Noah's Exercise 4

The songs Four Dead in Ohio by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and All Along the Watchtower by Bob Dylan and later covered by Jimi Hendrix, were politically charged songs aimed at the War of Vietnam. Four Dead in Ohio was written in response to the Kent State University on May 4, 1970. The shooting was in response to a protest regarding the invasion of Cambodian territory. Protests started on May 1 on college campuses across the nation. On May 2, The National Guard was sent to Kent State University to control the masses of aggressive protestors. Many people believe that the shootings had no provocation, but this is not quite the case. At noon on May 4, 1970, aggression and rock throwing were at their highest and the Guardsmen supposedly opened fire in self-defense. Four students were killed and nine students were injured. In June, 1970, in response to the shooting, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young wrote the song Four Dead in Ohio. The song is ripe with politically charged lyrics such as “Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,/We’re finally on our own./This summer I hear the drumming,/Four dead in Ohio.”

http://dept.kent.edu/sociology/lewis/lewihen.htm

The song All Along the Watchtower refers to a Bible passage from the book of Isaiah. The verses talk about the destruction of the city of Babylon which worshipped idols. The mood of the song reflects trouble and paranoia. “All along the watchtower/Princess kept the view/While all the women came/And went bare-foot servants too.” As it was written during the War of Vietnam, watchtowers were part of the wartime scenery. If one were to continue speculating about the connection of the war to the song, I believe that Bob Dylan, and later Jimi Hendrix, thought of the soldiers in the War as “Jokers and thieves” as the song suggests. This would also suggest that “Princess”, who kept watch, was a wartime nickname for one of the soldiers in the platoon of “jokers and thieves.” While I believe that Hendrix and Dylan were a bit harsh in the representation of the soldiers in the song, I believe that the song itself is an excellent example of the stress and fear felt during the time of the War.

A representation of the Joker and the Thief from All Along the Watchtower.http://www.inspiredbydylan.com/all-along-the-watchtower/ 

http://www.shmoop.com/all-along-the-watchtower/warfare-theme.html