HILARIOUSLY SAD! | Vietnam Song - Country Joe & The Fish (Live Woodstock 69') (Reaction)
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Reacting to Vietnam Song - Country Joe & The Fish (Live Woodstock 69')
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MILLIONS of us knew every word and feared the meaning.
So many of my friends and relatives either didn't come home or were never the same..
Even in Canada, where many 'draft dodgers' fled to safety, we all knew the words to this important song, and I was 20 in 1972.
That song came out at the same time my friend and neighbor came home in one of those boxes. I wondered if i or my brothers would die the same way as he was just ahead of us in school. A war none of us really understood.
I can't remember hearing this song before, but after hearing just a few lines, I can see why.
@@GillianBergh Songs like that left no doubt to the meaning, something lacking today, but I'm old and out of the loop so what do I know? I'm not aware of any protest music today.
If you know every word and are singing along with Joe..... Massive Respect For You.
And for you!
Each and every word
@@mitchellaj2302 .EVERY WORD MAN !
✌🏻🤟🏻🤘🏻
In harmony!
I am a 73 year old Vietnam Vet. I am a lucky one. Some friends I went to school with, never saw their 20th birthday. We were not welcomed home as the Vets, rightfully are, now. We carried that shame for our entire lives. Shame that was not ours to bear.
I understand everything you say and feel. I’m a Viet Vet, 71-72. I was never ashamed of my service, wore my jungle fatigue jacket to college classes in ‘72. I’m on my iffy one now, wear it frequently.
Always wear it on Memorial Day, to honor; Independence Day, to celebrate; Veterans Day, in honor. Even wear it to work on those days. Some have commented that it’s unusual apparel for a nurse. Oh well, their problem.
@@jamesduncan9442 I was against the war but always supported the troops. I was appalled at the way y'all were treated when you came home. I had 2 brothers and relatives who went and married a vet who was crazy and physically disabled because of it. The marriage didn't last but not because of the war. You have my respect. Wear your jacket proudly. Thank you. ☮️🇱🇷🙏💖
Glad you made it back.
Singing to the choir.
And never should bear my friend. Many of my male HS friends did not come home. A few went to prison refusing induction. Two that I know of went to Canada. That war scared our generation. Please have serenity and healing Sir. You did what was unjustly demanded of you. You have my honor and full respect. Wear your colors proudly. You deserve it. Be of good Peace. 🇺🇸🕊️❤️🩹
This Boomer was 14 when I heard this song. Made sense even then. Proud of my father who served two tours as part of the Jolly Green Giants helicopter rescue. He came back emotionally damage. When G.W. Bush claimed invasion was justified in Iraq and then Afghanistan, I was the only one in the room that said, "You wait this is just another Vietnam." Too bad our politicians haven't learned a damn thing.
Listen to Bob Dylan's songs. 60 years later, they
Still ring true, as though they were written yesterday.
they don't care as long as it isn't them.
As a young 19 year Marine I was there in 70-71 listened to this song over & over on a 8 track tape ! I was one of the lucky ones to make it home , it was one big shit show over there! God bless all veterans past and present !!
that song and jane fonda / hollywood backed by the chinese who funded the vietcong who did not want the South Vietnamize protected from slaughter is WHY so many did not make it home. degrade, demoralize...!
I did the 70-71 cruise on the USS Hancock CVA-19
Of those who died in Vietnam, the average age was 19. I am a female, but I joined as a medic. Didn't serve in actual Vietnam.
Congrats for making it out! I joined the US Chair Force back then, though often enough the chair was a butt-boat and parachute. I could have been sent to 'Nam, but fortunately it was winding down so I got sent off to do the Cold War thing, flying off the coast of the USSR.
Was there in 1970 down in IV Corps, Mekong Delta, Brown Water Navy. Often had this song blaring in our comms shack at a small ARVN base on the Cambodian border later in my tour. Remember it like yesterday.
You have no idea. The war hung over every young man 's head like a sword.
And every young woman who had a brother.
Yep.
My husband was 6 weeks away when they stopped the draft
@@dianeryder5895so he was about a year older than me.
@@daveguitarnowski4402 yeah he could have gotten a college exemption, but his mom forgot to give him the letter
My husband who passed away in 2013 at the age of 63 was a Vietnam war veteran. He was blown up and spent 11 months in Walter Reed hospital. He was 100% disabled. He hated that song. He did have ptsd pretty much but he only remembered one of his troops name all others he could remember their faces let alone their names. But the one guy he remembered, said they had to watch him because he lost his mind there and would think they were the enemy. Ni loved this song but he asked me not to sing it one day it came on the radio and turned the station? He went through some nightmare stuff over there. God rest his soul. Good man, excellent husband, father and son. He would help anyone in need. But he wouldn’t really talk about Vietnam. I would ask him questions and sometimes and other times he would just say he really didn’t want to think about it. I do miss him greatly.
Sorry for your loss. My father was there and was never the same after Nam. Died at 67 in 2000, his demons got the best of him.
Perhaps you mean your husband was 83
I bet you do. I understand and I'm so so sorry 😢
As a Vietnam Veteran here
I am truly sorry for your loss
. Every body had a different time over there . I s way it was like doing time. You had to do your own. Again sorry for your lost.
