On May 4, 1970 the evening news on all networks were carrying the story of students on the campus of Kent State University being killed by National Guardsman for exercising their constitutional right of peaceful protest. The Vietnam war had come home to middle America. As millions of Americans watched in numbed shock of what had happened on that college campus in Ohio, the mood of the nation was about to change and the college campuses were about to erupt in anger and rage. These emotions were expressed in a number of ways one of which was music.
This page includes audio files for each of the tunes discussed in the Sampling Of Anti-War Songs section. To listen to the Real Audio files, you will need The Free RealPlayer and at least a 56 k connection. Enjoy the tunes as you browse through the page.
Protest music has been with civilization, probably from when time began. I would assume that once a stringed instrument was conceptualized there had to be a troubadour somewhere singing a song with a message. The antiwar music of the Vietnam era took the children of the 60’s to a different level. Musicians of this generation took the guitar strumming troubadour from the coffee houses, plugged them in, and sent the music and the message into the college dorm rooms and the homes of the youth of America.
This generation was not going to sit idly by while the government lied to the people about what was going on in Vietnam. Moreover, this was the first generation where combat veterans were returning prior to the end of the war and exposing the lies and pretzel logic that put us in Vietnam to begin with. This social climate, plus musicians who became the collective conscience of this generation through their lyrics and music became the foundation of ending a barbaric and unjust war, which the government tried to sweep under the rug by to calling it a 'conflict' or a 'police action'.
Tin Soldiers And Nixon's Bombing We're Finally On Our Own This Summer I Hear The Drumming Four Dead In Ohio
Gotta Get Down To It Soldiers Are Gunning Us Down Should Of Been Done Long Ago What If You Knew Her And Found Her Dead On The Ground How Can You Run When You Know
La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La
Tin Soldiers And Nixon's Bombing We're Finally On Our Own This Summer I Hear The Drumming Four Dead In Ohio
Four Dead In Ohio Four Dead In Ohio Four Dead In Ohio Four Dead In Ohio
I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die-Rag
I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag Joe McDonald (1965)
Well, 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.
And It's One, Two, Three, What Are We Fighting For ? Don't Ask Me, I Don't Give A D___, Next Stop Is Vietnam; And It's Five, Six, Seven, Open Up The Pearly Gates, Well There Ain't No Time To Wonder Why, Whoopee! We're All Gonna Die.
Come On Wall Street, Don't Be Slow, Why Man, This Is War Au-Go-Go There's Plenty Good Money To Be Made By Supplying The Army With The Tools Of Its Trade, But Just Hope And Pray That If They Drop The Bomb, They Drop It On The Viet Cong.
And It's One, Two, Three, What Are We Fighting For ? Don't Ask Me, I Don't Give A D____ Next Stop Is Vietnam. And It's Five, Six, Seven, Open Up The Pearly Gates, Well There Ain't No Time To Wonder Why Whoopee! We're All Gonna Die.
Well, Come On Generals, Let's Move Fast; Your Big Chance Has Come At Last. Now You Can Go Out And Get Those Reds 'Cause The Only Good Commie Is The One That's Dead And You Know That Peace Can Only Be Won When We've Blown 'Em All To Kingdom Come.
And It's One, Two, Three, What Are We Fighting For ? Don't Ask Me, I Don't Give A D____, Next Stop Is Vietnam; And It's Five, Six, Seven, Open Up The Pearly Gates, Well There Ain't No Time To Wonder Why Whoopee! We're All Gonna Die.
Come On Mothers Throughout The Land, Pack Your Boys Off To Vietnam. Come On Fathers, And Don't Hesitate To Send Your Sons Off Before It's Too Late. And You Can Be The First Ones On Your Block To Have Your Boy Come Home In A Box.
And It's One, Two, Three What Are We Fighting For ? Don't Ask Me, I Don't Give A D____, Next Stop Is Vietnam. And It's Five, Six, Seven, Open Up The Pearly Gates, Well There Ain't No Time To Wonder Why, Whoopee! We're All Gonna Die. It Better End Soon
It Better End Soon Robert Lamm-Terry Kath (1969)
Can't Stand It No More The People Dying Crying For Help For So Many Years But Nobody Hears Better End Soon My Friend It Better End Soon My Friend Can't Take It No More The People Hating Hurting Their Brothers They Don't Understand They Can't Understand Better End Soon My Friend It Better End Soon
Hey, Everybody Won't You Just Look Around Can't Anybody See Just What's Going Down Can't You Take The Time Just To Feel Just To Feel What Is Real If You Do Then You'll See That We Got A Raw Deal They're Killing Everybody They're Killing Me And You They're Killing Everybody I Wish It Weren't True They Say We Got To Make War Or The Economy Will Fall But If We Don't Stop We Won't Be Around No More They're Ruining This World For You And Me The Big Heads Of State Won't Let Us Be Free They Made The Rules Once But It Didn't Work Out Now We Must Try Again Before They Kill Us Off No More Dying! No More Killing No More Dying No More Fighting We Don't Want To Die No, We Don't Want To Die Please Let's Change It All Please Let's Make It All Good For The Present And Better For The Future Let's Just Love One Another Let's Show Peace For Each Other We Can Make It Happen Let's Just Make It Happen We Can Change This World Please Let's Change This World Please Let's Make It Happen For Our Children For Our Women Change The World Please Make It Happen Come On Come On Please Come On It's Up To Me It's Up To You So Let's Do It Now Yeah Do It Now
Can't Stand It No More The People Cheating Burning Each Other They Know It Ain't Right How Can It Be Right Better End Soon My Friend It Better End Soon My Friend
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Ms. Hernandez St. Francis-St. Stephen School 17 Elmwood Ave. Geneva, NY 14456 315-789-1828
Ohio
It Better End Soon
