Vietnam War Protest Songs

Some anti war songs lament some aspects of war while others satirize war.

Vietnam war protest songs. This is a list of songs concerning revolving around or directly referring to the vietnam war or to the vietnam war s after effects for a more complete listing see vietnam on record and the vietnam war song project. Artists like marvin gaye george harrison joan baez and arlo guthrie spoke out against a war that took nearly 60 000 american lives. Helicopters were pushed into the east vietnam sea but my interest here is in songs recorded during the war. At the outset of the war folk singers such as joan baez pete seeger phil ochs and peter paul and mary took center stage in protest music.

Most promote peace in some form while others sing out against specific armed conflicts. These are the best vietnam protest songs. The songs in this playlist expressed a degree of opposition to us government and military policies in vietnam or they displayed general peace anti war sent. Vietnam has continued to inspire songwriters long after the last u s.

From bob dylan to the beatles a number of notable music artists penned tunes that criticized the united states involvement in perhaps the least supported war by the american public. Antiwar songs were much in evidence at the woodstock festival in 1969 and were an integral part of virtually every antiwar protest march and rally. Among the hit songs were edwin starr s war crosby stills and nash s ohio and marvin gaye s what s going on. Still others depict the physical and psychological destruction that warfare causes to soldiers innocent civilians and humanity as a whole.

The vietnam war was a dominant musical theme in the 60s and 70s. The war in vietnam has long been the source of anti war and protest songs. The vietnam war and america s involvement in.