Welcome to Kent State University's Songs of the Sixties Page
Site last updated 03/05/2008
(Click the song title to navigate to the lyrics and sound clip)
"I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die-Rag"
Country Joe McDonald and The Fish
Bob Dylan
Barry McGuire
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Chicago
" The Times They Are A Changin' "
Bob Dylan
Phil Ochs
"Where Have All The Flowers Gone"
Kingston Trio
Peter, Paul and Mary
The Youngbloods
The Rascals
The Byrds
"Put A Little Love In Your Heart"
Jackie DeShannon
Crosby, Stills, and Nash
"Signs"
Five Man Electrical Band
The Beatles
Chicago
John Lennon
"I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die-Rag"
Country Joe McDonald and The Fish
1965
Congress passes Medicare, as well as a small
provision of the bill: Medicaid.
"Bloody
Sunday": a group of civil rights protestors in Selma, Alabama are
attacked by state troopers and deputies as they march across the Edmund
Pettus Bridge.
Passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
LBJ sends a few thousand Marines to Vietnam with
new orders: they can conduct combat missions with AVRN to search and
destroy the enemy.
Peace organizations, professors, and students
begin to question American policy regarding the war.
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 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 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 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 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.
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"Masters Of War"
Bob Dylan
1963
George C. Wallace becomes governor of
Alabama. In his inaugural speech, he defiantly proclaims
"segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever!"
Black student Harvey Gantt enters Clemson University in South Carolina,
the last U.S. state to hold out against racial integration.
Battle of Ap Bac: Vietcong units defeat South
Vietnamese Army (ARVN) in battle of Ap Bac.
President John F. Kennedy Assassinated in Dallas:
Kennedy's death meant that problem of how to proceed in Vietnam fell
squarely into the lap of his vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ).
April--Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth
and others are arrested in a Birmingham protest for "parading without a
permit".
May--Thousands of African Americans, many of them children, are
arrested while protesting segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. Sheriff
Eugene "Bull" Connor later unleashes fire hoses and police dogs on the
demonstrators.
Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks
You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain
You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets
higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud
You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins
How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul
And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're
lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead
Click here to return to list of protest songs
"Eve Of Destruction"
Barry McGuire
1965
April--20,000 people arrive in Washington to protest
the war. The present Congress with a petition: "The problems of
America cry out for attention, and our entanglement in South Vietnam
postpones the confrontation of these issues...We call on you to end, not
extend, the war in Vietnam."
College
campuses begin to hold separate protests of the war.
July--LBJ announces an increase in the number of
U.S. troops in Vietnam to 125,000. He doesn't admit that he has
already authorized a higher escalation to 200,000 and that he has given
the field Commander, General William Westmoreland, permission to conduct
independent combat missions against the enemy--clearing the way for the
U.S. Army to replace AVRN as the primary combat organization and thus
Americanizing the war.
Water Quality Act of 1965 is passed.
Title II of the Clean Air Act of 1963 is passed,
mandating pollution control devices on all automobiles.
The first Endangered Species Act is passed.
Head Start (pre-school program for needy
children) is implemented.
The
eastern world, it is exploding
Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’
You’re old enough to kill, but not
for votin’
You don’t believe in war, but what’s
that gun you’re totin’
And even the Jordan River has bodies
floatin’
But you tell me
Over and over and over again, my
friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.
Don’t you understand what I’m tryin’
to say
Can’t you feel the fears I’m feelin’
today?
If the button is pushed, there’s no
runnin’ away
There’ll be no one to save, with the
world in a grave
[Take a look around ya boy, it's
bound to scare ya boy]
And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my
friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.
Yeah, my blood’s so mad feels like
coagulatin’
I’m sitting here just contemplatin’
I can’t twist the truth, it
knows no regulation.
Handful of senators don’t pass
legislation
And marches alone can’t bring
integration
When human respect is disintegratin’
This whole crazy world is just too
frustratin’
And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my
friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.
