Human Rights at Home and Abroad: Past, Present, and Future

and ―I Feel Like I‘m Fixin to Die‖, all released in 1965, related the feelings of the young men at the time,
not wanting to go to war, but still candidates.
It was at this time that there was also a counter-movement to the anti-war demonstration.
Maybelle Carter released ―I Told Them What You‘re Fighting For‖ as a song to support the troops
fighting in Vietnam. It states, “I stood today for hours on a downtown city street | Carrying a sign that
read “our soldiers fight for peace” | I said there is no soldier in that land who likes the war | Yes, son I
told them what you‟re fighting for” singing from the point of view of a mother who held a demonstration
for the support of her son and his comrades (Carter). There were songs glorifying the life and death of a
soldier, such as “Ballad of the Green Beret”, sung by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler. The song recounts the
bravery and honor of soldiers, who fight in the war for the oppression of others; dying, with their last
request to their wives to “put silver wings on my son‟s chest” (Sadler).
Singer Merle Haggard, angered while watching anti-war protest in jail, released “Okie from
Muskogee” and a response called “The Fightin‟ Side of Me” that supported the soldiers and the war,
while also speaking negatively of the hippie movement, stating that when they talk bad of the war they‟re,
“walking on the fightin‟ side of me” (Kristofferson). Kris Kristofferson‟s “Vietnam Blues”, performed by
Dave Dudley, was another that spoke against the rallies held against the Vietnam War. In a 1995
documentary he recants his view, ―my attitude toward Vietnam today is 180 degrees different… killed 2
million Vietnamese, as well as killing 56 thousand Americans… we did worse than that though… I think
we killed for a lot of Americans the notion that America stands for liberty and justice for everybody… it‘s
up to anybody who does have the information, to try to pass it on‖ (Kris Kristofferson Vietnam Blues).
Although the opposition came on strong with poignant lyrics and heartfelt tunes, in the end it was
those in disagreement with the U.S.‘s involvement with the war in Vietnam, whose messages seemed to
have the lasting effect. When recounting the era one of the songs that support the war may be mentioned
but it is the anti-war songs that were the most popular and in tune with the emotions of society. By 1971,
Freda Payne‘s ―Bring the Boys Home‖ echoed the cries of the families of the soldiers, and Edwin Starr‘s
―War‖ proclaimed the people‘s definition for the term. John Lennon and Yoko Ono‘s ―Give Peace A
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