The Influence Of Protest Songs On The U.s. Public: A Vietnam War Perspective

With the Vietnam War as the backdrop for various controversial and divisive issues that were the topics of protest songs during the mid- to late 1960s and early 1970s, this study employs historical criticism to explore the relationship between protest songs and radio, and their influence on the U.S. public, particularly youth. Historical criticism is further used in combination with textual analysis to gain an understanding of and provide the context for important songs from each of the main youth oriented music genres of the period--folk, rock, and soul. This research project also examines the communicative and sociological linkages between protest songs, the creation of a community, and the antiwar movement, which the author argues all ultimately led to a public opinion shift helping to bring the war to an end