Think of all the hate there is in Red
China
Then take a look around to Selma,
Alabama
You may leave here for 4 days in
space
But when you return, it’s the same
old place
The poundin’ of the drums, the pride
and disgrace
You can bury your dead, but don’t
leave a trace
Hate your next-door neighbor, but
don’t forget to say grace
And… tell me over and over and over
and over again, my friend
You don’t believe
We’re on the eve
Of destruction
Mm, no no, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.
Click here to return to list of protest songs
"Universal Soldier"
Buffy Sainte-Marie
1964
January: LBJ declares his "unconditional war on
poverty."
Congress passes the Economic
Opportunity Act of 1964.
The administration establishes Upward Bound and
work-study for low-income families who want to send their children to
college.
Implementation of Volunteers in Service to
American (VISTA)
LBJ proposes the Food Stamp Act.
Congress passes the Land and Water Conservation
Fund and the Wilderness Act.
He's
five feet two and he's six feet four
He fights with missiles and with
spears
He's all of 31 and he's only 17
He's been a soldier for a thousand
years
He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an atheist,
a Jain,
a Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew
and he knows he shouldn't kill
and he knows he always will
kill you for me my friend and me for
you
And he's fighting for Canada,
he's fighting for France,
he's fighting for the USA,
and he's fighting for the Russians
and he's fighting for Japan,
and he thinks we'll put an end to war
this way
And he's fighting for Democracy
and fighting for the Reds
He says it's for the peace of all
He's the one who must decide
who's to live and who's to die
and he never sees the writing on the
walls
But without him how would Hitler have
condemned him at Dachau
Without him Caesar would have stood
alone
He's the one who gives his body
as a weapon to a war
and without him all this killing
can't go on
He's the universal soldier and he
really is to blame
His orders come from far away no more
They come from him, and you, and me
and brothers can't you see
this is not the way we put an end to
war.
Click here to return to list of protest songs
"It Better End Soon"
Chicago
1969
Nixon begins secret bombing of Cambodia: In an
effort to destroy Communist supply routes and base camps in Cambodia,
President Nixon gives the go-ahead to "Operation Breakfast." The
covert bombing of Cambodia, conducted without the knowledge of Congress
or the American public, will continue for fourteen months.
Policy of "Vietnamization" announced: Secretary of
Defense Melvin Laird describes a policy of "Vietnamization" when
discussing a diminishing role for the U.S. Military in Vietnam.
The objective of the policy is to shift the burden of defeating the
Communists onto the South Vietnamese Army and away from the United
States.
Ho Chi Minh dies at the age of 79.
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
Click here to return to list of protest songs
"The Times They Are A Changin' "
Bob Dylan
1964
The Government establishes the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
"Freedom
Summer": One thousand white northern students join the northern and
southern blacks to go to Mississippi and help register black citizen to
vote.
The first baby boomers arrive on college campuses
for the fall semester.
Youthful activism is becoming a mainstay of the
decade.
The Vietnam War heats up.
Presidential Election: Lyndon Baines Johnson
defeats Barry Goldwater and begins serving his first "elected" term in
office.
Come
gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.
Click here to return to list of protest songs
"Draft Dodger Rag"
Phil Ochs
1965
National Endowment for the Humanities and the Arts
is implemented.
LBJ signs a bill
establishing the Public Broadcasting System (PBS), and that eventually
leads to National Public Radio (NPR).
LBJ signs consumer protection legislation (Truth
in Lending, seatbelts, and automobile safety devices).
August--LBJ calls civil rights leaders together
and signs the Voting Rights Act.
Oh, I'm
just a typical American boy from a typical American town
I believe in God and Senator Dodd and
a-keepin' old Castro down
And when it came my time to serve I
knew "better dead than red"
But when I got to my old draft board,
buddy, this is what I said:
Sarge, I'm only eighteen, I got a
ruptured spleen
And I always carry a purse
I got eyes like a bat, and my feet
are flat, and my asthma's getting worse
Yes, think of my career, my
sweetheart dear, and my poor old invalid aunt
Besides, I ain't no fool, I'm a-goin'
to school
And I'm working in a DEE-fense plant
I've got a dislocated disc and a
wracked up back
I'm allergic to flowers and bugs
And when the bombshell hits, I get
epileptic fits
And I'm addicted to a thousand drugs
I got the weakness woes, I can't
touch my toes
I can hardly reach my knees
And if the enemy came close to me
I'd probably start to sneeze
I'm only eighteen, I got a ruptured
spleen
And I always carry a purse
I got eyes like a bat, and my feet
are flat, and my asthma's getting worse
Yes, think of my career, my
sweetheart dear, and my poor old invalid aunt
Besides, I ain't no fool, I'm a-goin'
to school
And I'm working in a DEE-fense plant
Ooh, I hate Chou En Lai, and I hope
he dies,
One thing you gotta see
That someone's gotta go over there
And that someone isn't me
So I wish you well, Sarge, give 'em
Hell!
