From 1965 to 1975, during the Vietnam War, sadness ravaged through this country and it’s people, both those at home, and those at war. Bob Dylan (Nashville Skyline), Neil Young (After the Gold Rush), The Band (The Band), and The Beatles (Rubber Soul) all portrayed this sadness through their music. Relatively new at the time, they all emerged as popular and great musicians in this time period. The albums recorded by these artists are very similar in both tone and meaning. Most of the songs are relatively slow with sad tones. Someone is always struggling, whether it be someone at war or someone in the United States.
A lot of the songs, such as Rockin’ Chair by The Band, are from the point of view of a soldier missing what is back home. In this case, he misses his “old friend Willie” and his rockin’ chair. Girl by the Beatles and Girl From the North Country by Bob Dylan are examples of the popular theme of a man at war who misses his wife or “girl”. They describe their women and what they remember about them, such as their face and their head. On the other side, certain songs from these albums show the point of view of those at home, who don’t want their husbands to leave and fear for them. Tell Me that it Isn’t True by Bob Dylan shows the sadness of a woman when she finds out that her husband is being called away to war. She wants him to tell her “that it (the rumor) isn’t true”. I’m Looking Through You by The Beatles shows the emotion and change that happens when a soldier comes back from war. Initially, his wife does not recognize him but eventually realizes that he is the same. This same idea is also heard in Birds by Neil Young where we can sense the sadness of the separation between a soldier and his lover. However, most of Neil Young’s songs were about the situation in the south. The song Southern Man, among others, explicitly depicts the struggles that African Americans still had in the southern United States.
Finally, the third point of view in these songs is that of the soldier and what he thinks of his fate. In Whispering Pines by The Band, the soldier says, “if I live”. He is unsure of his future and knows that he may die in war. By listening to these songs, one can get a sense of how life was like in the late sixties and early seventies. People were very sad and went through hard times because so many men were dying in Vietnam. It is similar to what is going on now in Iraq, but on an even larger scale.
