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Many Americans were opposed to the Vietnam War for many different reasons and they showed it by holding rallies, burning draft cards, and setting fires. During this time period, however, music had really evolved. American musicians such as Bob Dylan, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Country Joe and The Fish were able to express through their songs what their views and opinions about the war were.
Bob Dylan had one of the top songs in the country during the war period- “Blowin’ in the Wind.” In this song he states “how many years can a people exist before they’re allowed to be free” (BBC). This pointed to the fact that no matter how many years a person, or country, may exist, some will remain free whereas others will not gain their freedom for quite some time. Yes, we should fight for our freedom but to fight in the Vietnam War wasn’t fair to the American people because the American soldiers weren’t fighting for our country’s freedom but that of a different nation. It would have even been acceptable to just aid them for a little while and then pull our forces out, however, we remained longer than planned which caused us to use up many of our military resources and cost the lives of too many soldiers. “Dylan’s music was musically exciting and socially critical in a way that expressed much of the discontent of the American young people.” (Black Book)
Aside from Bob Dylan, another band that left an impact within the hearts of the American people was Country Joe and the Fish. The song they are most recognized for is “I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die”, they sing “come on mothers throughout the land pack off your boys to Vietnam, come on fathers don’t hesitate send your sons off before it’s too late, you can be the first one on your block to have your boys come home in a box.” The purpose of this song was to criticize those that had entered the war, were considering joining the forces in fighting, and the American government for drafting people into a war that the country was unwilling to fight. By mocking those people that were willing to fight, Country Joe and the Fish made a strong impression that enlisting into the armed forces wasn’t going to get you anywhere other than either dead or glanced upon in a negative light. This impression was enough to cause more people to burn draft cards, leave the country and head toward Canada, as well as, more disappointment in the forces and the war itself.
Buffy Sainte-Marie’s song “Universal Soldier” described the life style of each soldier fighting in the war. It talks about how young some of the soldiers were, how they fought, and what they had to endure. It was a sad song to express how the soldiers were “fighting for the peace of all” but in the end, many of the soldiers never got to see this freedom. “He’s fighting for democracy, he’s fighting for the Reds He says it’s for the peace of all. He’s the one that must decide, who’s to live and who’s to die. And he never sees the writing on the wall.” This quote just further explains how many soldiers were dying in the war we were fighting and it didn’t seem worth putting their lives on the line if this fight wasn’t even for our country. The song also says, “he’s the universal soldier and he really is the blame but his orders come from far away no more.” This quote interprets how the American people blamed the soldiers that fought the war for losing and how they criticized and blamed them for fighting the war to begin with instead of supporting the troops like they should have been doing.
Therefore, through the lyrics written and later sung by popular American Musicians such as Bob Dylan, Country Joe and the Fish, and Buffy Sainte-Marie, the voices of the American people were heard and for some even inspired. This music spoke of the hardships soldiers were paying, the cost of freedom, and discouraged any support toward the war.
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