🤗🤗🤗🤗
I went to the Navy in 1977 the day after my Highschool Graduation. The protest songs affect people differently. I don't mind them, what I hate is some of the comments made about military people. I've read that we just want to Kill, Maim and Torture and that's BS. Most Military Men and Women want Peace and don't want WAR. I went in after Nam when we were still Hated and Treated like Crap but not the way Nam Vets were. I have talked to some of them and the War affected all of them differently. Some still had Nightmares about it but would talk to me and some still can't handle how they were treated when they got Home. One told me that the people on his flight home ignored him and gave their look of Disgust at him and the Stewardess on his flight home wouldn't talk to him or serve him 😢. Salute to all Veterans.
I was a 17 year old kid in Marine Corps boot camp when he sang that at Woodstock , You have to remember we had the draft going on back then and at that particular time frame our casualty rate was 2-3 thousand troops a month. It was either volunteering and getting some options or getting drafted and a free trip to the war zone. It was on tv during the evening news not hidden from view like todays wars.
Thats a lot of pressure to put on the shoulders of somebody who just turned 18. And for what?????
I was also 17 and in Marine Corps boot camp at that time. I joined to avoid the draft but went to Da Nang anyway in 1972. Boot camp was almost as hellish as Vietnam. Recruits have it much easier today. I lost a good high school friend who was shot and killed there and also a great pilot who got shot down and killed. His plane exploded while in the air and they only found bits of flesh at the crash site. I found out he will be forever listed as “Missing In Action”. He was the finest Marine officer I ever met.
The people who put that pressure on the shoulders of those children have a lot to answer for.
Hi Carolyn,
Most of the people responsible are dead now. But I still carry the memories and wonder why I’m still here. Thanks for caring.
Jim
@@carolynskelly4763
I’m sooo. Sorry. 😢..los many friends… 🙏 🇺🇸.
Yep known as the Living Room War
Keep in mind during this time young men did not have a choice. You were drafted into the service right after High School.
People did flee to Canada. It's not that different from the U.S., but, if you are an American, it might seem strange to leave your country so you serve. 30,000 came to Canada, 300,000 went to Vietnam, although someone here said that it was closer to 1,000,000. Have you seen that black wall in Washington that is the monument to the Americans killed during the Vietnam War?
That might be true, but plenty signed up all on their own with the brainwashed thought that somehow they were hero's.
Unless you were rich you had college or failing for health reasons ,I did not say Mental because the US military took dudes with an I Q of 85.which in the 60 s was considered a Moron. Those Dudes did not belong in the Military.Let that sink in. Nothing but Cannon Fodder,
This song is called The Fish Cheer. This war was to support the American military industrial complex. There was no other real reason for us to go to a foreign country and kill people. Hey, hey, LBJ. How many kids have you killed today?
Always a choice, just not an easy one. CO status or Canada or get lost in the woods. It's a better option than killing strangers in a strange land or having it happen to you and your buddies
That was a crazy time. Young men getting drafted to Vietnam. It was a nightmare. The rich and powerful were able to buy their way out. 😢
Rump did. Bone spurs
So did Bush and Clinton, if I remember correctly.
Daddy Bush pulled strings to get Shrub in the Air National Guard. Where his attendance for duty shifts was allegedly very sporadic. Clinton took advantage of legitimate college deferments. Trump paid a doctor to diagnose a fake malady.
the "Fortunate Sons"
@@user-vk4ig9xb9zYep, and he called soldiers who died in the war Losers and Suckers.
I was a VNW protester back in the day. I lost 4 friends and a husband in that effing 'war'. Whenever we need a boost to the economy, we somehow find a reason to fight a war. So glad you reviewed this song, it needed to be revisited in this era, since most Americans have a poor memory.
I a protestor as well who refused to participate in that evil made up war.
The voice of my generation. We need that again.
We certainly do!!!
Damn! For a babe in the woods, you hit the nail on the head! This does not just apply Vietnam, it applies to all the political conflicts through the years where our Mother's children came home home in a bag!!! I know, nobody is reading this, but it is what it is brothers and sisters. See my tears!
I cried remembering while listening to this & when he said the words without the snappy upbeat tune, I cried more! 😢
I am from then. I see and hear you! You are so appreciated 👏 💐 ❤
I hear you brother.
I'm a 75 year-old woman and I lost friends in Vietnam and I was appalled how the vets were treated. I have tried to say thank you every chance I got ever since. I've lost family members to war too. No one willing to put his or her life on the line for the rest of us should be mistreated by those lucky enough to stay safe at home. Thank you and be well. ❤
Dont forget all the Wars started since then. Read WAR IS A RACKET by General Smedley Butler. He tells it like it is.
Joe was a Vietnam vet-he knew of what he sang.
I never knew that
Per Wikipedia he was in the Navy and stationed in Japan, not Vietnam. No combat for Joe.
@@jackasswhiskyandpintobeans9344 You are back again with that combat junk. How much have you seen?
@@nedludd7622 What do you mean?
Joe was in the Navy in 1962 stationed in Japan. He said he was a Vietnam era veteran. He said he was a veteran first and a Hippie second.
