"There's something happening here
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
A-telling me I got to beware"
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
A-telling me I got to beware"
We're reliving the '60s. In America it was a time of lawlessness, shootings, mass killings, thievery, widespread corruption and denouncing the President. It was all over a war that our government perpetuated over the will of the people. It's happening again, the government perpetuating many things over the will of the people.
Those lines above come from a protest song from the '60s. “For What It’s Worth” is one of the most widely known protest songs
of the 1960s. Recorded by Buffalo Springfield as a single, it was
eventually released in 1967 on their self-titled album. It has transcended its origin story to become one of
pop’s most-covered protest songs – a sort of “We Shall Overcome” of its
time, its references to police, guns and paranoia remaining continually
relevant even to this day.
[Chorus]
It's time we stopped
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
[Verse 4]
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life, it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the man come and take you away
[Chorus]
We better stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going
We better stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going
We better stop
Now, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going
We better stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
Buffalo Springfield was the house band for LA’s famous Whiskey A Go Go Club during the time of the LA riots, which led Stephen Stills to pen the song.
“For What It’s Worth” was penned solely by Stills in response to the
Sunset Strip curfew riots in Los Angeles in 1966. It all started in the
mid-1960s when hippies and young people associated with rock and roll
culture would frequently gather on the famous street in West Hollywood. The commercial merchants on Sunset Boulevard decided
that the element of young people on the street every night was not
conducive to commercial enterprise. When bunch of kids got together on a street corner and said we aren’t
moving, the local government put in place curfew and anti-loitering
laws to stop people from congregating at the behest of local businesses.
This tension between the free-spirited culture and local government
came to a head in November and December 1966 when protesters clashed
with police, particularly on the night of November 12 when a local radio station announced
there would be a protest over the closing of Pandora’s Box, a popular
nightclub for young people. Roughly 1,000
people showed up to protest. Three busloads of Los Angeles police showed up, who looked
very much like storm troopers. According to reports, a
fight broke out for reasons having nothing to do with the curfew; a car
carrying a group of Marines was bumped by another vehicle. Egged on by
that fight, the protesters (some of whom carried placards that read
“We’re Your Children! Don’t Destroy Us”) trashed a city bus and threw
bottles and rocks at storefronts.
The LAPD instigated a 10 p.m. curfew for anyone
under 18.
The riot was really four different things intertwined, including the war and
the absurdity of what was happening on the Strip.
Despite having a reputation
as being an anti-war song, as it was also written during the Vietnam
War, Stills said that “For What It’s Worth” was mostly written in
response to the Sunset Strip riots.
“It was really four different things intertwined, including the war and
the absurdity of what was happening on the Strip,” Stills explained in
an archived interview, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“But I knew I had to skedaddle and headed back to Topanga, where I
wrote my song in about 15 minutes. For me, there was no riot. It was
basically a cop dance. … Riot is a ridiculous name. It was a funeral for
Pandora’s Box. But it looked like a revolution.”
The beginning of the song is a study in understatement. An electric
guitar plays two notes, slowly repeated, with tremolo. The drums set up a
quiet pulse-like beat. An acoustic guitar enters, strumming two chords,
then beginning a quiet riff that is a definition of laid-back L.A.
funk. (Audio clip – 80K.) Finally Steve Stills’ voice enters, in a quiet, conversational tone. (Audio clip – 64K.)
[Verse 1]
There's something happening here
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
A-telling me I got to beware
[Chorus]
I think it's time we stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
[Verse 2]
There's battle lines being drawn
And nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Are gettin' so much resistance from behind
[Chorus]
It's time we stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
[Verse 3]
What a field day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and a-carryin' signs
Mostly say, "Hooray for our side"
There's something happening here
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
A-telling me I got to beware
[Chorus]
I think it's time we stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
[Verse 2]
There's battle lines being drawn
And nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Are gettin' so much resistance from behind
[Chorus]
It's time we stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
[Verse 3]
What a field day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and a-carryin' signs
Mostly say, "Hooray for our side"
[Chorus]
It's time we stopped
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
[Verse 4]
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life, it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the man come and take you away
[Chorus]
We better stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going
We better stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going
We better stop
Now, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going
We better stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
While watching the news today, this song from my past came to mind and has not left. Once again we have riots in LA, and beginning to start in other cities. We have battle lines being drawn between Trump supporters and Trump non-supporters; Republicans and Democrats; those who want peace and those who want to take peace. When will we learn that nobody's right if everybody's wrong?
We teach our young people to "speak their mind" but we forget to teach them to consider those around them before they speak. Our "freedom of speech" does not give us the right to trespass, steal or destroy other people's property. Our "freedom of speech" does not give us the right to bully or demean any other human.
Nearly 50 years later, and in very different times, we still haven't learned from our mistakes of the 1960s.
Imagine By John Lennon
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No Hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people livin' for today
Ah, ah, ah-ah
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothin' to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people livin' life in peace
Yoo, hoo, oo-oo
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharin' all the world
Yoo, hoo, oo-oo
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will live as one
It's easy if you try
No Hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people livin' for today
Ah, ah, ah-ah
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothin' to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people livin' life in peace
Yoo, hoo, oo-oo
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharin' all the world
Yoo, hoo, oo-oo
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will live as one