The lyrics are sung from the point of view of a depressed man in mourning, who sees no joy or hope in the world. The lines “I see a line of cars and they’re all painted black | With flowers and my love both never to come back” clearly refer to a funeral for a lost loved one. Apparently the death was unexpected: “I could not foresee this thing happening to you”. This was probably originally conceived as a young man mourning the death of his girlfriend, fiancee or wife. But it could just as easily be interpreted as mourning the death of a soldier or other casualty of war. However it doesn’t really matter whether listeners identified the references to the funeral and mourning, because the song’s general sentiment of loss and despair is very apparent. It could just as easily be interpreted as the loss of innocence or of hope.

The song was released as a single in May 1966, and also on the US version of the Aftermath album in June 1966.

Incidentally, the song is also used in the closing credits of Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, about a soldier seeing his first combat at the Battle of Hue in 1968, where it makes sense as a song about the loss of innocence.

(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

In this context, Hendrix’s “All Along The Watchtower” provides plenty to relate to, and it’s no wonder it was so popular both domestically (reaching #20) and with the troops in Vietnam. The title has a war-time feel, with the term “Watchtower” suggesting a guard station, and being ever wary of enemy attacks. But it’s the opening line “There must be some kinda way outta here” that says it all, summing up what must have been going through everybody’s mind, and reinforced by the lines “There’s too much confusion… I can’t get no relief”. There’s a lot of despondency and disillusionment to be found in lyrics like “None of them along the line know what any of it is worth” and “There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke”, which must have related to a common mindset. The final lines suggest the ominous prelude to a battle or armageddon: “Outside in the cold distance, a wildcat did growl. Two riders were approaching, and the wind began to howl”. Combine these apparently empathic lyrics with Hendrix’s cool vocals and blistering guitar licks, and what you have is a song that’s very easy to listen to and relate to.

Hendrix’s recording is actually a cover. The song was originally written an recorded the previous year by Bob Dylan, and released on his John Wesley Harding album. However, while Hendrix’s version is a blistering rock anthem with a mood that happens to relate well to the War, Dylan’s original version is quite different. The lyrics are the same, but their original intent is much more cryptic, drawing on biblical references that elude most listeners, from the book of Isaiah, and the Book of Revelations, both of which predict impending doom and the coming of a messiah. The musical delivery is also in the style of a folk ballad, rather than a rock song. In a deliberate artistic choice by Dylan, the song is essentially the introduction to a ballad that is abruptly cut short to leave the listener thinking about where it may lead.

Born in 1949, Springsteen was the right age to serve in Vietnam, but managed to avoid that fate. Apparently he was classified 4-F (not acceptable for military service) because of a brain concussion received in a motorbike accident. However, not all of the guys he knew were so fortunate. “The first drummer in my first band, the Castiles, enlisted and [...] he went and he was killed. [...] One of the best singers in the neighbourhood, he was drafted and he went and he was missing in action. [...] When I got on the bus to go take my physical, I thought one thing: I ain’t goin’.” Being from a working-class background, he also saw injustice in the way men were selected: “I remember thinking what makes my life, or my friends’ lives, more expendable than that of somebody who’s goin’ to school?” (Bruce Springsteen: Two Hearts, the Story, page 307-308.) In the decades since, Springsteen has penned a number of songs about the plight of returning veterans, and has also been heavily involved supporting veterans’ movements.

Lost in the Flood is a deep work of poetry, loved by many Springsteen fans. It’s clearly about a Vietnam veteran becoming unhinged after returning from the war. But the specific meanings of many of the lyrics aren’t apparent on a first listen or cursory reading. This is one of those songs that can be listened to many times, in which an engaged listener can keep finding gems. I don’t think there’s any real consensus on the details, but the overall message is clear. The first verse describes a veteran feeling out of place, “like a hungry runaway, he walks through town all alone”. The world he’s re-entered doesn’t make much sense. Indeed the next few lines of lyrics are quite inscrutable, at least to me, and while I’ve read and thought about a few different analyses of what specific phrases might mean, I personally don’t think they’re meant to be precisely interpreted – Springsteen’s not a cryptographer, he’s just describing a bewildering crazy world, and stimulating us to think about it. The line “sticker smiles sweet as gunner breathes deep” may refer to injecting drugs (“sticker” could be a syringe). The last few lines are pretty clear. “His ankles caked in mud” not only brings the imagery of muddy combat boots, but also implies being bogged down in mud, unable to move on with his life. And “that’s quicksand, that ain’t mud” implies that he’s just going to sink further and there is no escape. The next couple of verses are other commentaries on moral flaws and breakdowns in society. The veterans’ plight is just one aspect of a greater societal crisis – the “flood” that people are being lost in.