☮️😎🎶👍
You need to understand, a male high school student could graduate in June, get drafted, and easily be in Vietnam by the next June! Most Woodstock musicians and attendees were high school and college age kids!
My boyfriend graduated in June and shipped out in January. Came home in a box Christmas week. Still makes me cry every time I think about Vietnam.
Yes! At 70 yrs old I remember Woodstock & I know every word to this song & Country Joe & the fish!!! Brings back great memories!!!
Severe culture shock for me when my draft number was 16. My dad who flew 50 missions over Europe during WWII was considered a war hero, brought me up strict. He took me to one side and told me he didn't want his son going to that bullshit war and pulled strings to get me into a reserve unit. He became my best friend after that.
My Dad was in the Navy as an officer in WW II. When I told him in the early seventies that I'd taken my tests and was about to enlist in the Navy as an E-4 he looked me in the eye and said "Don't do it." I listened to him. I think that he saved my life.
My number was 113 out of 250 in first lottery. I did not show up for induction and went underground for a year
@@kenkaplan3654 Are you proud of yourself for turning your back on our country when called to serve? There were plenty of alternatives to keep yourself out of Vietnam. Flipping your finger at your country and hiding like a coward was no one of them. You should have lost your citizenship.
And those of us who didn't have strings to pull got to spill blood in your place. Thanks, MF'er.
My father was also a WWII and Korean War vet and counseled me the same way. We had no connections to avoid the draft but they went to the lottery and I was fortunate my number (birth date) was very high both times. A childhood friend a year older than me wasn't as lucky and came home in a box.
The alternate, some say real the real title of this song is "The Fixin' To Die Rag". It is pretty amazing what one man with a borrowed Guitar held up with a piece of rope can do in front of a crowd of 300 to 400,000, solo. The 60's were a different time, I'm still sort of glad I lived through that decade.
The *actual* name of the song is 'I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag'. 'The Fish Cheer' is the alternate name. I don't know where 'The Vietnam Song' comes from.
I'm glad I lived through that decade, too. It helped prepare me for the maga craziness.
@llen55 Exactly! I have never heard anyone calling it something else than "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin' -To-Die-Rag" since I first heard it in 1969.
@@Vinterfrid Glad I'm not alone! :)
Country Joe McDonald did several solo albums that touched on many social and personal issues. Check out The Ballad of Jean Dupree and Save the Whales.
Yup-Remember this one well. I'm a 1967 grad and they were drafting us pretty much right out of high school.
Joe came and played by himself at the Alaska State Fair's outdoor stage in the 80's. It was pouring rain and late summer cold with snow capped mountains already so fairgrounds were thin of people, only 5 people in the very small late afternoon soaked crowd stayed to endure. Eventually, he told us to come up onto the covered stage with him.
His eyes at a glance could read & connected with each of us, and his energy were soooooo deep, blue as the ocean, sharply piercing see thru xray focused and packed full of feeling it was hard to look away for his inviting openness was mezmerizingly beautiful- what a soul he has! We got to talk as well after he stopped singing, wow, what an experience. He signed cassette tapes we purchased of his latest "Paradise with an ocean view" album. What a moment in time to have intimately shared with such a deep compassionate experienced near everything soul. 💜☯️💜 Thanks for playing his whole song here. First time viewer. ✌️
I just turned on my country Joe digital mixed collection and this was the first song to play for me. Love him and his powerful potentially life changing talents.
Joe is a consummate professional who always gives fans 100% at every performance. By the mid-70's though, Joe's music was no longer deemed commercial and his gigs were far and few between to the extent he performed for free at a record store grand opening in Tustin, California. Although there were only about a hundred, mostly-curious people in attendance, Joe played an energetic set as if he was still at Woodstock. Love you, Joe!
@@invisibleink2644 Exactly and I love him for that in addition to his tunes!
Most bitingly sarcastic line in any popular song: "be the first parents on your block to have your boy come home in a box"!
I came home but I left a lung there.
Yes, stuck with me, still remember all the words
A friend of mine gave me a necklace with a different kind of cross that we both wore until he came back. I wouldn't take it off even for surgery. Fortunately he made it and I still have it. It's sacred to me. Thank you. ☮️🇱🇷🙏💖
This song was an hymn for the futility of the Vietnam war, and subsequently Iraq, Iran, and now Gaza, which is subsidised by American tax payer dollars. America never learns, but the arms manufacturers are the true beneficiaries of these interventionist wars.
Boo! Communist inspired wanker cr*p!😒👎
And Country Joe is a military veteran.
Three years in the Navy, and served in Japan...
@@ffjsb Right, no combat.
@@jackasswhiskyandpintobeans9344 Are you sad that he missed out on the fun?
Jimi Hendrix was Airborn
@@russshaber8071 He was 82nd.
I’m 70 years old, and STILL remember every word! Love Grandma Debbie
As a military wife years ago and the mother of sons , welcome home, thank you and much love.
I knew every word then, and can still sing every damn word right now! EVERY self respecting hippie knew the words. If you see the crowd, everybody is singing along! ❤
Wasn't just a HIPPy song. A lot of people felt this way.
Not just for ....
"Be the first one on your block to have your boy come home in a box" still gives me chills.
The war was sold constantly to the public in a very crass and dishonest way . Thats where that line comes from .
