Vietnam War
Anti-war demonstrators tried flower power on MPs blocking their path to the Pentagon building on 21 October 1967. Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images
Context
History.com Editors, “Vietnam War Protests,” last modified October 21, 2020 https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-protests
The Vietnam War is a war that began due to ideological differences between the United States’ capitalist ideals and the growing influence of Communism in the East. The US aided the Southern Vietnamese against the Communist North with soldiers and arms. In August 1964 the North Vietnamese attacked two US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin, inciting the US’ full entry into the war in 1965. In February of 1965, US planes proceeded with regular bombings of North Vietnam. These attacks incited the beginning of the anti-war movement within the US, and it lasted for the following 10 years until the end of the war in 1975. The draft fueled the anti-war movement as young men, as many as 40,000 per month, were drafted into serving the US in a war they disagreed with. On October 21, 1967, one of the largest anti-war movements took place at the Lincoln Memorial where 100,000 people gathered. This protest became brutal and ended with many arrests, which only furthered many Americans’ dissatisfaction with the government. Following the various anti-war protests, musicians displayed their feelings through music that highlighted the atmosphere of late 1960s America. Some of the most famous songs relating to the Vietnam War are “What’s Going On?” by Marvin Gaye, “Born in the USA” by Bruce Springsteen and “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, as well as many others.
[Intro]
Hey, hey-hey
Hey, what's happenin'?
Hey, brother, what's happenin'?
Boy, this is a groovy party (Hey, how you doin'?)
Man, I can dig it
Yeah, brother, solid, right on
What's happenin'?
Hey, man, what's happening?
Woo
Everything is everything
We're gonna do a get down today, boy, I'll tell ya
[Verse 1]
Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some loving here today, yeah
[Verse 2]
Father, father
We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some loving here today, oh (Oh)
[Chorus]
Picket lines (Sister) and picket signs (Sister)
Don't punish me (Sister) with brutality (Sister)
Talk to me (Sister), so you can see (Sister)
Oh, what's going on (What's going on)
What's going on (What's going on)
Yeah, what's going on (What's going on)
Oh, what's going on
[Post-Chorus]
Ah-ah-ah-ah (In the meantime, right on, baby)
Woo (Right on, baby), woo
Ah-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya, ya-ya-ya-ya-ya
Woo (Right on, baby, right on), woo
Ah-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya
Ba-da-boo-doo, boo-boo-boo-doo, boo-boo-boo
Ba-da-boo-boo-boo-doo, boo-boo-boo-ba-ba-do
[Verse 3]
Mother, mother
Everybody thinks we're wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply 'cause our hair is long?
Oh, you know we've got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today, oh-oh
[Chorus]
Picket lines (Brother) and picket signs (Brother)
Don't punish me (Brother) with brutality (Brother)
Come on, talk to me (Brother), so you can see (Brother)
Oh, what's going on (What's going on)
Yeah, what's going on (What's going on)
Tell me what's going on (What's going on)
I'll tell you what's going on (What's going on)
[Post-Chorus]
Woo-ooh-ooh-ooh (Right on, baby, right on)
Ah-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya, ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya
Woo, woo (Right on)
Ah-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya
Ba-da-boo-doo, boo-boo-boo-doo
Ba-da-boo-boo-boo-doo, ba-da-da-da-da-da-da
[Outro]
Woo (Right on, baby, come on, right on)
Ah-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya
Woo (Right on)
Listen, ah-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya
Da-boo-doo, boo-boo-boo-doo
Da-boo-boo-doo, boo-boo-boo
Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin On" (1971)
Marvin Gaye was born on April 2, 1939 and began as a musician for Motown. He was coined the "Prince of Motown" and the "Prince of Soul" before he branched away from Motown to create hits like "What's Goin On". Marvin Gaye wrote this song in 1971 as a plea for peace from the Vietnam War. The lines "mother, mother" reference the grieving mothers that lost their sons to the Vietnam war. "Brother, brother, brother" is alluding to Marvin's brother, Frankie Gaye, and the stories Frankie brought back from his deployment in Vietnam. The most important lines are those connecting to love and peace. "You know we've got to find a way/to bring some loving here today" is Marvin's way of asking for the government to find peace rather than encourage conflict; this is the idea that motivated many Vietnam War protests throughout the United States.
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“Marvin Gaye 'What's Goin On'” Genius, genius.com/1883392.
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Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (October 10, 1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide (Ratings 1–10) (1st edi. ed.). New York: Vintage Books. pp. 202–205. ISBN 0-679-75574-8. OCLC 32508105.
Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" (1984)
[Verse 1]
Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
'Til you spend half your life just coverin' up
[Chorus]
Born in the U.S.A
I was born in the U.S.A
I was born in the U.S.A
Born in the U.S.A
[Verse 2]
Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man
[Chorus]
Born in the U.S.A
I was born in the U.S.A
I was born in the U.S.A
I was born in the U.S.A
[Verse 3]
Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says, "Son if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said, "Son, don't you understand"
[Verse 4]
I had a brother at Khe Sanh
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now
[Verse 5]
Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go
[Chorus]
Born in the U.S.A
I was born in the U.S.A. now
Born in the U.S.A
I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A. now
Born in the U.S.A
Born in the U.S.A
Born in the U.S.A
I'm a cool rockin' Daddy in the U.S.A. now
Bruce Springsteen was born on September 23, 1949 in New Jersey. He grew up in a working-class family and was exposed to the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam War protests since he was a teenager. "Born in the USA" is a song about the troubles a Vietnam War veteran faced once he returned home from the war. The song begins on a grim note with "Born down in a dead man's town" suggesting that the average working-class American had been kicked around since birth. Verse 2 is where the song becomes more serious as it directly comments on the drastic shift from normal life to warfare when drafted: "So they put a rifle in my hand/sent me off to a foreign land". Verse 3 discusses the difficulties Vietnam veterans deal with once home. Vietnam vets faced challenges regarding employment and veteran benefits after they returned home. "Son, if it was up to me" is a way employers would refuse these veterans, and "son, don't you understand" encompasses the lack of benefits the Veterans' Agency could offer. Verse 4 comments on the relationships some soldiers would form with the local Vietnamese women, as well as the death of many soldiers on the foreign soil. The futility of the Vietnam War is also commented on in Verse 4 with "they're still there, he's all gone". "Ten years burning down the road" is a reference to the fact that Bruce Springsteen wrote the song in 1985, 10 years after the Vietnam War, and many veterans still struggled to figure out how to work and receive any form of benefits from the government.
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Biography.com Editors, "Bruce Springsteen Biography," https://www.biography.com/musician/bruce-springsteen
"Born in the USA: Bruce Springsteen" Genius, https://genius.com/Bruce-springsteen-born-in-the-usa-lyrics