“Hole in the Ground” is based on a story published by Associated Press on December 18th 1964, about a 10-year old boy who was befriended by South Vietnamese Army officers and their U.S. Army adviser. As the boy munched on candy bars, he demonstrated how well he could strip down guns, and told the soldiers that the Viet Cong paid him to make grenades for them. It transpired that his father was in the Viet Cong, and the boy knew where their tunnel hideout was located. More candy changed hands, and the boy showed them the location. Later on, demolition teams moved in and destroyed the tunnels, killing 16 Viet Cong, including the boy’s father. They didn’t tell the boy that they had killed his father.

Parrott’s telling of the story emphasizes the innocence of a 10-year-old’s perspective: “I life with my mother in town [...] my daddy lives in a hole in the ground [...] The soldiers are nice men yes, they are my friends [...] they say they are new here, could I show them around? Could I show them where my daddy lives in the hole in the ground?” To emphasize the dispicable way the boy was tricked into betraying his own father, the song finishes with a verse about the boy being unable to find his father, who he doesn’t know is dead. But at least he can visit his new friends, the soldiers, who are strangely distant and unable to look the boy in the eye.

(This article is part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

The heavy metal genre was in its prototypical stage in 1970, and was developing into a doleful, downbeat contrast to the eclectic styles of the late 60s. Black Sabbath were highly influential in pioneering and defining the genre, and its style worked perfectly for the lyrics of War Pigs, in which evil and callous generals and politicians are “Evil minds that plot destruction”, treating the common people as fodder for their immoral war machine, and shrouding their motives in propaganda “Poisoning their brainwashed minds”. In the end, however, the corrupt leaders get their comeuppance on judgement day, “Day of judgement, God is calling”, when “Begging mercy for their sins” they are unable to answer for all of their evil and are cast into damnation.

Legend has it that “War Pigs” was inspired after hearing stories from soldiers at a U.S. Air Force base where they were performing. It’s unclear when or where this happened, or if the story is just apocryphal. But given that the band performed extensively in the U.K., and toured Germany, the story is plausible. The Vietnam War was a high profile issue at the time, even in the U.K., where numerous demonstrations had occurred. So the band may have just been expressing their feelings about current affairs. According to “Diary of a Madman: Ozzy Osbourne: The Stories Behind the Songs“, while frontman Ozzy Osbourne concedes the song was about the Vietnam War, he claims “We knew nothing about Vietnam. It’s just an anti-war song.”

This song is from the early in the band’s career, before the fame and excesses of the mid-70s, and while their first album had done surprisingly well in the U.S., reaching #23, the record company didn’t want to be too controversial by releasing a song that was highly accusatory of the U.S. leadership behind the Vietnam War. While they were happy to protest the war, they didn’t want it to define them. So, although they had planned to call their second album “War Pigs”, the name was changed at the last minute to the much less confrontational “Paranoid”. The album art remained the same, with a blurred photo of a psychedelically clad swordsman. In any case, the album was a huge success, reaching #12 in the U.S. and achieving Gold status (500,000 units sold) by mid 1971.

“We Gotta Get Out Of This Place” is a good example of a song taking on new meaning when heard in the context of the war (much like “Homeward Bound“, and some other songs). Lyrically, the song is actually about a young couple wanting to escape the grind and depression of life in a working class industrial city. It was written by husband-and-wife songwriting team Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann. As Mann explained in an interview it was originally intended for The Righteous Brothers, but ended up being recorded by The Animals.