I love that the young people now are appreciating the protest music our the 1960's.
As teenagers in the 60’s we watched that war on tv every evening. Folks like this told the real
reality. Hard to know some classmates that never came home except maybe in one of those boxes.❤🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
We were seeing three hundred body bags coming home every day on TV.
I remember all too well... and what was it all for?
We never won that war... We never lost that war... We just lost t a massive amount of US lives that were wasted or maimed... and those could have been lives that could have lived in the most amazing ways...If they hadn't have been stolen by a war that the USA should have never entered
As relevant today as it was back in 1969. The difference back then is that we thought things could be changed.
All volunteer military service is a step in the right direction.
Cynicism is lazy minded.
Not one free pollution deposit is less manmade than the pyramids.
Be a good relative.
Be sacrid.
We are still on the same trajectory to CHANGE IT ALL. ITS JUST THAT WE TOOK A 45 YEAR DETOUR thanks to Ronald Reagan and all the other greedy bastards that re directed this NATION AWAY from higher education for all and the concept of 'FOR THE GOOD OF ALL to GREED IS GOOD. Reagan did a lot more damage to set us on the greedy materialistic, unregulated capitalism that landed us where we are today. THE HAVES AND HAVE NOTS - well the gap has widened thanks to Reagan's start.
There’s a whole generation of us old hippies that know every word of this song by heart. Those were our friends, neighbors, family members who fought that war about Nothing! It’s true that most politicians children don’t see boots on the ground war😡
Iconic song of the Vietnam era.
Music was an important part of the youth rebellion & antiwar activism of the 1960s-1970s.
JMBOY, my husband was in country during this song. Thank God he made it back, so many didn't. He died 8 years ago but these songs bring back the good- old-bad-old times.
I was 19 when I heard him sing that.. Been a few years since I've heard it..I'm 73 now and it brings back a flood of memories..
It was such a turbulent time, really got the younger generation to speak out. And the poor soldiers that made it home were treated awful by citizens and had to deal with the guilt of surviving a needless war. It caused so many mental health issues. I am grateful that you, as todays young generation, understood the satire of this song. May you learn from previous generations mistakes and triumphs.
There is a lot of history behind the Vietnam war that most people don't know anything about. I am not talking about the war itself, I am talking about how the war came to be in the first place. It is a story of stupid and greedy decisions by powerful nations that took advantage of a people that just wanted to be free. I feel so sorry for the Vietnamese people for the suffering they have endured.
The North Vietnamese didnt even have an air force . The US bombed them from the air for 10 long years . Ever hear of a plane bombing Los Angeles piloted by a Vietnamese soldier ? There is a reason you have not .
@@jameskennedy721The Vietnam war is a tragic war that never should have happened in the first place. It was foisted on us by the greed and bad decisions of the French, and by the time America got involved all the best options for ending the conflict had expired. If De Gaul had listened to the reality of the new post-WWII world as presented by Churchill we would have had peace there. But De Gaul was an idiot bastard.
@@flingmonkey5494 Glad to see you know your history . The French treated the Vietnamese as slaves for around 90 years . The US tried to keep that going before the French army lost at Dien bien Phu . I dont know much about De Gaulle's role , but his own army tried to have him killed over Algeria policy moves . But thats another story .
@@jameskennedy721I don't know if the French treated the Vietnamese as slaves, but I doubt that was far off. I understand the Vietnamese were grumbly but not at the point of rebellion. Perhaps they saw how the French reacted to the rebellion in Haiti, from which that country has never recovered. But WWII saw the Japanese take over the country and, however bad the French were, the Japanese were far worse. When the war ended France demand a return of all her lost colonies, but by then the Vietnamese were determined to never be ruled by a foreign country again. Ho Chi Min appealed to Truman to intercede with the French, and (damnit!) Truman sided with the French. The only country willing to help Vietnam in a fight for freedom was Russia, under Stalin (what a SOB *HE* was,) and then it became a war against Communism, and there were no good solutions any more.
@@flingmonkey5494
Finally! Someone that paid attention in history class! :)
Thomas A. Edison High School, in my hometown of Philadelphia, lost 64 guys in Vietnam, the most of any school in America. To this day, they celebrate all those men who lost their lives in Vietnam.
I'm a Viet Vet, got out in '75. I didn't put boots on the ground, though, no CIB, but did receive the National Defense Service Medal & Presidential Unit Citation, Expert Rifle M-14 & M-16A1. It was a different dimension from now.
Heard this back in 1968-9 and never forgot the words. It still rings.
When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. As a teen 70s hippie and a pacifist, I protested against the war. All war is horrifying, but witnessing the Vietnam war Vets go thru hell and come home to be treated so disrespectful, shunned by society, so abused, called baby killers, makes me more then awed at their heroism. Salute to all vets. Thanx so much, Peace
Because our Nation was not on an honorable mission. We weren't defending our homeland or fighting a bully rogue Nation. It was an awful divide. The most radical hippies weren't thinking just like people today when they get FANATICAL. THEY ONLY SEE ONE SIDE.
Unforgettable song from the day.
Hell yes I remember the song "Fixing to Die Rag". I remember all the songs sung back then. And they still hold a place in my heart ❤
This was the music I listened to in High School. It scared the living hell out of the Nixon Administration. It also changed America for the better. Rock n Roll.
