Recently I was involved in a discussion with my partner and some of his friends who came of age in the 1960s. Our discussion was about how upside down the world is these days with wars in Ukraine and Gaza killing many thousands of people and destroying towns and cities. It is interesting to hear from people who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s because they bring an historical background to what is happening now. Many people I know were part of the hippie and counterculture movement of the time.
During that time there was much social upheaval, and a major war was happening with the US invasion of Vietnam. Young people of the time took to the streets to protest at universities and colleges across North America. One of the driving forces behind the anti-war movement and the counterculture were popular musicians. Young people were listening to music that for the first time confronted the authorities and challenged a war that made no sense to the average person.
The young people kept protesting and produced their own media in many cities that pushed back against warmongers, racism and bigotry. It is amazing to realize that so many young people decided to create their own newspapers and magazines. This gave them a voice and connected them so that they could organize to try to change things in a more positive way. This actually worked as the counterculture movement helped to stop the war in Vietnam and forced the corrupt US President Richard Nixon to resign.
These same waves of counterculture movements also included the modern environmental, anti-war, anti-nuclear, LGBTQ+ and civil rights movements. It was at this time that the American Indian Movement grew in popularity in the US and in Canada saw the rise of Indigenous groups and organizations that wanted to represent their people.
There is no doubt that the hippies of the 1960s find it frustrating that we are still dealing with the same senseless wars, dangerous climate change and governments and corporations moving in undemocratic directions. However, thank goodness young people are finally rising up and protesting the war in Gaza in universities and colleges across North America. Our young musicians and artists are challenging the move away from democracy and protesting war and corruption in government.
I have hope because the same situation occurred in the 1960s and 1970s and it was only through constant peaceful protest and consistent solidarity that they were successful. The Indigenous movements and governments that came out of this era are proof of that success. Protests can be ignored for a while, but they cannot be ignored indefinitely.
I love all kinds of music and I find some of the protest songs of the 1960s and beyond inspirational and powerful. They can be found on many streaming services online. Many of these protest songs are still relevant today, like: “Eve Of Destruction” by Barry McGuire, “Where Have All The Flowers Gone” by Peter, Paul and Mary, “War (What Is It Good For)” by Edwin Starr, “Ohio” by Crosby Stills Nash and Young, “The Times They Are A-Changin” by Bob Dylan, “Draft Dodger Rag” by Phil Ochs, “I Don’t Wanna Go To Vietnam” by John Lee Hooker, “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke, “Blowin’ In The Wind” by Bob Dylan, “Fortunate Son” by Creedance Clearwater Revival, “Universal Soldier” by Donovan, “Give Peace A Chance” by the Plastic Ono Band, “The Unknown Soldier” by The Doors, “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin-To-Die Rag” by Country Joe and The Fish, and “Abraham, Martin and John” by Dion.
This playlist and many other songs like this changed the world back then. If the world tunes in like they did in the 1960s, it is almost certain the times will change again.