Of the two Vietnam War songs on the album, easily the best known is “Sam Stone“, which is a sad story about a Vietnam War veteran who has returned home shell-shocked and injured, and has developed a morphine addiction that’s progressed to heroin as he tries to deal with his physical and mental pain. The song’s chorus begins with the memorable line “There’s a hole in Daddy’s arm, where all the money goes”, which gives an idea of how Sam’s addiction is impacting his family. Sam’s legacy isn’t his wartime bravery anymore, “with a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back”, it’s the “monkey on his back” (addiction) that dictates his life now. In the end, Sam takes his own life with an overdose. While there were many anti-war songs during the era, Prine’s was one that lamented the tragic consequences the war had for some of the surviving soldiers.

Another piece of Vietnam War music on Prine’s first album was “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore“. This is humorous song uses irony to criticize jingoism. The protagonist of the song sticks flag decals everywhere he can, even “one on my wife’s forehead”, until he has so many that he can’t see though his windshield, crashes his car and dies. But when he gets to Heaven, he’s turned away because Heaven’s already at full capacity dealing with all the dead from the Vietnam War. But at least he did the right thing and stuck a flag on his window to support the war, right? Prine’s saying that there’s a difference between patriotism and jingoism, and that the war is wrong. “Now, Jesus don’t like killin’ | No matter what the reason’s for”.

The song can be easily understood as blaming soldiers for war, as it essentially makes that case that throughout history, soldiers have fought and killed for all states, all religions and many righteous causes, under the mistaken belief that by fighting and killing they will bring about peace according to their ideology. It makes the case that without soldiers, warmongers would have no power. For the most part, the song seems to imply that war is the fault of the soldiers, and if only they would refuse to fight, there would be no wars. This seems simplistic these days, as it did to many back then too. But there’s more to it than that. It’s ultimately critical of citizen apathy, and makes the case that it’s up to people to take part in the country’s democracy to make sure the state makes the right decisions. It advocates involvement in order to instigate change. Unfortunately, you need to listen carefully to the last few lines to get this part of the message:

Yes, he’s the Universal Soldier, and he really is to blame:
His orders come from far away, no more.
They come from him and you and me, and brothers, can’t you see?
This is not the way to put an end to war.

In other words, yes the soldier is responsible for his actions, and shouldn’t be fighting, but it’s up to the people to take responsiblity for their state’s decisions and policies and stop the war. This song isn’t just a criticism, it’s a rallying cry.

Buffy Sainte-Marie describes the origin of the song in this video:

Then again, we may be reading much too much into this. The band was from Canada, and may have just been suffering culture shock from touring in big, busy American cities, and with a backdrop of the social unrest around the Vietnam War. They may have just been homesick. The song was apparently the product of a spontaneous jam, with the band improvising the entire piece – rhythm, tune and lyrics – live on stage, with the various meanings of the song coming from the minds of the listeners, not the performers themselves (see superseventies.com). But, whether they intended it or not, the Guess Who recorded one of the classic anti Vietnam War songs.

By the way, when listening to the song, you may be surprised that actually starts with a relatively gently sung introduction, backed by a casual acoustic guitar, before launching into the well-known rock riffs we’re all familiar with.

On the same album (also called “American Woman”) is a song called “No Time“, which also works really well as Vietnam War music, although it probably wasn’t intended that way either. It was originally released on the previous album, 1969′s “Canned Wheat“, with the two verses in the opposite order, and at a slower tempo. “No Time” can be interpreted as a “Dear John” letter, with lines like “No time for the love you send”, “Seasons change, and so did I”, or “There’s no time left for you”. And the line “No time for the killing floor” could be interpreted as a reference to the Vietnam War. However, it turns out the intended meaning of the song is quite different. It’s actually a letter from a man to a woman, ending a summer romance. Seen from this point of view, the line “No time for a Summer friend” makes a lot more sense. As for the “killing floor”, this actually refers to the meat processing plants of Manitoba, the province that the band is from. Essentially, the song’s saying “I need to get out of this dead-end relationship, and avoid spending the rest of my life in an unpleasant dead-end job”. (See Blinded by the Lyrics, pages 84-85) [Added Jan 17th 2012: Actually it looks like this info is wrong. Read Cher's comment below.]

