The sounds of war
U2’s 1983 album War.
Just like how Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel fresco tells the biblical story of Earth and Heaven’s creation through to the Great Flood, many contemporary conflicts are accompanied with a distinct soundtrack that tells their story. These collections of songs artistically amplified awareness, united people over a common cause, and brought solace to those hurt by some of humanity’s darkest displays. Without further ado, here is a look at the crossroads of music and martial strife through two key political conflicts, those being the Vietnam War and the Troubles.
The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War began in 1955 following the first Indochina War which resulted in the division of the nation into North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam (consisting of the Viet Cong and People's Army of Vietnam) envisioned the country reuniting under communism. The politically diametric South fought back with the support of the United States, who took on a prominent role in the war during the early 60s onwards.
One of the earliest songs of prominence associated with the Vietnam War was Bobby Bare’s cover of Detroit City. A country classic from 1963, Bare’s opening refrain of “I wanna go home, I wanna go home” resonated with soldiers stationed away from home. The song itself is actually about southerners moving north to more industrial cities and missing the rural lifestyle. Regardless, the sentiment stuck as just months after the song’s release, roughly 16,000 Americans found themselves in the midst of war longing for home.
Also in 1963, rock and roll hall of famer Bob Dylan came out with his sophomore album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, which featured the aptly named Masters of War. While intended to be a protest to the nuclear arms race occuring in the 60s, the timing of its launch coincided with the United States getting increasingly more involved in Vietnamese affairs. Dylan described the track as “a pacifistic song against war… [and] not an anti-war song.”
Come 1965, The Animals had put out a pair of singles that were exceedingly popular amongst American forces – House of the Rising Sun and We’ve Gotta Get Out of This Place. Just like Detroit City, these tracks possessed no references to Vietnam but provided troops with fitting lyrics to sing together and some bluesy buoyancy to enjoy. Porter Wagoner’s Green Green Grass of Home also scratched the right itch for homesick soldiers, especially those more inclined to America’s trademark country twang.
Barry McGuire’s grumbly song Eve of Destruction spends no time beating around the bush topically, opening with “The Eastern world, it is explodin’ // violence flarin,’ bullets loadin’ // you’re old enough to kill but not for votin’.” The song’s criticism of the States’ involvement in the war led to it being banned off several American radio stations.
When it comes to the heavy hitters associated with the war, Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival is a rock and roll anthem that passionately stands against America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. John Fogerty claims the song was written in anger at the prospect of being drafted to fight without reason and completed in just twenty minutes. Speaking of such tracks, I can’t go without mentioning Edwin Starr’s War, where he asks the timeless question, “what is it good for?” Few songs here beat the energy of this track with its layered chants, horn sections, and Starr’s commanding showmanship.
Come 1971, Marvin Gaye rocked the boat with one of the greatest albums to this day in What’s Going On. A soul concept album, What’s Going On follows the return of a Vietnam veteran and grows to learn of the hatred and injustice that has brewed in his home country while he’s been away. The titular track sees Gaye really hone his flower power with vocals silky as anything. As an album, Gaye provided the American people with a collection of classics to embrace pacifism over. The United States eventually withdrew from the Vietnam War in 1973, which concluded in 1975.
The Troubles
The Troubles mark a thirty-year period in Northern Ireland where Protestant unionists and Roman Catholic nationalists had a violent dispute over whether the country should remain part of the United Kingdom or join the Republic of Ireland. This nationalistic feud began in 1968 and resulted in the death of 3,532 people, half of those being civilians.
Where the Vietnam War musically found its roots in country music, the Troubles were initially grounded in folk music. In 1971, The Wolfe Tones released The Men Behind The Wire, a guitar ballad describing raids done by British soldiers where they sang “armoured cars and tanks and guns, came to take away our sons.”
The following year rock band Wings came out with Give Ireland Back to the Irish, written by Paul and Linda McCartney. This track questioned Britain’s involvement in Irish affairs, asking them to make Ireland Irish once again in response to the events of Bloody Sunday, where British soldiers killed 26 unarmed civilians at a protest march in Derry. Phil Coulter’s The Town I Loved So Well continues this conversation as he reflects on his childhood growing up in Derry and how it is now shrouded in violence and military activity.
While living in Belfast, Ireland, The Police’s Sting observed the hunger strikes taking place and wrote Invisible Sun, the lead single to the band’s penultimate record Ghost in the Machine. Featuring an addictive synth-loop, Sting had the following to say on his inspiration for the song: “I wanted to show some light at the end of the tunnel. I do think there has to be an ‘invisible sun.’ You can't always see it, but there has to be something radiating light into our lives.”
Circling back to the Bloody Sunday massacre, Irish band U2 opened their 1983 album War with Sunday Bloody Sunday. Here, Bono and the band detail their disgust with the state of their home country, singing “Broken bottles under children’s feet // Bodies strewn across the dead-end street.” New Year’s Day also features some pressing lyricism such as, “And so we're told this is the golden age // And gold is the reason for the wars we wage.”
In 1988, The Pogue’s released Street of Sorrow / Birmingham Six. Personally, I’d never listened to Irish folk punk before writing this, shocking I know, but as far as odd genre bending goes, it wasn’t as off putting as I had anticipated! The first part of the song features Shane MacGowan describing the pain and hurt that Irish civilians were experiencing as violence became an ever-increasing normality too close to home. The second part picks up the energy, incorporating more soft-punk elements. Here the band stands in solidarity with the Birmingham Six who were a group of Irish men tortured to confess and wrongly imprisoned for the 1972 Birmingham pub bombings that killed 21 people.
Finally, Zombie by The Cranberries. Not only did Zombie set the new gold standard when it came to songs made in revolt of the Troubles, but it also cemented the Cranberries’ legacy in alternative rock by just their second studio album. With her yodel-style trembles, Dolores O'Riordan delivered one of the most unique and haunting vocal performances to hit the mainstream and an anthem for the ages.
