Music and the Sixties Essay -- Music Politics History Essays

Music and the Sixties What the music of the late 1960s and early 1970 are attempting to achieve is a protest to the U.S. government. From the lyrics of Neil Young's Ohio performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, the vocalists are memorializing the incident that occurred during a protest about U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War in Kent State University where nine students were injured and four students were killed by the Ohio National Guardsmen who opened fire on unarmed students: Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin,' We're finally on our own, This summer I hear the drummin' Four dead in Ohio Got to get down to it. Soldiers are gunnin' us down. Should have been gone long ago. What if you knew her And found her dead on the ground? How can you run when you know? Eddie Holland and Norman Whitfield's War is one of the best selling song of the 1970 who also protested about the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. It is in these lyrics that describes how war does not solve any problems and how it does not do any good to innocent civilians in Vietnam and to the families whose son(s) are off to war: War-huh-yeah What is it good for? Absolutely NOTHING! Uh huh, Uh huh (repeat) War-I despise 'Cos it means destruction Of innocent lives War means tears To thousands of mothers how When their sons go off to fight And lose their lives Comparing War and Ohio to the top ten singles of 1970s, it suggests that the music of the 1970s not only deals with issues dealing with U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The music of the 1970s also brought up many other issues such as love and relationships. For example, Jackson 5's I Want You Back describes how this person falls in love with a girl. But he ignores her ... ...it talks about how the Government is attacking Eminem of his lyrics when Eminem has the free will to write or say anything he wants, even though Eminem does not mean what he says. It also goes for the same when U.S. is in war with Iraq. Everyday, President Bush states that the troops of U.S. are liberating the Iraqi people to allow them to have freedom of religion, press, and importantly speech while here in the U.S. the protesters are being suppressed by the Government and the pro-war demonstrators. One of the person who was being surpressed by the government and pro-war demonstrators is a Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines who apologized to President Bush for saying she was ashamed that he was from Texas. And so in conclusion, the music of the late 1960s and early 1970s not only dealt with the Vietnam War, but many other issues such as love and relationships.