Kill me a thousand or so
And if you ever get a war without
blood and gore
I'll be the first to go
Yes, I'm only eighteen, I got a
ruptured spleen
And I always carry a purse
I got eyes like a bat, and my feet
are flat, and my asthma's getting worse
Yes, think of my career, my
sweetheart dear, and my poor old invalid aunt
Besides, I ain't no fool, I'm a-goin'
to school
And I'm working in a DEE-fense plant
Click here to return to list of protest songs
"Where Have All The Flowers Gone"
Kingston Trio
1962
U.S. Military employs Agent Orange: U.S. Air Force
begins using Agent Orange, a defoliant that came in orange metal
containers to expose roads and trails used by Vietcong forces.
Diem Palace bombed in coup attempt.
Mansfield voices doubt on Vietnam Policy: Senate
Majority Leader Mike Mansfield reports back to JFK from Saigon his
opinion that Diem had wasted the two billion dollars America had spent
there.
Where
have all the flowers gone
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone
Young girls have picked them, every
one
Oh, when will they ever learn
Oh, when will they ever learn
Where have all the young girls gone
Long time passing
Where have all the young girls gone
Long time ago
Where have all the young girls gone
Gone for husbands, every one
Oh, when will they ever learn
Oh, when will they ever learn
Where have all the husbands gone
Long time passing
Where have all the husbands gone
Long time ago
Where have all the husbands gone
Gone for soldiers, every one
Oh, when will they ever learn
Oh, when will they ever learn
Where have all the soldiers gone
Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone
Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone
Gone to graveyards, every one
Oh, when will they ever learn
Oh, when will they ever learn
Where have all the graveyards gone
Long time passing
Where have all the graveyards gone
Long time ago
Where have all the graveyards gone
Gone to flowers, every one
Oh, when will they ever learn
Oh, when will they ever learn
Where have all the flowers gone
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone
Young girls have picked them, every
one
Oh, when will they ever learn
Oh, when will they ever learn
Click here to return to list of protest songs
"Blowin' In The Wind"
Peter, Paul and Mary
1963
Buddhists protest against Diem: Tension between
Buddhists and the Diem government are further strained as Diem, a
Catholic, removes Buddhists from several key government positions and
replaces them with Catholics. Buddhist monks protest Diem's
intolerance for other religions and the measures he takes to silence
them. In a show of protest, Buddhist monks start setting
themselves on fire in public places.
Diem
overthrown, murdered: With tacit approval of the United States,
operatives within the South Vietnamese military overthrow Diem. He
and his brother Nhu are shot and killed in the aftermath.
How many
roads must a man walk down
Before they call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
How many times must the cannon balls
fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in
the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
How many years must a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
How many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
How many times can a man turn his
head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in
the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
How many deaths will it take till he
knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in
the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Click here to return to list of protest songs
"Get Together"
The Youngbloods
1967
Banker replaces Cabot Lodge as South Vietnam
Ambassador
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
speaks out against war: Calling the U.S. "the greatest purveyor of
violence in the world," Martin Luther King Jr. publicly speaks out
against U.S. policy in Vietnam. King later encourages draft
evasion and suggests a merger between antiwar and civil rights groups.
Dow recruiters driven from Wisconsin campus:
University of Wisconsin students demand that corporate recruiters for
Dow Chemical, producers of napalm, not be allowed on campus.
