In his song “Ohio,” Neil Young pays tribute to the Kent State massacre in which several students were shot on campus following an anti-Vietnam protest. The event was a terrible shock to the nation, and the implications reverberated throughout the music scene as well as the rest of the country. Many songs, like “Ohio” and Edwin Starr’s “War” , represent the heavy anti-war sentimentality of this era. Much of the music written was done so in reaction to the Vietnam War and the draft that sent so many of America’s young men away to a war that had never even been declared. Another song that expressed distaste for the US government and Vietnam was The Guess Who’s “American Woman.”
These lyrics represent another protest for the “American Woman” to leave us alone. The Guess Who is imploring the government to end the draft, and basically just expressing complete disdain for authority. This is revealed in the line “don’t come knockin around my door,” which is directed to the draft-men who were knocking on the doors of the newly drafted soldiers. The statement “I don’t need your war machines, I don’t need your ghetto scenes” is yet another gripe aimed towards the American government.
On The Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the top ten movies list of 1970 includes:MASH, Patton, Kelly’s Heroes, “Tora! Tora! Tora!” and Catch-22 are all Military movies thatstress the heroism that can be earned in war rather emphasizing the sacrifices made by soldiers during war. However, having five out of the top ten movies be military movies is outrageous. Without research, this seems almost obvious that this was propaganda intended to change people’s opinion of the war.
It is intriguing that the American people and our government are able to so very effectively influence music and movies, respectively. The people’s viewpoints are expressed in music, as shown in songs “Ohio” and concerts like Woodstock, and also in the entire hippie culture in general. The artists that were part of the protest were just like regular peoplein that they were not easily influenced by the Government. However, Hollywood, which was run by suits and men after big money, was easily influenced by the government. Perhaps these me were also more willing to propagandize war because they were of the generation that fought WWII, and had a more positive view of war and its consequences.