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| Joe McDonald, The Vietnam Rag |
The 1960s were not only a time of great social upheaval, they were also a time of great music. And the twain met quite often. Great musical artists met shifting times and the music that resulted was often inspirational to social movement. Moreover, many of those songs remain popular today. Below are twenty such songs. For each I've provided key lyrics and linked the title to a you tube video of it. Some songs, such as Ohio, are responses to events. Some like Something in the Air, are clarion calls. Others, like All Along the Watchtower, capture the mood of the times. Some are angry, some are hopeful, some are prophetic. A few were not written or released until shortly after the Sixties, but all are close to the time. I undoubtedly left out some that others would have included but I flatter myself that I did a fairly thorough job.
Something in the Air - Thunderclap Newman Call out the instigators/Because there's something in the air/We've got to get together sooner or later/Because the revolution's here
What’s Going on - Marvin Gaye We don't need to escalate/You see, war is not the answer/For only love can conquer hate/You know we've got to find a way/To bring some lovin' here today
For What it’s Worth - Buffalo Springfield There's battle lines being drawn/Nobody's right if everybody's wrong/Young people speaking their minds/Getting so much resistance from behind
Ohio - Crosby Stills Nash & Young Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming/We're finally on our own/This summer I hear the drumming/Four dead in Ohio
Street Fighting Man - The Rolling Stones Ev'rywhere I hear the sound of marching, charging feet, boy/Cause summer's here and the time is right/For fighting in the street, boy/But what can a poor boy do
Universal Soldier - Buffy St. Marie He's five feet two, and he's six feet four/He fights with missiles and with spears/He's all of thirty-one, and he's only seventeen/He's been a soldier for a thousand years
All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix There must be some kind of way outta here/Said the joker to the thief/There's too much confusion/I can't get no relief
The Times They Are a Changing - Bob Dylan And don't speak too soon, for the wheel's still in spin/And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'/For the loser now will be later to win/For the times they are a-changin'
San Franciscan Nights - Eric Burdon and the Animals Cop's face is filled with hate/Heavens above he's on a street called love/When will they ever learn/Old cop young cop feel uptight/On a warm San Franciscan night
Give Peace a Chance - John Lennon & Yoko Ono Ev'rybody's talking about
Revolution, evolution, masturbation/Flagellation, regulation, integrations/Meditations, United Nations/Congratulations/All we are saying is give peace a chance/All we are saying is give peace a chance
Young Americans - David Bowie Well, he wants the young American/Do you remember, your President Nixon? (ooh)/Do you remember, the bills you have to pay?/Or even yesterday?
I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag - Country Joe McDonald and the Fish And it's one, two, three, what are we fighting for?/Don't ask me, I don't give a damn, next stop is Viet Nam/And it's five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates/Ain't no time to wonder why, whoopee we're all gonna die
A Well-Respected Man - The Kinks And he's oh, so good,/And he's oh, so fine,/And he's oh, so healthy,/In his body and his mind./He's a well-respected man about town,/Doing the best things so conservatively
People Got to be Free - Rascals All the world over, so easy to see/People everywhere just wanna be free/Listen, please listen, that's the way it should be/There's peace in the valley, people got to be free
Out in the Country - Three Dog Night Before the breathin' air is gone/Before the sun is just a bright spot in the night-time/Out where the rivers like to run/I stand alone and take back somethin' worth rememberin'
Won’t Get Fooled Again - The Who We'll be fighting in the streets/With our children at our feet/And the morals that they worship will be gone/And the men who spurred us on/Sit in judgement of all wrong/They decide and the shotgun sings the song
A Change is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke It's been a long/A long time coming/But I know, a change gonna come/Oh, yes it will
Waist Deep in the Big Muddy — Pete Seeger It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging./We'll soon be on dry ground/We were, waist deep in the Big Muddy/And the big fool said to push on
Mississippi Goddamn - Nina Simone I can't stand the pressure much longer/Somebody say a prayer/Alabama's gotten me so upset/Tennessee made me lose my rest/And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
Eve of Destruction - Barry McGuire The Eastern world, it is explodin'/Violence flarin', bullets loadin'/You're old enough to kill but not for votin'/You don't believe in war, but what's that gun you're totin'?/And even the Jordan river has bodies floatin'
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