McNamara calls bombing ineffective: Secretary of
Defense Robert McNamara, appearing before a Senate subcommittee,
testifies that U.S. bombing raids against North Vietnam have not
achieved their objectives. McNamara maintains that movement of
supplies to South Vietnam has not been reduced, and neither the economy
nor the morale of the North Vietnamese has been broken.
Love is
but a song to sing
Fear's the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry
Though the bird is on the wing
And you may not know why
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now
Some may come and some may go
We shall surely pass
When the one that left us here
Returns for us at last
We are but a moment's sunlight
Fading in the grass
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now
If you hear the song I sing
You will understand
You hold the key to love and fear
All in your trembling hand
Just one key unlocks them both
It's there at you command
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now
Right now
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now
Right now right now
Click here to return to list of protest songs
"People Got To Be Free"
The Rascals
1968
Sihanouk allows pursuit of Vietcong into Cambodia.
General William Westmoreland requests 206,000 more
troops.
My Lai Massacre: On March 16th, the angry and
frustrated men of Charlie Company, 11th Brigade, American Division
entered the village of My Lai. "This is what you've been waiting
for--search and destroy--and you've got it." said their superior
officers. A Short time later the killing began. When news of
the atrocities surfaced, it sent shockwaves through the U.S. political
establishment, the military's chain of command, and an already divided
American public.
April--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in
Memphis, Tennessee.
June--Robert Kennedy assassinated in Los Angeles,
California.
All the
world over, so easy to see
People everywhere just wanna be free
Listen, please listen, that's the way
it should be
Peace in the valley, people got to be
free
You
should see what a lovely, lovely world this'd be
Everyone learns to live together
Seems to me such an easy, easy thing
should be
Why can't you and me learn to love
one another
All
the world over, so easy to see
People everywhere just wanna be free
(wanna be free)
I can't understand it, so simple to
me (it is)
People everywhere just got to be free
If
there's a man who is down and needs a helping hand
All it takes is you to understand and
to pull him through
Seems to me we got to solve it
individually
And I'll do unto you what you do to
me
There'll be shoutin' from the mountains on out to sea (out to sea)
No two ways about it, people have to
be free (they got to be free)
Ask me my opinion, my opinion will be
(ah-ha)
It's a natural situation for a man to
be free
Oh,
what a feelin's just come over me
It's enough to move a mountain, make
a blind man see
Everybody's dancin' [unintelligible]
Peace in the valley, now they want to
be free
See
that train over there
Now that's the train of freedom
It's about to arrive any minute, now
You know, it's been long, long
overdue
Look out 'cause it's comin' right on
through
Click here to return to list of protest songs
"Turn, Turn, Turn"
The Byrds
1965
Malcolm X rises to prominence from 1963-1965.
In February, he is assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam.
Protest of the Vietnam War escalates.
First Draft Card burning.
International Day of Protest (October 15-16).
August--Watts riot.
Americans begin to ask themselves the following
questions: (1) Was the war in Vietnam in the national interest, and did
fighting on the other side of the world have anything to do with
American security? (2) Was this undeclared war legal, and was the
way the nation raised an army--the draft--fair?
A time
to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under
heaven
A time to build up, a time to break
down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together
To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under
heaven
A time of war, a time of peace
A time of love, a time of hate
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing
To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under
heaven
A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time to love, a time to hate
A time of peace, I swear it's not too
late!
Click here to return to list of protest songs
"Put A Little Love In Your Heart"
Jackie DeShannon
1969
News of My Lai Massacre reaches the United States:
Through the reporting of journalist Seymour Hersh, Americans read for
the first time of the atrocities committed by Lt. William Calley and his
troops in the village of My Lai. At the time the reports were made
public, the Army had already charged Calley with the crime of murder.
Massive anti-war demonstration in Washington D.C.
