Talk:List of songs about the Vietnam War

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I see where someone posted the following "note" near the top of the article:

"Please note: This is not a general list of anti-war or protest songs from the Vietnam War era. Thus, for example, Pete Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" and Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" should not be listed on this page."

I agree with the previous stance in regards to the Buffalo Springfield song in question, because that song is supposedly about the Sunset Strip curfew riots that occurred in the summer of 1966. I suppose one could perhaps argue that the song is about "those times" in general, and what was going on then, but the song was mainly influenced by those specific "Sunset Strip Riots" in the summer of 1966 more than anything else.

The Pete Seeger song "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" is supposedly partially based on a Ukrainian folk song referenced in a novel by Mikhail Sholokhov, And Quiet Flows the Don. Seeger adapted it to a folk tune, a lumberjack version of "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill." The song, as it is now famously known, supposedly took shape in Seeger's mind over the span of a couple of years though; from 1956 to 1960 according to this link. The Vietnam War occurred from 1959 to April 30, 1975, according to the Wiki article. That means, although the song is based in part on an older Ukrainian folk song, and that Seeger wrote his own newer version of it over the span of about four years (most notably while he was being indicted by the House Un-American Activities Committee), the song supposedly wasn't completed with Seeger's full lyrics until around 1960. Again: According to the Wiki article on the Vietnam War, that conflict started in 1959. The United States was fighting the "Reds" in the Cold War and in Vietnam, and being a "Red" is basically what the House Un-American Activities Committee was trying to indict Seeger for in the 1950s. The Vietnam War started around 1959, and The Kingston Trio recorded this song in 1961 and claimed authorship, but they took their name off when Seeger asked them to do so. Their single reached #21 on the charts. Peter, Paul and Mary and Joan Baez also recorded it not too long after that. The song became associated with the Cold War and the Vietnam War because of the time it was released and gained popularity. The song has an anti-war stance. Although perhaps not directly inspired by the Vietnam War (although perhaps influenced by the growing escalations towards war in the world at that time), I think one could argue that this song came of age because of the Vietnam War. Thus, perhaps one could argue for this song's inclusion on this list.

The reason I say this is because Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Universal Soldier" is included on the list (as I think it should be). This song was written and inspired by the Vietnam War and released on her 1964 album. However, the war in Vietnam is never specifically mentioned at all in this particular song. Nevertheless, one can tell that the Vietnam War definitely inspired this song (when one takes into account when it was released and what was going on in the world at the time). Perhaps similarly, who is to say that Pete Seeger wasn't thinking of Vietnam - and the larger Cold War issue that it was a part of - when he was coming up with his later versions of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" around 1960? He, and others, certainly seemed to perform and reference the song in relation to the Vietnam War as time went along too. I don't know, it could go either way, but I just thought I'd discuss this here.

Geneisner 09:12, 19 October 2007 (UTC)