The song “Monster / Suicide / America” sings of an America that has become an out of control “monster”, no longer serving its people, but endangering its own citizens and the rest of the world. At over 9 minutes long, it covers a lot of ground. The first half talks about America’s past, of its hopeful origins “Chasing the promise of freedom and hope | Came to this country to build a new vision”, and the ugliness of slavery, witch burning, persecution of the Native Americans (“While we bullied, stole and bought our a homeland | We began the slaughter of the red man”) and the civil war. It counterpoints this by saying that despite this, it was still a kind-spirited country (which is a little strange considering it spends a few minutes pointing out the ugliness, and scant time highlighting any virtues). The song moves on to say that lately this “kind spirit” has vanished, and “Now it’s a monster and will not obey”. It sings about corruption, overbearing police, and the Vietnam War:

We don’t know how to mind our own business
‘Cause the whole world’s got to be just like us
Now we are fighting a war over there
No matter who’s the winner
We can’t pay the cost

The song “Draft Resisters” portrays draft resisters as brave heroes who stand up for what’s right despite the personal consequences, who “suffer for the sake of honesty” and “refuse to follow traitors to humanity”. They’re unjustly punished, sent “off to prison in this land of liberty”, and we shouldn’t forget their bravery because “they will go for you and me”. These lyrics are an ironic reflection of the patriotic songs of the War, that praised the bravery of the soldiers and the extolled the just purpose of the war and the fact that it was being fought for our freedom.

(This article is part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

Interestingly, the album has another song on it that, if it were written a few years later, would have worked very well as an anti-Vietnam War song. “With God On Our Side” sings of the recurring hypocrisy of justifying wars with the belief that God is on anybody’s side. He describes how God was apparently on the side of the U.S. versus the native Americans (“The cavalries charged | The Indians died | Oh the country was young |With God on its side”); both sides in the American Civil War; in the Spanish-American War; and in both World Wars. It then sings of the nuclear stand-off with the Soviet Union, and how it would apparently be okay to press the button with God on our side. But the song makes no mention of Vietnam, which is hardly surprising in 1963. I wonder if there would have been an extra verse if it was written in 1965 or 1966? The last lines summarize what Dylan thinks God would really do if he was on anybody’s side: “If God’s on our side | He’ll stop the next war”. In other words, war is a human thing which humans should take full responsibility for.

(This article is part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

Starr followed “War” with another single, “Stop the War Now“, which also belongs in the list of Vietnam War songs. While not as musically impactful or commercially successful as “War”, it is still an effective piece of music delivered in a similar style. “Stop the War Now” deals with some specific issues, such as: the unjustness of the draft; the moral strain of killing; the mounting death toll; the insult of a pension and medal in return for a son’s life. But in other respects it’s similar to “War”, just not quite as effective.

While Edwin Starr made “War” a hit, he wasn’t the first to record it. The song was actually written for Motown by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. It was recorded by The Temptations and released on their “Psychedelic Soul” album in May 1970. Apparently the studio received requests from fans to have “War” released as a single, but the studio thought it may offend the more conservative segment of The Temptations’ fan base, so they recorded the song with Starr and released that version as a single. For the Temptations, they released another classic piece of Vietnam War music, “Ball of Confusion“. The Temptations’ performance of “War” is well executed, and features a background chant of “hup, two, three, four” behind the verses, but it ultimately does not have the same level of emotional impact as Starr’s.

In the years since, many other performers have covered this song. The one that has achieved the most widespread popularity is a live performance by Bruce Springsteen, done at the end of his “Born in the U.S.A.” tour in 1985. Not only is Springsteen’s performance effective, but it’s also poetically appropriate, given that “Born in the U.S.A” is a song about a Vietnam veteran.

(This article is part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

There are in fact three officially released versions of this song. The popular version is the wild and energetic one that appeared on the B-side of the “Hey Jude” single. Then there’s the more sedate “Revolution 1″ on the White Album, which doesn’t have the same energy or impact, and the very experimental “Revolution 9″ on the same album, which is inscrutable and very hard to listen to. Fortunately, the single version is included on the John Lennon “Imagine” compilation CD.

(Note: I’d love to put an audio sample in this post, but at the time of writing, there is no digital version approved by the rights holder).

