3. Wartime Music http://redhatrob.files .wordpress.com/2007/09/vietnam_protest_rs.jpg Challenged social norms Set the framework for artistic expression Influence still resonates today Medium of communication Used voices as a means of persuasion (Perone, 2001)
4. History & Music 1965-1975 http://www.digitalhistory .uh.edu/do_history/decisions/images/johnson.jpg Foreign policy goals of Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations Initially, sixty percent of the American public supported LBJ’s policy of military escalation in Vietnam during 1964 (Anderson, 1986) Protest demonstrations triggered debate Record sales tripled during this decade (Anderson, 1986)
5. Views on War Public opinion shifted drastically between 1967 to 1970 with themes of discontent, angst, and bitterness emerging in popular music lyrics (Laux, 2007) War advocates spread optimistic message in music Nation split into left-wing “anti-war” or right-wing “pro-war” sides (Perone, 2001) Nixon’s strategy for an “honorable” end to the war failed http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/Vietnam/Images/dcdemo.jpeg
6. Evolution of Music Jazz & rock n’ roll country and rock Popular music expressed public divide over war Pro-war= country & easy-listening Anti-war= rock & folk Both intertwined political messages Supported the troops or incited protests and rallies Served as an effective form of wartime propaganda “to communicate both political and social messages” (Graham, 2003) http://www.yorkblog.com/teentakeover/img/music.jpg
7. Pro-War Music http://mykindofcountry.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/merle-haggard.jpg Songs promoted duty and patriotism (Perone, 2001) Merle Haggard- “Okie from Muskogee” and “The Fightin’ Side of Me” The top song requested and played on the radio during war years was singer Barry Sadler’s “The Ballad of the Green Berets” (Anderson, 1986) Holds the title as the most popular war song ever produced with over 9 million singles sold to date http://christiandivine.files .wordpress.com/2009/08/ballad-of-the-green-berets-cd-cover.jpg
8. Anti-War Music http://riverdaughter .files.wordpress.com/2009/ 09/peter-paul-and-mary.jpg Resurgence of folk music with Peter, Paul, and Mary & Bob Dylan (Rikard, 2005) Creedence Clearwater Revival- “Fortunate Son” Music artists of the late 1960s “witnessed more protest songs on the top 100 charts than any other time in the history of rock music” (Anderson, 1986) Country Joe and the Fish – “The I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die-Rag” Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young composed “Ohio” in response to Kent State shootings on May 4, 1970 http://30daysout.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/bob_dylan_12_64.jpg
9. Impact of War & Music 1st amendment ideals- freedom of speech Progression in society by “exerting deep and lasting influences on the form and content of popular music” (Rikard, 2005) Songs of that era span many generations Paved a path toward greater musical expression in times of conflict Author Michael Herr notes how “music melded with the war” and “became part of the Vietnam experience” (Rikard, 2005) Songs such as Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” depict “age(s) of social unrest in America” (Laux, 2007) http://digitalcollections.mcmaster .ca/files/pw20c_images/00001300.jpg
Hinweis der Redaktion
Music was America’s domestic battleground, where songwriters, politicians, and society openly struggled over American intervention in Southeast Asia
Greater public awareness of situation going on
Escalation in violenceAmerican forces evacuated from South Vietnam under Vietnamization (Laux, 2007).1965- Fall of Saigon to North Vietnam ended the war
Represented the Silent Majority- supported Vietnam tacticsAttacked the counterculture movementConservative movementOkie- 1969Fightin- 1970Berets- 1966
Fortunate- 1969I Feel- 1965Against traditional American attitudes and valuesExpresseddoubt over troopsPolitically motivated tunes opposing the draft emergedJohn Lennon-”Give Peace a Chance”Phil Ochs’- “Draft Dodger Rag”“We Gotta Get Out of This Place” –The Animals… Considered by vets to be their anthem of the Vietnam War (Perone, 2001)Increasing numbers of student protests on college campusesOhio– banned on several AM stations but heard on airwaves of FM underground (Perone, 2001)- 4 student protestors shot dead (Perone, 2001)
History often repeats itself and is shaped by the mediaStill relevant today… themes can be adopted into modern musicRevolutionized American music foreverComparisons have been made to the war in IraqBorn in the USA- 1984What’s Going On- 1971
