I’m old enough to remember the late 60s/early 70s and the protests against the Vietnam war. I grew up singing protest songs, both rock and folk. So here we are, protesting again – but where’s the music? Michael Moore reportedly was upset because he couldn’t use The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again in “Fahrenheit 9/11,” so instead he used a tune by Neil Young, another aging rocker. Don’t any young musicians have anything to say?
Here’s a reminder from the Vietnam era; I listened to this while writing last week’s War is Virtual Hell piece.
“I want to thank you, sergeant, for the help you’ve been to me.
You’ve taught me how to kill and how to hate the enemy.
And I know that I’ll be ready when they march me off to war,
And I know that it won’t matter that I’ve never killed before.”
Tom Paxton, The Willing Conscript
MI’ve heard some new ones on Democrocy Now and also found this useful page, http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anti-war_songs , broken down by the various wars. Media ownership has changed a lot since th 60s and 70s. Or maybe it’s less of a queston of supply and availability, but rather of demand. 🙁