(This article is part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

Sadler himself was a medic in the green berets. He served in Vietnam, and was severely injured by a punji stick trap (a pit trap full of feces-covered bamboo spikes). While recovering in hospital, he sang the ballad and other songs to other patients. A visiting T.V. news crew happened to record him singing “Ballad of the Green Berets”, and the song was received very favorably when the story aired. RCA signed Saddler to release the ballad, along with a collection of other similarly themed songs, on the L.P. “Ballads of the Green Berets”. The ballad reached #1 on the Hot 100 chart for 5 weeks straight in 1966. It was an instant gold record, and the #1 album of 1966, and the ballad was the 21st most popular song of the 1960s, despite the unpopularity of the War. Evidently, Sadler’s message struck a deep emotional chord with a great many Americans.

(This article is part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

The song pre-dates the Vietnam War (at least, from the point of view of major U.S. involvement in the war, and awareness of the war by the American general public), and was written in the 50s by Pete Seeger, and Joe Hickerson, inspired by a handful of lines of a Ukranian folk song Seeger had read a few years earlier. Seeger originally recorded and released a short version of the song as part of a medly on an obscure record “Rainbow Quest“, which remained largely unknown to the general public.

The song became a big hit when the Kingston Trio recorded it in 1961. Seeger’s recording was so unknown at the time that the Kingston Trio mistakenly thought it was a traditional song, and failed to credit Seeger. They corrected this error when it was brought to their attention.



The Kingston Trio had originally heard it in a live performance by Peter, Paul and Mary, who also recorded a very popular version of the song on their self-titled debut album in 1962, and the song is often associated with them. The song was also recorded many other singers, including Marlene Dietrich, who sang it in German and French.

(This article is part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

Saigon Bride is performed with her signature style of well-articulated folk singing with a high vibrato voice and guitar accompaniment, making it one of the prettiest Vietnam War songs. The lyrical content is serious and engaging, and the seriousness is supported by her precisely-enunciated vocals. She compares the American fight in Vietnam to an incapable attempt to “stem the tide”, and asks rhetorical questions like “How many dead men will it take | To build a dike that will not break?” (in other words, the killing is not only tragic, but also futile). The song is also critical of the rationalizations for drafting soldiers: “It takes them off the streets you know | To places they would never go alone | It gives them useful trades | The lucky boys are even paid.”

(This article is part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

The lyrics use a nice contrast between descriptions of unrest like “Said my name is called disturbance | I’ll shout and scream, I’ll kill the king, I’ll rail at all his servants”, and what could be helplessness in “what can a poor boy do except to sing for a rock and roll band [...] in sleepy London town | There’s just no place for a street fighting man.” London was relatively quiet compared to America and France at the time, hence “what can a poor boy do” except sing in a band. Jagger did participate in an anti-Vietnam War protest involving 25,000 people at the US Embassy in London that same year, and while it’s debated whether that event contributed to the song, it certainly indicates that the issue was important to him and he did do more than just sing in a band.

The song was originally recorded as “Did Everybody Pay Their Dues?“, with completely different lyrics. While this version was never released, some bootleg recordings have made it into the wild. The song really has nothing to do with the Vietnam War, as far as I can tell. On the surface it’s about an abusive chief and his suffering tribe. But there’s a hint at a deeper message, shown by the lines “He’s a tribal chief his name is called disorder | His flesh and blood he tears it up when acting right is normal “, suggesting the song is a metaphor for the disorder in society. So perhaps it is about the same thing as “Street Fighting Man”, but with much more obscure lyrics. It isn’t anywhere near as effective.

(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

Lyrics highlighting xenophobia

“If you don’t like the people or the way that they talk”
and
“The only gook an American can trust | Is a gook that’s got his yellow head bust.”

and global power struggle

“If you don’t kill them then the Chinese will | If you don’t want America to play second fiddle”
and
“If you let them live they might love the Russians”

are followed with the intentionally ridiculous conclusion

“Kill, Kill, Kill for Peace”.

(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

The message of the song is delivered very dramatically with a firing squad sequence taking place in the middle of the song. In live performances the firing squad is performed by guitarist Robby Kreiger holding his guitar to mimic a rifle and “shooting” singer Jim Morrison, who would collapse on the stage and continue singing while lying “dead”.