Back then, we Americans voiced our opinions!!! Not anymore!!!!
@@RebeccaJarisch lol, you just did.
LBJ got us in the war and Nixon got us out of the war.
For context - remember that at this time in the US when a boy reached the age of 18 - he had a very good chance of being drafted and sent off to die for reasons that NEVER were real. Imagine - it's your senior year of HS and this is what you had to face instead of looking forward to getting on with your life. My personal story was waiting for my BF to learn his "lotery" number - it would determine if we were going to get married or if he was going to war. Good times - not!
I was 18 in 1971 and remember it very well. If you were middle or poorer class, you went. If your family had connections or money, you would get a medical or student deferment or, at the very least, get a job as a Reservist to avoid going in country. They went to the lottery system and I was lucky to avoid it. A good friend got #1 and immediately joined the USAF. He was a smart guy.
I. Told My kids in Sunday School. "it was like going to the Prom and graduating I June and by the following Christmas you were in combat trying to stay alive. Then 13 months later you left from Tet offensive and 3 days later you're back in LAX being spit on trying to get back home. It's a wonder more vets did not hurt these protesting assholes
All those young lives lost for nothing. Jimi Hendrix "Machine Gun" LIVE with Band of Gypsys (his best band ever) profoundly addressed this topic. His (screaming in pain) guitar solo says it all. I cry every time I hear it. Your commentary at the end is spot on 🎯 Love you brother ♥
The US was literally practicing involuntary servitude "for freedom."
He was wrong: There were 500,000 of us. And everybody in the area I was in, we all knew the words and we sang our hearts out. The song was full of irony and Country Joe made it a memory I’ll never get over. And I still remember the words. By the way, the real title of it is “Fixin’ to Die Rag”.
At the height of deployment we were nearly 600,000. Since it was one year rotations and an endless supply of grunts by way of the draft, it’s probably 2 million that served at some time in Vietnam.
@@stanleylaham8932 Stanley, the 500,000 I was referring to were those of us who were at Woodstock.
Pond scum!
My family was lucky my older brother was drafted but he had some discount knowledge at the junior college had some typing skills so he went to The induction center in Cleveland Ohio and was passing out the tests for the less fortunate. And I was 18 in 1968 and I didn't go because I had asthma when I was younger.
When I was drafted in 1968 I gave away nearly everything I owned, as I did not expect to come home.
I am glad you came home. I hope you have found love and support in your life. You deserve it.
I'm 71 and lived the whole experience!!!
It is a GREAT song ! God bLESS YOU JOE !
Being a teenager in Canada at the time of the Vietnam War I met a lot of draft dodgers. One fellow I met had bad PTSD after serving a tour over there. He came to Canada after that. That so called war was horrible. Not that all wars are not but all these young men were sacrificed so the rich could get richer.
Bullshit. I had nothing to do with money. Same old ignorant mantra.
So the US could get richer.
@@bwana-ma-coo-bah425so the elites could get richer
Use the term "war resister", instead of "draft dodger." There's a huge difference.
@@kenkaplan3654 That was the term that was used back then. I applauded those who escaped to Canada and my heart goes out to those who did fight in a useless war especially those who came back wounded and traumatized.
By 1969 most of us youngins were becoming aware of a couple bits of stark reality... Our friends and acquaintances from school and town were not all coming back from that place. And the U.S. government, which we (and our parents) had implicitly trusted to always give us the "straight dope"... was flat lying to our faces! We weren't winning some glorious bit of righteous combat as our dads had in the '40s... our friends were Losing a bitter and unnecessary meat grinder of a war we had no business Being in!!! Dinner discussions with the elders were becoming pretty heated ! And, to boot, the Civil Rights movement was in full swing so the soldiers of color were (rightfully, imho) asking... "Why the Hell am I over here in the jungle fighting people 'for democracy and our Am. Way of Life' that I've got no quarrel with when back home I'm STILL treated as a second class American citizen!!"
True. Also, none of the kids shipping out were able to vote.
You are right. The injustice is staggering. You are a right class citizen, all people are. That "class" bs is a lie. None of that is yours.Thank you for your service and all the sacrifices you have endured. Surviving all that is heroic.
I was just a kid during the Vietnam was. I had two beloved brothers who were ripe for the picking. I used to lay on the floor in front of the console TV watching the draft lottery crying my eyes out hoping & praying they didn’t get drafted. By a miracle of God they didn’t.
I hold a special place in my heart and soul for the Vietnam veterans. The ones who were able to come home weren’t welcomed, and it was tragic.
..
I was lucky to catch Country Joe at the Sky River Rock Festival and Lighter than Air Fair in 1968 in Sultan, WA. The first rock festival (Woodstock was in 1969). The song is a words over remake of "Muskrat Ramble", which Louis Armstrong and the Hot Fives made popular in 1926. The Vietnam War completely altered the song forever.
A growing part of the anti-war movement was Mothers for Peace, a group that was started by mothers who had lost their sons to the war.
where did they think they were going?
They knew their boys were going to very possibly die. They objected. I remember my parents going to the memorial of a neighbor’s son, a Marine who’s in Vietnam forever. There was nothing found of him to bury. My mom later told me that the boy’s mom felt that his life was thrown away.
