American Politics & Pop Culture

College students, clergy, and even veterans started to protest at universities and marching to government buildings to end the very unpopular Vietnam War has started. Musicians became activists as they wrote famous songs to help aid the anti-war movement. These songs, such as "Give Peace a Chance" written by John Lennon and "Revolution" which was written by The Beatles, would only motivate the protesters and begin to influence many to help with the cause. In the article, “War Music and the American Composer during the Vietnam Era,� written by Ben Arnold, discusses how artists of the sixties were expressing their opinions in their lyrics. Music has always closely followed the epics of wars. Whether it was to give support to our soldiers fighting for a good cause or to blast the war authorities of its decision and lack of consideration of the troubles it will bring in the long run. In the World War II era, music composers worked to help bring patriotism amongst the nation using optimism. Creating songs to back the war and the government was very common. "World War II was the last major war to be waged without wide-scale American protest." We have witnessed in class, that films being made were to show how grateful we are for our country and that we will fight to protect it. This was the classic idea when Hollywood made Sahara; we see our allies fight as one for the good cause. Showing our country that we support this war was the main focus for movie makers and artists. It has all changed when America declared war with Vietnam. Arnold states, "The Vietnam conflict was a new-age war, a war with a culture of protest, and musical life reflected this change." Watching the horrors of the war on the news only intensified protester's anger towards this very unpopular war. Songs became more powerful was they introduced a new ways of having the horrid sounds in their songs, such as bombs exploding, screaming, and other sounds. The artists and composers needed this realism to show what kind of war we are in. This article is heavily related to the topics we covered in class and in the required reading. Artists protesting the war in their lyrics and inspiring their listeners to become an activist of war became very common in the Vietnam era. We have learned through the The U.S. vs John Lennon documentary how people came together for one cause, to promote peace within the world and end violence. Each artists had the same mission statement which would arise different opinions. Nevertheless, no artists back down on their beliefs on a world in which war was non existent.