Lyrically, the song emphasizes a couple of points. Firstly, the very real and anonymous killing that takes place, repeating “And it’s all over | For the unknown soldier”. Secondly, the way we can take this for granted, for example, while we watch it on TV or read it in the newspaper for something to do while eating our breakfast: “Breakfast where the news is read | Television children fed | Bullet strikes the helmet’s head”.

(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

The gist of the story is that Guthrie and a friend visited their friend Alice for Thanksgiving (Alice and her husband happen to own a restaurant, which doesn’t figure into the story other than as part of the chorus at the beginning and end of the song). There’s a pile of trash at her house, so Guthrie and friend decide to do a good deed an take it to the dump. But the dump is closed for Thanksgiving, so after failing to find a reasonable alternative, they dump the trash down a cliff off the side of the road. The next day, they’re arrested for littering and fined $50. The account of the arrest and court appearance is highly and entertainingly exaggerated, and plays on the theme of police overkill.

That’s just the setup, and is essentially a true story, albeit with theatrical exaggeration. The second part of the story is the point about the draft. This didn’t actually happen in real life, but it makes for a good story. Sometime after the littering event, Guthrie gets drafted and turns up at his local recruitment center. He tries to convince the psychiatrist he’s bloodthirsty psychopath, at which he’s told that he seems completely qualified to join the army.

…”we was both jumping up and down yelling, “KILL, KILL.” And the sergeant came over, pinned a medal on me, sent me down the hall, said, “You’re our boy.”

Then they find out he has a criminal record for littering, and sit him in a room full of hardened criminals while they review his case, eventually concluding that because of his criminal record he’s unfit to serve. At which point he said…

“Sergeant, you got a lot a damn gall to ask me if I’ve rehabilitated myself [...] ’cause you want to know if I’m moral enough join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages after bein’ a litterbug.”

The song ends with a request for the listener to sing the chorus of the song at the recruitment center if they’re ever drafted, because if enough people do it, “friends they may think it’s a movement”.

By telling an entertaining and engaging story, Guthrie very effectively conveys points about draft resistance, and the immorality of the war and of fighting in it. In 1969 the a movie version of the story was released.

(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

Lyrically, the song is very simple, and while obscure towards the end, for the most part gets right to the point. The beginning lines “Machine gun | Tearing my body all apart” suggest the personal cost of the war. Lines like “Evil man make you kill me | Evil man make me kill you | Even though were only families apart” suggest that the soldiers on both sides are just ordinary people who aren’t much different from each other, and are being directed to fight each other without good reason. The lines “Yeah, machine gun | Tearing my family apart” suggest the divisiveness and tragedy that the war had brought to many families, such as when pro- and anti- war sentiments split a family, or when a family’s son or brother was killed, injured or missing.

The CD “Live at the Fillmore East” was released in 1999, and contains more recordings from the same concerts as “Band of Gypsys”, with an alternative recording of “Machine Gun”. (The audio sample from Amazon features the signature machine gun burst of guitar & drums).

(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

The song was actually written by Jimmy Webb, who released his own recording on the album “Letters” in 1972. Webb actually had a soldier in the Spanish American war in mind when he wrote the song. But given the timing and popularity of Campbell’s release, the theme of the song, and the timelessness of the lyrics (which don’t mention any specific war), it’s easily a piece of Vietnam War Music.

(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

The title track, “Volunteers” had been released as a single a couple of months earlier, and would reach #65 on the charts. It had also been played at Woodstock earlier in the year, and is included in theWoodstock soundtrack and movie. The song repeats a rallying cry “got a revolution got to revolution” calling for people to join together and make changes in America. It’s appealing to the younger generation to change the ways of their elders, “One generation got old” … “This generation got no destination to hold” … “We are volunteers of America”.

The track “We Can Be Together” was also the B-side of the “Volunteers” single. Filled with catchy guitar licks, it’s another rallying cry for people to stop “standing around” and “join together” to “tear down the walls”. As well as being a popular song, it’s also famous for being one of the earliest recordings of the word f**k on a record, and for a life performance on the Dick Cavett Show where the F-word was reportedly uttered for the first time on network TV.