@@Agnoletta It was, and you can thank LBJ
@@bwana-ma-coo-bah425 He certainly destroyed many lives. In Fairness, both JFK and even Eisenhower had sent some Green Beret advisors there. I remember more of the Nixon era…my uncle came back from Vietnam in 1970. He was an officer in MACV-SOG. We’d been praying for him.
Thanks for mentioning this group, they were the most effective in ending the Viet Nam war. The rest of us (I was in college and had friends who were drafted) were marching, but we weren't the moms. They were courageous and many kudos to them.
I sang every word. Two of my brother's went to Nam and made it home (both f*cked up). Two boy's on our block didn't. RIP Charles A.(Chucky) Brooks (he had 3 sisters and 9 brothers), and Micheal J. (Mike) Seadorf. (Mike's first child, a boy, was born a few weeks before he was killed). Will never forget and never forgive, as long as there's a breath left in my body.
Guess you forgot the Vietnamese people they killed since you didn't mention THEIR names.
Well JM, I'm going on 80 and I was in Vietnam at 17 (1967-1969) and after two tours and two Purple Hearts live in Vietnam every day. You will never understand, but that was the we paid so you can do what you do today.
Colonel Gregory Pischea USMC Ret.
Semper fi!
War, fighters, victims, politics...nothings changed. ❤💔
I was in basic training during the Woodstock Festival, but I knew this song. Joe was right on the money. Went there right away. Was never the same since. Just living one day at a time.
This song and, '' Fortunate Son'' we're two of the best anthems of the Vietnam War. They told it like it really was. And still is.
Welcome to my generation. Most of use were scared to death of being drafted at 18 years + 6months. We couldn't even vote until we were 21. Lucky guys, like myself were able to join the reserves and skate it out, avoiding Vietnam. A casual friend was drafted and 6 months later he "came home in a box".
The words were meaningful then and still true now. War is fought for economic gain at the blood cost of the people.
All we need to do is change the name of the country and it will fit what's going on now.
Thanks for playing this.
When I was that age listening to these songs I truly believed the world would be at peace by now. Us young people would be running things and peace and loving kindness would reign. It was a lovely dream. I still believe it could happen.
Probably the most influential song protesting the Viet Nam war ever, and there were many.
I was lucky enough to have been too young to be drafted during Vietnam but a neighbor's family who lived just across the street from me were one of the unfortunate ones to have their boy come home in a box . 😞"WAR ! Good God , What Is It Good For ? Absolutely Nothing ! Say it Again ....."
Edwin Starr
That was the song I heard and then was drafted in 1969! Everyone I hung with while in the Vietnam theatre hated being there and dreamed of going back to the world!!
Of course. Bless you
I remember when this song came out. I grew up in San Francisco. The heart of all there was to do with anti-war. Thank you young man for bringing back those memories. Blessings to you and yours
That's what democracy looks like!!!!!! I was there. Kids nowadays have no clue.
This is the music of my teenage years leading into college at Kent State University. There was the draft....many young men had no choice than to go to Vietnam. We actually panhandled to get money to help friends escape to Canada. Many guys I went to school with had to go fight & came home in a box. Still so heartbreaking for me, but definitely part of what made me who I am today at 71 years young. I'm grateful that you are finding our music & reacting to it. Thanks.
I was taught by an Education Faculty prof math methods in the elementary school at Memorial University of Newfoundland in about 1972. . He introduced himself the first day by saying, I'm a graduate of Kent State. Strange: when I was an undergraduate at Kent State, nobody knew where that was. Now, everybody knows." Then, one day, a few decades later, Kent State came up at the Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario's French Centre and one of young people there said, "5 dead in Ohio. Is Kent State in Ohio?" So, I guess we're back to not knowing where Kent State is. Then, there was my periodontist who had served for 6 years in the Canadian Navy to finance dental school, I guess. I said in 1968 my twin brother had to get someone to cut his hair short (military style) minutes before he left Queen's because he was afraid he'd be set upon by zealous protesters if he cut it short earlier. "Why?" asked the Navy vet/periodontist, "The unification of the forces?" I just looked at him in shock and said, "Vietnam!"
@@dinkster1729 Oh YES, Kent State is in Ohio. May 4, 1970 is when the Ohio National Guard murdered and maimed students who were protesting. This year will be 54 years since that day. I was 18. I'm now 71 and will never forget. 😢
@@kittencreates2785 70 here, gotchu
I graduated from high school a month after the Kent State Massacre
This made me so nostalgic. Not for the Vietnam War but for music that meant something.
Favorite protest song Ever. Ever!
I had not heard that song in ages. When he started singing, I remembered every word!❤
I was 7 years old when Woodstock happened. It makes me so sad to see the lack of critical thinking today. Our education system has been so watered down that kids cannot talk about controversial subjects in school like we did in the 1970's. I remember this song well. I love your analysis. Yes "Uncle Sam has gotten HIMSELF in a jam." During the war years, many professors would not fail students because they did not want them to drop out and be drafted into the war.
You can get anything you want at "Alice's Restaurant"... go find out what that means. Arlo Guthrie.