Think of your fellow man
Lend him a helping hand
Put a little love in your
heart
You see it's getting late
Oh, please don't hesitate
Put a little love in your
heart
And the world will be a
better place
And the world will be a
better place
For you and me
You just wait and see
Another day goes by
Still the children cry
Put a little love in your
heart
If you want the world to
know
We won't let hatred grow
Put a little love in your
heart
And the world (and the
world) will be a better place
All the world (all the
world) will be a better place
For you (for you)
And me (and me)
You just wait (just wait)
And see, wait and see
Take a good look around
And if you're looking
down
Put a little love in your
heart
I hope when you decide
Kindness will be your
guide
Put a little love in your
heart
And the world (and the
world) will be a better place
And the world (and the
world) will be a better place
For you (for you)
And me (and me)
You just wait (just wait)
And see
People, now put a little
love in your heart
Each and every day
Put a little love in your
heart
There's no other way
Put a little love in your
heart
It's up to you
Put a little love in your
heart
C'mon and
Put a little love in your
heart
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"Woodstock"
Crosby, Stills, and Nash
1970
Sihanouk ousted in Cambodia: Prince Sihanouk's
attempt to maintain Cambodia's neutrality while war waged in neighboring
Vietnam forced him to strike opportunistic alliances with China, and
then the United States. Such vacillating weakened his government,
leading to a coup orchestrated by his defense minister, Lon Nol.
Kent State Shootings: National Guardsmen open fire
on a crowd of student antiwar protesters at Ohio's Kent State
University, resulting in the death of four students and the wounding of
eight others. President Nixon publicly deplores the actions of the
Guardsmen, but cautions: "...when dissent turns to violence it invites
tragedy." Several of the protesters had been hurling rocks and
empty tear gas canisters at the guardsmen.
Well, I
came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, Tell where are you
going?
This he told me
Said, I'm going down to Yasgur's
Farm,
Gonna join in a rock and roll band.
Got to get back to the land and set
my soul free.
We are stardust, we are golden,
We are billion year old carbon,
And we got to get ourselves back to
the garden.
Well, then can I roam beside you?
I have come to lose the smog,
And I feel myself a cog in somethin'
turning.
And maybe it's the time of year,
Yes and maybe it's the time of man.
And I don't know who I am,
But life is for learning.
We are stardust, we are golden,
We are billion year old carbon,
And we got to get ourselves back to
the garden.
We are stardust, we are golden,
We are billion year old carbon,
And we got to get ourselves back to
the garden.
By the time we got to Woodstock,
We were half a million strong
And everywhere was a song and a
celebration.
And I dreamed I saw the bomber death
planes
Riding shotgun in the sky,
Turning into butterflies
Above our nation.
We are stardust, we are golden,
We are caught in the devils bargain,
And we got to get ourselves back to
the garden.
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"Signs"
Five Man Electrical Band
1970
Kissinger and Le Duc begin secret talks.
Number of U.S. troops falls to 280,000.
My Lai Massacre: The United States Army charges
fourteen officers with suppressing information about the incident.
May--In Washington D.C., 100,000 people
demonstrate against the Vietnam War.
June--President Richard Nixon signs a measure
lowering the voting age in the United States to eighteen.
And the
sign said long haired freaky people need not apply
So I tucked my hair up under my hat
and I went in to ask him why
He said you look like a fine
upstanding young man, I think you'll do
So I took off my hat I said imagine
that, huh, me working for you
woah!
Sign
Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my
mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you
read the sign
And the sign said anybody caught
trespassing would be shot on sight
So I jumped on the fence and yelled
at the house, Hey! what gives you the right
To put up a fence to keep me out or
to keep mother nature in
If God was here, he'd tell you to
your face, man you're some kinda sinner
Sign
Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my
mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you
read the sign Bridge:
Now,
hey you Mister! can't you read, you got to have a shirt and tie to get a
seat
You can't even watch, no you can't
eat, you ain't suppose to be here
Sign said you got to have a
membership card to get inside Uh!
And the sign said everybody welcome,
come in, kneel down and pray
But when they passed around the plate
at the end of it all,
I didn't have a penny to pay, so I
got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own little sign
I said thank you Lord for thinking
about me, I'm alive and doing fine
Sign
Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my
mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you
read the sign
Sign
Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my
mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you
read the sign
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The Beatles
"Revolution"
1968
Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh begins - One of the most publicized and
controversial battles of the war begins, ending on April 8.
Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive begins, as Viet Cong forces launch a
series of surprise attacks across South Vietnam.