“Wooden Ships” was written by Airplane’s Paul Kantner, together with David Crosby and Stephen Stills (who also released their own version on the “Crosby Stills and Nash” album). The song speaks of life in a wasteland after some apocalypse, and the futility of the conflict in lines like “I can see by your coat my friend that you’re from the other side. | There’s just one thing I got to know, | Can you tell me please who won?” The song is clearly about the fear and pointlessness of nuclear conflict. The nuclear escalation and stand-off, and the US’s fight against communists in Vietnam, were both battle-fronts in the Cold War.

(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

The song was written by Stephen Stills, later of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (Neil Young was also a member of Buffalo Springfield at the same time), and was his first hit, reaching #7 in 1967 (the album reached #80).  The song has a casual, laid back tone and is one of those tunes I’m happy to play over 2 or 3 times in a row because of its relaxed and enjoyable mood.  This is quite ironic given the subject matter, for example, here are some of the lines:

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away
We better stop, hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down

(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

In the song, the protesters ask the serviceman to sign a telegram of sympathy.  The serviceman thinks it’s for the families of US soldiers serving in Vietnam, but the protester then explains that it’s actually for Ho Chi Minh.  The serviceman’s thoughts wander to other soldiers who were dying so that these people could live safely, and the protesters “looked at me like I was kinda crazy, just another warmonger.”  The soldier goes to a bar and grabs a drink and cools his nerves before heading off to fly back to Saigon.  The final line concludes in a wonderfully delivered drawl: “I don’t like dyin’ either… but man, I ain’t gonna crawl!”

It’s very difficult to find a recording of Dudley’s song that’s still in print.  However, there is a recording on YouTube.

Here’s another YouTube video from Kris Kristofferson’s 1995 “His Life and Work”, with a preamble where Kristofferson says a few words about what he thought at the time he wrote the piece. He also follows with a description of his current views: “my attitude toward Vietnam today is 180 degrees different… killed 2 million Vietnamese, as well as killing 56 thousand Americans… we did worse than that though… I think we killed for a lot of Americans the notion that America stands for liberty and justice for everybody… it’s up to anybody who does have the information, to try to pass it on.”

(The Dave Dudley CD is out of print, but I figured I’d put the link here anyway in case there’s ever a reasonably priced 2nd-hand one – the mp3 version doesn’t contain Viet Nam Blues).
(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

With the hindsight of history we know that in 1966 the US involvement in the war was still a few years away from its peak.  But at the time, the war must already have begun to loom large.  1966 had seen a number of big operations involving US troops, and by the end of that year US forces on the ground in Vietnam would total 365,000 men.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme included a number of tracks that were either implicitly or explicitly Vietnam War songs.

Scarborough Fair/Canticle is a beautiful piece of music that intertwines the lines two songs.  There is nothing linking it directly to the Vietnam War, other than the date of its release, and its anti-war message.  ”Scarborough Fair” is a medieval English folk tune about a heartbroken man setting a series of impossible tasks that his former lover must complete before he’ll take her back. Interspersed with this is “Canticle”, which is a reworking of Paul Simon’s The Side Of A Hill, updated with an anti-war message, as can be easily seen with the Scarborough Fair lines removed:

On the side of a hill in a deep forest green
Tracing of sparrow on snow-crested ground
Blankets and bedclothes the child of the mountain
On the side of a hill a sprinkling of leaves
Washes the grave in sunlight and tears
A soldier cleans and polishes a gun
Generals order their soldiers to kill
And to fight for a cause they’ve long ago forgotten

I’m not exactly sure what was meant by mixing the two songs, and you’ll find plenty of contradictory speculation on the Internet.  But to me, by mixing an anti-war song with a song about sadness and the impossible tasks required for reconciliation, Simon & Garfunkel seem to be saying that war is both tragic and hopeless.

