the tree
Oh, Christmas eve will find me
Where the love light gleams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams.14
Like, "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" also fits this category of songs.
Where have all the young men gone? - long time passing
Where have all the young men gone? - long time ago
Where have all the young men gone? - gone for soldiers every one
When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?
Where have all the soldiers gone? - long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone? - long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone? - gone to the graveyard every one
When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?16 While there is no direct inditement of Vietnam in the lyrics, the assertion that all soldiers end up in the graveyard could easily have led American troops to contemplation and, eventually, contributed to depression.Kenny Rogers and the First Edition fit this genre with their song entitled, "Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town," which tells the story of a paralyzed veteran who laments, "It wasn't me that started that old crazy Asian war / But I was proud to go and do my patriotic chore," as his wife leaves to find love in the arms of a younger, healthier man. "Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town" is a reminder of the horrifying realities of war and may prompt the listener, particularly a soldier, to rethink how necessary war truly is.
Perhaps the best example of this type of song is the Animals' "We Gotta Get Out of This Place." This song, released in 1966, was written about a poor boy living in England and watching his father die. However, the lyrics of the refrain can be applied very easily to the situation of the average GI in Vietnam.
We gotta get out of this placeIf an American soldier didn't get out of Vietnam, it was because fighting in Vietnam was the last thing that soldier ever did. "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" was extremely important and meaningful to American troops in Vietnam. In fact, it is now the official anthem of the annual DMZ to Delta Dance in Washington, DC over Veteran's Day. According to Armed Forces Radio veteran Nancy Smoyer, "...those of us who were there know very well all the levels of the words of the title."
If it's the last thing we ever do
We gotta get out of this place
Girl there's a better life for me and you.17[Back to the first page of this history]
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