“I was just sitting there on the group W bench…” That was one of my favorite stories.
I hope he chooses that one also. Maybe also "Leaving on a Jet plane" I was a 14 year old at camp with 18 year old female counselors singing that song for their loved ones.
It’s written in my heart
Very astute analysis. I'm of that generation knew several that went to Vietnam, or met them after they came home. Country Joe is a Veteran himself, he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I live, and he does, or at least did in the past, concerts to raise money for veterans. He's the real deal.
You'll notice that the whole audience knew the song and was singing along. It was a very popular protest song of the time. You gotta remember that 50,000 young Americans died over there and most of the people at Woodstock probably knew one of the killed or wounded soldiers. I did. Just a side note, Woodstock was going on the day I got married.
When it came out in theaters they showed the lyrics with a bouncing ball and the movie audience sang along.
Too bad it wasn't broadcast live! You wouldn't have had to hire a band!
While stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso in 1971 I played this song from my barracks room on the 3rd floor to 4-500 troops in formation outside. They all started cheering and singing along. I didn’t get caught since no one except my friends could tell where the music was coming from since the sound reverberated between the 3-story barracks buildings.
Woohoo! Country Joe and one of the very best songs of the festival. I still sing it often and get as pi**ed off as back then.
I grew up in the USAF in the 60s and 70s. My dad was stationed in Bangkok in 1969 and our family was lucky enough to go with him. When his tour was over and we were leaving to return to the States, we landed in Saigon to pick up and drop off troops. After the door of the "Freedom Bird" closed and we started to taxi, one of the young GI's started signing this song .By the time the plane lifted off - all of them were singing.
They were glad they made it out of there alive, I guess.
I was in Nam 68-69. Next stop was Bangkok and I lived in the King hotel. We ran phone lines to the high ranking officers residence in the city. Small world
@@bobtoner9820 Dad was stationed at Don Maung AFB and we did our temp housing at the Liberty Hotel (great pool). Dad's office was attached to the military terminal and I spent my 10 year old summer hanging out there - including walking the ramp with the FOD crew (different times for sure). I got to go aboard C-130s, C-141s and even the C-5A on its first trip to Thailand. I saw a lot of servicemen transition through and always thought that they looked like my older brother who had graduated a year before - they were so young.
I haven't been back to Bangkok but from what I read we were there at a good time
@@bobtoner9820 My parents went back about twenty years ago - said it was completely changed - too big, too dirty and too dangerous. We were there when it was more innocent and was focused on being great hosts for Americans. I was only a kid, but my parents had no fears of me jumping on a bus and traveling across town by myself. Chaing Mai is the place to go now to get that old school Thai feeling.
I graduated high school in 1974...the boys in my class barely avoided the draft because the U.S. began withdrawing troops from Vietnam the year before.
I Grad in 72.... Scared
I was drafted in Oct of 1966 … served 4-years, 7-months and 17-days. No draft dodger ever bought me a cold brew.
Thanks for your service. Glad you survived safe and I'd be happy to buy you a 36 Pack of your favorite brew. @@texasron9131
@@texasron9131Yes, returning soldiers were not treated kindly. Take care my friend and God bless you.
@@texasron9131 why should they?
I joined the Air Force in 1983. Most of my Senior NCO's were 'Nam vets. They used to stop by the machine shop late on second shift and tell me stories of being down range.
I saw a lot of good, strong and proud men shed tears. Sometimes I shed a few with them.
Many years later my youngest son was headed down range to the 'Stan.
"Gotta go dad, we got incoming!"
Before you could shut down Skype the sound of missles exploding came through.
One of the worst years of my life waiting and wondering.
I make an effort to shake the hands of every veteran i see and welcome home our Vietnam Veterans.
Cheers
Terry
Bless you and your son
@carolynskelly4763 thank you!
My brother was in Vietnam, we were told he was working in a commissary when he was fighting. He came home and traveled the world and was killed on a motor bike in Luxembourg. Not once did he speak of it except a few stories to my other brother, threw his medals and ribbons away. I miss him, others that are gone now.
Oh the pain! Halfway through this familiar song I had to stop! I am a woman Vietnam Era Navy WAVE Veteran! While serving at Philadelphia Naval Hospital I befriended many war-torn Sailors & Marines. I listened to the heart wrenching stories of the men and women who served in Vietnam. We thought we were all grown up but now looking back on it we were just children! "War Is Hell On The Homefront Baby" rings true when it comes to the cruel mistreatment towards those of us who served during Vietnam. These boys were drafted. They had no choice.
Listen to John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival singing "I ain't no Senators son! I ain't no fortunate one!"
The politicians sons who were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, like Donald Trump (A 4X Draft Dodger), would never serve during Vietnam and if they did, it would be a cushy desk job stateside.
You are 100 percent correct.
And John Kerry went to Vietnam but managed to somehow have his own film crew with him and got purple hearts handed to him like they were on sale because of his connections. John McCain was tortured for years in the Hanoi Hilton. And George Bush Bill Clinton both found ways of avoiding Vietnam. I don't think either party has the moral highground here. I thank you for your service, but let's be honest. Anybody who could find a way to get out of going over there did just that, regardless of their political affiliation. And I don't blame them. No politician is better than the other because they tried to get out of the hornets nest that was Vietnam. Our country started out there with good intentions, but you know what they say about good intentions.
