Where Have All the Protest Songs Gone?

For those of us who lived through the Vietnam era, our nation's current excursion into unmerited military conflict brings back memories of a time when young Americans were unafraid to show their disdain for the war. Marches, sit-ins and general unrest had become the norm on college campuses throughout the nation. For the first time in our nation's history, those who were of fighting age were resisting a call to arms and questioning authority in a major way.

The sixties was a decade of protest for young people against the war specifically and against anything to do with the establishment in general. Much of the music heard on rock-and-roll radio stations of the time reflected the antiestablishment stance of the counterculture. Protest songs were nothing new to America, but never before had they been so plentiful.

But where are today's protest songs? Sure, there are a few, but you have to really look for them. They won't get much airplay. Of course the landscape of today's popular music is considerably different from 40 years ago when country music took a back seat to rock-and-roll; now it is perhaps the most popular genre in America. And the Dixie Chicks will tell you what happens to country music stars if they make critical statements of the current administration. So you can't really blame today's musicians for being a little skittish about being controversial.

But for those of us old enough to remember the 60s, here are just a few of the best protest songs of that era...

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Just about every song Bob Dylan wrote in the 60s could be categorized as a protest song, but this one may be his best. Throughout the song, Dylan sends out warnings to...

The people...

You better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone

The government...

There's a battle outside and it is ragin'.

Mothers and Fathers...

Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.

Subterranean Homesick Blues

Another anti-establishment tune, Dylan delivers this one in rap-like fashion as he takes pokes at, among other things, the government, the FBI and the army. His best line?

You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

The Eve of Destruction

This terrific song penned by P.F. Sloan became a big hit for Barry McGuire. Despite the fact it was written in 1965, the words ring amazingly true today. Particularly the opening lines...

The eastern world, it is explodin', violence flarin', bullets loadin'.

Makes you realize that Dylan may have gotten it wrong; the times they aren't a-changin' all that much.

For What It's Worth

In 1967, Buffalo Springfield made their mark in the music world with this classic from Stephen Stills, which captures the increasingly common atmosphere of campus protests. Stills warns...

Stop children, what's that sound? Everybody look what's goin' down.

Ohio

On May 4, 1970, four students were shot and killed by overanxious National Guardsmen during Vietnam War protests on the campus of Kent State University. Almost immediately, Neil Young put this great Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young tune together which opens with the warning...

Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'.

The song also includes a haunting description of the massacre...

What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground. How can you run when you know?

And closes out with a pounding repetition of the line...

Four dead in O-hi-o!

We Can Change the World

Yet another song by CSNY, this one was written by Graham Nash and centers on the Chicago Seven trial where leaders of the antiwar movement were accused of conspiring to riot in the Windy City during the 1968 Democratic Convention. During the trial, defendant Bobby Seale was ordered bound-and-gagged by Judge Julius Hoffman. This bit of history is told in the opening lines of the song.

Though your brother's bound and gagged

And they've chained him to a chair...

In a land that's known as freedom

How can such a thing be fair?

Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag

This song by Country Joe and the Fish became the unofficial anthem of the Woodstock Music Festival, which occurred during the height of antiwar sentiment and draft card burning. The enormous crowd, sky high on pharmaceuticals, was more than happy to sing along to...

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

Fortunate Son

John Fogerty, who today is still writing antiwar songs, penned this Credence Clearwater Revival tune. Fogerty targets the privileged who were able to avoid Vietnam, a war supported by the rich and largely fought by middle and lower class kids.

It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no millionaire's son
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one

Give Peace a Chance

John Lennon represented the social conscience of the Beatles with many of his songs. As a solo act, he became an even more outspoken opponent of American war policy. The main theme of this little number quickly became a part of many anti-war demonstrations as marchers would loudly sing out...

All we are saying, is give peace a chance

War

Lots of great lines in Edwin Starr's number one hit...

War, what is it good for?

Absolutely nothing!

Induction, then destruction

Who wants to die?

War has shattered

Many young men's dreams

War, it ain't nothing but a heartbreaker

Friend only to the undertaker

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

Legendary folksinger/songwriter Pete Seeger says it all with...

And where have all the soldiers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the soldiers gone, a long time ago?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards, every one!
When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?

Considering the members of our current administration are all old enough to remember the Vietnam War and still have no problem sacrificing other people's children in a senseless war, it appears that Mr. Seeger asks a valid question. When will they ever learn?