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Songs about the Vietnam War

Never in American culture has a war been given such spectacular attention in media. We've had 20 other dust-ups since then, some of them every bit as bloody, and yet Vietnam is the one that sticks.

Vietnam stands out in history for a number of reasons: First, it was the first war to have the attention of the golden age of media, bringing the daily news to everyone's living room in color. Second, it marked the turning point in American history when the innocence of the 1950s at last faded away and we had to be confronted with the brutal reality of the Cold War era. In fact, many would argue that everything America has become by now has proven most of the Vietnam protesters right, and yet it still doesn't turn out that bad after all.

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  19
  Paul Hardcastle
• 
  21st Century Schizoid Man
  King Crimson
• 
  50,000 Names
  George Jones
• 
  8th of November
  Big & Rich

  "He was dropped in the jungle
  Where the choppers would rumble
  With the smell of napalm in the air.
  The the sergeant said
  Look up ahead"

• 
  A Child of the Fifties
  Statler Brothers, The

  "Took a turn for the worse in the 60s
  Saw some real people die on TV"

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  Alice's Restaurant
  Arlo Guthrie
• 
  All Along the Watchtower
  Bob Dylan
• 
  All Along the Watchtower
  Jimi Hendrix
• 
  American Woman
  Guess Who
• 
  Billy Don't Be a Hero
  Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods
• 
  Blowin' In the Wind
  Bob Dylan
• 
  Born in the U.S.A.
  Bruce Springsteen

  "I had a brother at Khe Sahn
  Fighting off the Viet Cong
  They're still there, he's all gone
  He had a woman in Saigon
  I got a picture of him in her arms"

• 
  Bring The Boys Back Home
  Pink Floyd

  "Bring the boys back home.
  Bring the boys back home.
  Don't leave the children on their own, no, no.
  Bring the boys back home."

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  Bungle in the Jungle
  Jethro Tull
• 
  Child in Time
  Deep Purple
• 
  Civil War
  Guns N' Roses
• 
  Copperhead Road
  Steve Earle
• 
  Cops of the World
  Phil Ochs
• 
  Daniel
  Elton John

  "Daniel my brother you are older than me
  Do you still feel the pain of the scars that won't heal
  Your eyes have died but you see more than I"

• 
  Dear Mr. President
  Pink
• 
  Disposable Heroes
  Metallica
• 
  Draft Dodger Rag
  Phil Ochs
• 
  Drive On
  Johnny Cash
• 
  For What It's Worth
  Buffalo Springfield
• 
  Fortunate Son
  Creedence Clearwater Revival

  "Some folks inherit star spangled eyes,
  Ooh, they send you down to war, lord,
  And when you ask them, 'how much should we give?'
  Ooh, they only answer 'more! more! more!' yeah
  It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no military son, son."

• 
  Ghosts of American Astronauts
  Mekons, The

  "It's just a small step for him
  It's a nice break from Vietnam"

• 
  Give Peace a Chance
  John Lennon
• 
  Goodnight Saigon
  Billy Joel
• 
  Happy Xmas (War is Over)
  John Lennon
• 
  I Ain't Marching Anymore
  Phil Ochs
• 
  I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag
  Country Joe and the Fish
• 
  Masters Of War
  Bob Dylan
• 
  Missing the War
  Ben Folds Five
• 
  More Than a Name on a Wall
  Statler Brothers, The
• 
  Ohio
  Neil Young
• 
  Ohio
  Crosby Stills Nash & Young
• 
  Okie from Muskogee
  Merle Haggard
• 
  Old Hippie
  Bellamy Brothers

  "Then they sent him off to Vietnam on his senior trip
  And they forced him to become a man while he was still a boy
  And in each wave of tragedy he waited for the joy"

• 
  Orange Crush
  REM
• 
  Paint It Black
  Rolling Stones, The
• 
  Question
  Moody Blues, The
• 
  Revolution
  Beatles
• 
  Rooster
  Alice In Chains
• 
  Something to Believe In
  Poison

  "Twenty-two years of mental tears
  Cries a suicidal Vietnam vet
  Who fought a losing war on a foreign shore
  To find his country didn't want him back
  Their bullets took his best friend in Saigon"

• 
  Still in Saigon
  Charlie Daniels
• 
  Straight to Hell
  Clash, The
• 
  Sympathy for the Devil
  Rolling Stones, The
• 
  The Fightin' Side of Me
  Merle Haggard
• 
  The Rooster
  Alice In Chains
• 
  This Land is your Land
  Woody Guthrie
• 
  Turn! Turn Turn
  Byrds, The
• 
  Vietnow
  Rage Against the Machine
• 
  War Pigs
  Black Sabbath
• 
  We Gotta Get out of This Place
  Animals
• 
  What's Going On?
  Marvin Gaye
• 
  Worth Dying For
  Rise Against

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