Theme: Vietnam War: Neil Young "Ohio"

All protesting was not peaceful back in the states. On May 4, 1970, students were protesting the American invasion of Cambodia when the Ohio National Guard were called in. At one point the guardsmen shot into the crowd of unarmed protesters and killed 4 students in what has come to be known as the Kent State Massacre (aka May 4 Massacre).
"Ohio" (1970) by Neil Young was written in response to the Kent State Massacre.

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

Theme: Vietnam War: Country Joe and the Fish 'I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag'

For a song that sounds like it came from the circus, the lyrical content of Country Joe and the Fish's 'I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag' (McDonald 1967) is quite humorless and in-your-face.

Well, come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don't hesitate,
Send 'em off before it's too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.

McDonald addresses his concerns to parents, generals, and Wall Street, in the name of Uncle Sam, and sarcastically invites young men to join the army:

Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun.

The childish sound of the song may deter listeners from paying attention to the lyrics, but the lyrics reel the listeners back in with the sarcastic line that ends each phrase: Open up the pearly gates...whoopie! we're all gonna die!

Fun fact: The recorded version begins with the 'Fish Cheer' ("Gimme an F! F! Gimme an I! I...). In a few live versions the band altered the 'Fish Cheer' to be the 'Fuck Cheer' ("Gimme an F! F! Gimme a U! U!...) and in 1970 McDonald was arrested for doing the altered version in public and charged with obscenity.

Theme: Vietnam War: Phil Ochs 'Draft Dodger Rag'

I find Phil Ochs to be very underrated. In my time listening and looking up information on Bob Dylan and other folk artists and protest songs of the time, I had not once come across Phil Ochs. The first time heard of Mr. Ochs was in Stephen King's novella/collection of 3 short stories 'Heart's in Atlantis'. The constant playing of Phil Ochs' "I Ain't Marching Anymore" by the characters in the story made me think I should give Mr. Ochs a try. I'm glad I did.

''Draft Dodger Rag" (Ochs 1965) is a satirical take on the extremes men would go to in order to avoid being drafted in the Vietnam war(-- literally 'dodging the draft- 'draft dodgers'):

Sarge, I'm only 18, I got a ruptured spleen,
and I always carry a purse.
I got eyes like a bat, and my feet are flat
and my asthma's getting worse.
Yes, think of my career, my sweetheart dear,
and my poor old invalid aunt.
Besides, I ain't no fool, I'm a-goin' to school,
and a-working in a defense plant.

Tens of thousands of men, with good reason, attempted to avoid the war using all types of reasoning, from allergies to homosexuality.

I've got a dislocated disc and a wracked up back
I'm allergic to flowers and bugs.
And when the bombshell hits, I get epileptic fits
And I'm addicted to a thousand drugs.
I got the weakness woes, I can't touch my toes
I can hardly reach my knees
And if the enemy came close to me
I'd probably start to sneeze.

Theme: Vietnam war: CCR 'Fortunate Son'

Ah, the Vietnam war. An obvious choice for a weekly theme, but an important one, nonetheless. Although the U.S. never officially declared war on Vietnam, the Vietnam war remains one of the most unpopular wars in American history (following behind the current Afghan/Iraq war). Nearly 60,000 (American) deaths and 350,000 casualties later, the U.S. finally decides to pull out of the Vietnam war in 1975.

Numerous artists wrote on Vietnam, though nearly all are protest/anti-war songs.


Creedence Clearwater Revival's 'Fortunate Son' (Fogerty, 1969) shows the hypocrisy of the war and, more specifically, of the draft. Fogerty sings of rich men (senator's sons) creating laws, ushering the country into war, and then buying their way out of the draft, ultimately putting someone else in their place:

Some folks are born, silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh
But when the taxman comes to the door,
Lord, the house look like a rummage sale, yes.

I believe CCR, like many others during this time, are angry at the hypocrisy of the government and it's failure to take responsibility in addition to cold, and even violent, responses towards protesters.

CCR ain't no fortunate sons.