We grew up fast.....if you were living in a volitale hot bed of demonstrations and angst about the War. There were bombings on campus, some violent demonstrations and with my fiance getting a low "lottery" number we decided to get married. Many of our friends did but they weren't affected by the low draft number. My fiance ultimately got into a reserve unit but it was close. He had to "force" a tonsilectomy that he had always put off, go in the hospital to delay so he could get sworn into the Reserve unit. It was hairy times.
I am a woman as well. I was a Viet Nam Era WAC and medic. P.S. And Biden FAKED Asthma not to serve. Let's call it straight if we are going to be political.
Even the cushy desk jobs sucked. I wound up in an S-2 unit fingerprinting those needing security clearances, this was when you had to physically roll each finger in ink and then roll the fingers on the fingerprint card.
Joe Msdonald visited Ward 8 the PTSD ward at Northampton VA. Hoa Binh blessings to him and everyone
The war ended in 1975, a year before my 18th birthday. Draft age. Man, the war machine grinded all of us to the core. The one notable consolation was the Nixon resignation. So long Dick!
BTW, Country Joe McDonald was from my hometown, El Monte, California.
I remember singing this with a bunch of guys in basic training (1971...drafted), and we,of course, were heard by one of the drill sergeants. Man, we did a lot of push-ups...........
Me too, only the next year. We sang that in the head while scrubbing skivvies and socks.
My husband and I had our old car packed and ready to move to Canada.
He was called up to be drafted in Oakland, CA…. the biggest draft in the country at that time!!
He beat it!!!!
Horrible war!!!!
I lucked out and flunked the physical. But some other poor unlucky guy went in my place, so I can't be very happy about it.
One of my favorite protest songs, there were many!
We used to sing this in formation (US Army, early seventies)!
Great analysis. I was a physician at an Army hospital stateside during the Vietnam War Even though I was not in combat I still see the faces of those poor broken kids coming home from the far East to try to heal at our hospital. What was their welcome home ? Disrespect and contempt. I don't see the reason for it all.
Americans glorify war unfortunately. Canadians don't. My mother came back from Europe in the spring of 1946. She had been in Europe since August 1945. She was there to replace the men who would be sent to Asia to fight there, except the dropping of 2 atomic bombs changed the plans. She arrived in New York aboard the Queen Mary, I think. There was a military band playing when they disembarked. Then, she was sent back to Canada and nobody even noticed she had returned home from the border all the way to Vancouver, nobody noticed. That's the Canadian way. Every once in a while, some politician tries to glorify war, but it doesn't usually work out too well.
Very thoughtful reaction. Really appreciated your astute thoughts on the song.
My Dad hated when my sisters played the Woodstock soundtrack and this song came on. He was in Saigon during the Tet Offensive.
These were the years we only had 3 TV networks and PBS. Every night at dinner we received the nightly news broadcasts that contained news from Vietnam. These were always full of the real life horrors of war. Bodies, in and out, of body bags. Our side. Their side. Military. Civilian. It was horrifying. Nowadays there are so many warnings on tv shows, movies, even the news, that you might find something you see disturbing. Back then, there were no warnings. We were disturbed.
Here in my home town from 1969 till 1972, this was all our young people's anthem. Male and female, our brothers, our friends, boys we grew up with, were being taken from our class tooms because they didn't have high enough grades to be eliminated from the draft. Many didn't make it back alive. Many came back, but they were never the same mentality or emotionally. I sang along never missing a word.
Makes me cry. I was at the university at that time. Lots of emotions. Marched against the war 😢😢😢
400,000 Plus screaming FUCK! at the same time together.... Beautiful.
What's left out here is that in those days there was a draft, and Uncle Sam could call up any number of people over 18 to serve. All were given numbers, and if yours came up you had to show up to be inducted. Oh, unless you had bone spurs in your heel (hahaha!).
Or they could've said, like many did, "Fuck your War I'm not going to be drafted and kill innocent people who are no threat to us."
Those were guys who went to Canada.
You could also get an education deferment. If you and / or your family could afford college.
That was only true until about 1970. At that point that instituted the lottery and did away with college deferments. College students went from 2-S (college) to 1-A (eligible for the draft). You could no longer count on finishing school before the draft got you. The lottery numbers were randomly drawn according to birthday, and it was just luck (good) if your number was high enough. Only 19 year olds were drafted under that system. My number was 277, and that year they only got up to about 145. Medical deferments (bone spurs?) continued to exist under the lottery system.
@dwightmoore3060 you are far more informed than me. I remember my brother graduated in 69, and my parents made sure he was safe in school. I also remember the number draft and his whole generation of friends watched in terror. Strange more of his friends died at home from cancer.
Oh, man.. I’m 71. Too young! Too old. I do remember this song. Whish I’d have had greater understanding at the time.
That was our daily nourishment. The music was our protein. Check out "For What it's Worth" Buffalo Springfield.
We all knew the words to this little ditty! Thanks.
This was one of the best anti-war songs ever. On record it began with the Fish cheer, Gimme an F I S H but when he did it at Woodstock, well you heard him change that to another four letter word.