Four Protest Songs by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
One song penned by each of the masters
For What It’s Worth (Stop, Hey, What’s That Sound?)
by the Buffalo Springfield/Stephen Stills — 1967
There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear
There’s a man with a gun over there
Tellin’ me I got to beware
I think it’s time we stop, children, what’s that sound
Ev’rybody look what’s goin’ down
There’s battle lines bein’ drawn
Nobody’s right if ev’rybody’s wrong
Young people speakin’ their minds
Gettin’ so much resistance from behind
I think it’s time we stop, children,
What’s that sound?
Ev’rybody look what’s goin’ down
What a field day for the heat.
A thousand people in the street.
Singin’ songs and carrying signs
Mostly saying “Hooray for our side”
Stop, children, what’s that sound?
Ev’rybody look what’s goin’ 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
You better stop, hey, what’s that sound?
Ev’rybody look what’s goin’ down
The 1968 Democratic National Convention, held in Chicago, was the site of much protesting and violence. (The violence was mostly perpetrated by the police.) The Democratic National Convention will once again be held in Chicago this August. Won’t you please come?
Chicago
Though your brother’s bound and gagged
And they’ve chained him to a chair
Won’t you please come to Chicago
Just to sing
In a land that’s known as freedom
How can such a thing be fair
Won’t you please come to Chicago
For the help that we can bring
We can change the world
Re-arrange the world
It’s dying … to get better
Politicians, sit yourselves down
There’s nothing for you here
Won’t you please come to Chicago
For a ride?
Don’t ask Jack to help you
’Cause he’ll turn the other ear
Won’t you please come to Chicago
Or else join the other side?
We can change the world
Re-arrange the world
It’s dying, if you believe in justice
It’s dying, if you believe in freedom
It’s dying, let a man live his own life
It’s dying, rules and regulations, who needs them
Throw them out the door
Somehow people must be free
I hope the day comes soon
Won’t you please come to Chicago
Show your face?
From the bottom of the ocean
To the mountains on the moon
Won’t you please come to Chicago?
No one else can take your place
We can change the world
Re-arrange the world
It’s dying, if you believe in justice
It’s dying, and if you believe in freedom
It’s dying, let a man live his own life
It’s dying, rules and regulations, who needs them
Throw them out the door
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Graham William Nash
Chicago lyrics © Nash Notes
On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guard troops shot dead four student Vietnam War protestors at Kent State University. (Actually two of the dead students were protestors, the other two were innocent bystanders.) The protests that day were peaceful (until the National Guard got itchy trigger fingers) but two days earlier, protestors had burned the university’s ROTC building to the ground.
Ohio
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming
We’re finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio
Gotta get down to it, soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been gone long ago
What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la, la-la-la
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la, la-la-la
Gotta get down to it, soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been gone long ago
What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming
We’re finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio
Four dead in Ohio (four)
Four dead in Ohio (I said four, I said four)
Four dead in Ohio (how many more?)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio (I wanna know why)
Four dead in Ohio (you better tell me why)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio (why did they die?)
Four dead in Ohio (you tell me why)
Four dead in Ohio (I said why)
Four dead in Ohio (I wanna know why)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio (I said why)
Four dead in Ohio (why, Lord?)
Four dead in Ohio (why did they die?)
Four dead in Ohio (I said why)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio (yeah, why?)
Four dead in Ohio (please tell me why)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio (I wanna know)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio (why did they died)
Four dead in Ohio (you tell me why)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio
Thank you
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Neil Young
Ohio lyrics © Sony/atv Tunes Llc, Zac Maloy Music, Nash Notes, Broken Arrow Music, Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, Broken Arrow Music Corporation
In the 1960s, many young men wore their hair long — often down below their shoulders , and usually not recently washed. They called themselves “hippies”. Many older folks called them “damn hippies”. A popular greeting from an older person to a hippie was, “Get a job, hippie!”
Almost Cut My Hair
Almost cut my hair
It happened just the other day
It’s gettin’ kinda long
I coulda said it was in my way
But I didn’t and I wonder why
I feel like letting my freak flag fly
Yes, I feel like I owe it to someone
Must be because I had a flu for Christmas
And I’m not feeling up to par
It increases my paranoia
Like looking at my mirror and seeing a police car
But I’m not giving in an inch to fear
’Cause I promised myself this year
I feel like I owe it to someone
When I finally get myself together
I’m going to get down in that sunny southern weather
And I’ll find a place inside to laugh
Separate the wheat from the chaff
I feel like I owe it
To someone, yeah
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: David Van Cortlandt Crosby