Vietnam War: A Viet Cong officer is executed by Nguyen Ngoc Loan, a
South Vietnamese National Police Chief. The event is photographed by
Eddie Adams. The photo makes headlines around the world, eventually
winning the 1969 Pulitzer Prize, and sways U.S. public opinion against
the war.
You say you want a
revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
all right, all right
You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We'd all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well, you know
We're doing what we can
But when you want money
for people with minds that hate
All I can tell is brother you have to wait
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
all right, all right
Ah
ah, ah, ah, ah, ah...
You say you'll change the constitution
Well, you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well, you know
You better free you mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
all right, all right
all right, all right, all right
all right, all right, all right
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"Dialogue (Parts 1 and 2)"
Chicago
1972
President Nixon cuts troop levels by 70,000:
Responding to charges by Democratic presidential candidates that he is
not moving fast enough to end U.S. involvement in Vietnam, President
Nixon orders troop strength reduced by 70,000.
Secret peace talks revealed.
B-52s bomb Hanoi and Haiphong: In an attempt to
force North Vietnam to make concessions in the ongoing peace talks, the
Nixon administration orders heavy bombing of supply dumps and petroleum
storage sites in and around Hanoi and Haiphong. The administration
makes it clear to the North Vietnamese that no section of Vietnam is
off-limits to bombing raids.
Break-in at Watergate Hotel.
President Nixon wins reelection.
Part I
Terry
Are you optimistic
'bout the way things are going?
Peter
No, I never ever think of it at all
Terry
Don't you ever worry
When you see what's going down?
Peter
No, I try to mind my business,
that is, no business at all
Terry
When it's time to function
as
a feeling human being, will your
Bachelor of Arts help you get by?
Peter
I
hope to study further,
a
few more years or so. I also hope
to
keep a steady high
Terry
Will you try to change
things, use the power that you have,
the power of a million new ideas?
Peter
What is this power you
speak of and this need for things to
change? I always thought
that everything was fine
Terry
Don't you feel repression just
closing in around?
Peter
No, the campus here is very, very free
Terry
Does it make you angry
the way war is dragging on?
Peter
Well, I hope the President
knows what he's into, I don't know
Terry
Don't you ever see the starvation
in
the city where you live, all the
needless hunger all the
needless pain?
Peter
I
haven't been there lately,
the country is so fine, but my
neighbors don't seem hungry 'cause
they haven't got the time
Terry
Thank you for the talk,
you know you really eased my mind
I
was troubled by the shapes
of
things to come.
Peter
Well, if you had my
outlook your feelings would be
numb, you'd always think
that everything was fine
Part II
Group
We
can make it happen
We
can change the world now
We
can save the children
We
can make it better
We
can make it happen
We
can save the children
We
can make it happen
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John Lennon
"Give Peace A Chance"
1969
January 20 - Lyndon Baines Johnson leaves office as Richard Milhous
Nixon is sworn in as the 37th President of the United States of America.
In
Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin
Luther King Jr. (he later retracts his guilty plea).
The Battle of Dong Ap Bia, also known as Hamburger Hill, begins during
the Vietnam War.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono conduct their Bed-In at the Queen Elizabeth
Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.
August
15-18 - The Woodstock Festival is held in upstate New York,
featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era.
Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon addresses the nation on
television and radio, asking the "silent majority" to join him in
solidarity with the Vietnam War effort, and to support his policies.
Vice President Spiro T. Agnew denounces the President's critics as "an
effete corps of impudent snobs" and "nattering nabobs of negativism."
Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout
Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism
This-ism, that-ism, ism ism ism
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance
(C'mon)
Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout
Minister, Sinister, Banisters and Canisters,
Bishops, Fishops, Rabbis, and Pop Eyes, Bye bye, Bye byes
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance
(Let me tell you now)
Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout
Revolution, Evolution, Masturbation, Flagellation, Regulation,
Integrations, mediations, United Nations, congratulations
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance
Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout
John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary,
Tommy Smothers, Bobby Dylan, Tommy Cooper,
Derek Taylor, Norman Mailer, Alan Ginsberg, Hare Krishna
Hare Hare Krishna
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance
(Repeat 'til the tape runs out)
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