Protest Songs of the ‘60s
Source: https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/sixties/resources/analyzing-protest-songs-1960s and http://caho-test.cc.columbia.edu/ta/13103.html
The Goals of the Lesson
This activity integrates music into the study of history. Rock and roll was still a new art form in the 1960s, but the idea that music
could be used to undermine traditional norms and institutions was nothing new. Throughout American history, music has been used
in the expression of social and political protest.
In the first of two activities, students will analyze the lyrics of two popular protest song "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" by Country
Joe McDonald and the Fish and “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield. Students are asked to consider how foreign and
domestic concerns drove the protest movements of the Sixties and influenced demands to expand democracy to underrepresented
groups in America. Students will explore these issues as they are represented in the song.
For the second activity the student is asked to consider the following:
In 1968, Richard Nixon's younger daughter, Julie married the grandson of former president Dwight D. Eisenhower, David. This union
inspired John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival to write the song, “Fortunate Son,” for release in 1969 as a commentary on
the increasing dichotomy between the “haves and have-nots” in American society, particularly in reference to the Vietnam conflict.
At the time, approximately 500,000 American troops fought the war in an extremely foreign land. While the average age of troops
overseas was 19, the majority came from working class families, those who could not find amnesty in a college education or medical
condition. This growing divide between the classes, with politicians enforcing strategies largely executed by working class young
men, makes the song 'Fortunate Son' an important commentary to be viewed in historical perspective
Activity 1
Step 1: Sound Recording Analysis: NPR
Begin by listening to the audio clip Protest Music for a New Generation (March 2003), produced for the National Public Radio
program All Things Considered. The clip runs for 8 minutes and 10 seconds and is available online at
http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_1212060.html. To protest the 2003 war in Iraq, Pete Seeger and other activists
from the antiwar movement in the 1960s joined with a younger generation of musicians to hold a concert. After listening to the clip
discuss the following questions:
1. Does music reflect and follow cultural trends, or does it help drive them? For example, one interviewee says that the
protest songs of the 1960s did little to change anyone's mind about the Vietnam War and other political issues. Can we
argue that the same piece of music that reflects a composer's radical belief leaves a different impression on a young
person's mind? Cite specific examples.
2.
Also raised in the audio clip is the belief that today's youth lack an issue that can motivate them to mobilize, that they have
no equivalent of the antiwar and civil-rights movements of the sixties. What contemporary issues could motivate students
to become political activists?
Step 2: Lyrics Analysis: Next Stop Vietnam
Next examine the lyrics of "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" and “For What It’s Worth”. Fill out and discuss the NARA worksheet for
document analysis then answer these three questions:
3. What issues are raised in each song?
4.
To whom do the songs appeal?
5.
What reactions or emotions do the songs elicit?
Activity 2
Now listen to Creedence Clearwater Revival’s (CCR) "Fortunate Son" and answer and the following questions:
7. Throughout the song, what type of person, or American, is Fogerty referring to?
8.
What is meant by the phrase, “some folks are born silver spoon in hand”?
9.
What group of people would have most closely identified with this song in 1969? Why?
10. “Fortunate Son” was originally written about the grandson, David Eisenhower, of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Regardless of party affiliation, do you find it right for the children of politicians to receive exemption in a military draft?
Why or why not?
Now read the lyrics of "Fortunate Son" and answer the following questions:
11. When reading these lyrics, do you see parallels between the socioeconomic divisions of the 1960s and socioeconomic
divisions of today? In what ways?
12. What does a “fortunate son” look like today? Who do you imagine might write a song like this today?
13. Why is music such a powerful form of propaganda or protest?
Students will now read the lyrics of "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" by Toby Keith.
14. How are “Fortunate Son” and “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” different? How are they Similar?
I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag
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 damn,
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 it's 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 damn,
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 damn,
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
Activity
One
For What It’s Worth
There's somethin' happenin' here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
A tellin' me, I got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that
sound?
Everybody look what's going down
There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speakin' their minds
A gettin' so much resistance from behind
Time we stop, hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
What a field day for the heat
(Hmm, hmm, hmm)
A thousand people in the street
(Hmm, hmm, hmm)
Singing songs and they carrying signs
(Hmm, hmm, hmm)
Mostly say, hooray for our side
(Hmm, hmm, hmm)
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the man come and take you
away
We better stop, hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
We better stop, hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
We better stop, now, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
We better stop, children, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
Activity Two
Fortunate Son
Some folks are born made to wave the flag,
Ooh, they're red, white and blue.
And when the band plays "Hail to the chief",
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord,
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, son.
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no,
Yeah!
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh.
But when the taxman comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes,
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no millionaire's son, no.
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no.
Some folks inherit star spangled eyes,
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord,
And when you ask them, "How much should we give?"
Ooh, they only answer More! more! more! yoh,
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no military son, son.
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, one.
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, no no no,
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate son, no no no,
Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue
American girls, and American guys
We'll always stand up and salute
We'll always recognize
When we see old glory flyin'
There's a lot of men dead
So we can sleep in peace at night
When we lay down our head.
My daddy served in the Army
Where he lost his right eye
But he flew a flag out in our yard
'Til the day that he died
He wanted my mother, my brother,
My sister and me to grow up
And live happy in the land of the free
Now this nation that I love
Has fallen under attack
A sucker punch came flyin'
From somewhere in the back
As soon as we could see clearly
Through our big black eye
Man we lit up your world
Like the fourth of July.
And Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list
And the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist
And the Eagle will fly, and it's gonna to be hell
When you hear Mother Freedom start ringing her bell
And it'll feel like the whole wide world's raining down on you.
Brought to you courtesy of the red, white, and blue.
Justice will be served
And the battle will rage
This big dog will fight
When you rattle his cage
And you'll be sorry that you messed with
The US of A
Cuz we'll put a boot in you’re a**
It's the American way.
And Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list
And the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist
And the Eagle will fly, and it's gonna to be hell
When you hear Mother Freedom start ringing her bell
And it'll feel like the whole wide world's raining down on you.
Brought to you courtesy of the red, white, and blue.
Oh, of the red, white, and blue
Oh, of my red, white, and blue