Homeward Bound is a song about a musician on an apparently endless tour, weary of the travel, sick of performing the same old tunes, town after town, night after night, and feeling lonely and homesick.  While not about the War, it’s easy to imagine the sentiment of the song and the line “I wish I was homeward bound” resonating with soldiers on tours of duty in Vietnam (for example, see Fred Marshall’s comment in Voices from Vietnam, p.183)

7 O’Clock News/Silent Night features the tenderly sung Christmas carol, “Silent Night”, overdubbed with a summary of current events read as an evening news bulletin, including: the negotiation of the Civil Rights Bill; the death of comedian and social critic Lenny Bruce; Dr. Martin Luther King being told to call off a march in Chicago or the National Guard will be called in; the trial of mass murderer and rapist Richard Speck; and the government’s persecution of anti-war protestors, and the expectation of five more years of war, as can be seen in this snippet of the “news”:

In Washington the atmosphere was tense today as a special subcommittee of the House Committee on Un-American activities continued its probe into anti-Viet nam war protests.  Demonstrators were forcibly evicted from the hearings when they began chanting anti-war slogans.  Former Vice-President Richard Nixon says that unless there is a substantial increase in the present war effort in Viet nam, the U.S. should look forward to five more years of war.  In a speech before the Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in New York, Nixon also said opposition to the war in this country is the greatest single weapon working against the U.S.

(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

The Vietnam War was one of the key World-shaping events of the 20th century.  All of the peoples that fought in the war paid a high price in lives and suffering, especially the Vietnamese.  The War had an immense cultural and historical impact on the psyche of America and the Western world, the after-shocks of which can still be felt decades later, not only by veterans and their families, but also in everyday culture if one looks closely enough.

One of the best ways to gain insight into the spirit of the time is by listening to Vietnam War Music.

To understand the mood within the US throughout the war, we can look at how popular musicians and bands of the era incorporated their thoughts on the war into their songs.  Musicians can both reflect and influence the thoughts of their audience, and the messages in their songs reflect the mood and attitude of a part of the population.  In particular, there were a number of popular songs in the era with an anti-war sentiment.  These are a good lens through which the protest movement and general anti-war concerns in the population can be seen.  We can also see patriotism and support of the troops in some popular songs from the period.  The best example of this is probably Staff Sergeant Barry Saddler’s “Ballad of the Green Berets”, which was was #1 on the charts for 5 weeks in 1966.

Similarly, to get a better understanding of the soldiers, we can listen to the songs they listened to, and get a small glimpse of how they may have felt.  For example, the Animals’ “We gotta get out of this place” was very popular, and it’s not hard to imagine the emotion associated with its obvious and rousing chorus.  Even now, if you watch that song on YouTube, you’ll inevitably see a comment from somebody on how hugely popular it was in South Vietnam.  Another thing to remember is that there were plenty of musicians among the soldier population, singing popular songs, folk songs, military songs, and new songs that sprang from the experiences of the soldiers.  All of these provide insight.

The after-effects of the Vietnam War on Western culture can also be seen in music.

In the decade following the end of the war, the veterans were home, the politicians had moved on, the refugees were settling, the younger generation was coming of age with the war in the near memory of their parents.  A number of popular songs made direct reference to the war.  For example, the Australian band Redgum’s “I Was Only 19″ was a #1 hit in Australia in 1983, and was covered by hip-hop band The Herd in 2005, receiving considerable airplay.

Music from the War period has reached new audiences by being re-released in “greatest hits” compilations, including many pieces that are associated with the Vietnam war either by topic or audience.  Some music from the period has also been re-recorded by new artists.  For example, Bruce Springsteen’s 1985 performance of Edwin Starr’s 1970 hit “War” was very popular, and captured the same raw energy that Starr expressed in his version.

To provide more information, I’m compiling a list of Vietnam War Songs and Music.  This is an ongoing project, so the list will grow over time.  I’m also posting on particular songs and musicians.  Again, I’ll be doing this over a period of time, so the list of articles will grow.  The list of songs and their corresponding articles will be cross-linked so you can find your way between them.  I’ll also provide links to Amazon and (hopefully) iTunes so you can hear samples, and get your own copy if you like.  I’ll also provide YouTube links where I can find them.

In addition to this, it thought it would be interesting to provide a Vietnam War Timeline, and provide a page which lists the songs alongside a timeline.  The idea is to provide more historical context for the music, which is in turn shedding light on the history.  One can shed light on the other, and vice versa.