The Historical and Cultural Meanings of American Music Lyrics from the Vietnam War
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 5-2013 The historical and cultural meanings of American music lyrics from the Vietnam War. Erin Ruth McCoy University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Recommended Citation McCoy, Erin Ruth, "The historical and cultural meanings of American music lyrics from the Vietnam War." (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 940. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/940 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL MEANINGS OF AMERICAN MUSIC LYRICS FROM THE VIETNAM WAR By Erin Ruth McCoy B.A., Wingate University, 2003 M.A., Clemson University, 2007 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Louisville In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Humanities University of Louisville Louisville, KY May 2013 Copyright 2013 by Erin R. McCoy All Rights Reserved THE HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL MEANINGS OF AMERICAN MUSIC LYRICS FROM THE VIENTAM WAR By Erin Ruth McCoy B.A., Wingate University, 2003 M.A., Clemson University, 2007 A Dissertation Approved on April 5, 2013 by the following Dissertation Committee: _______________________________________________________ Dr. Mary Makris, Dissertation Director _______________________________________________________ Dr. Mark Blum _______________________________________________________ Dr. Benjamin Harrison _______________________________________________________ Dr. Clarence Wyatt ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my parents Bruce & Linda McCoy for their unwavering support, and to the memory of Dr. Alma Bennett. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my dissertation advisor, Dr. Mary Makris, for her guidance, editing sorcery, and steadfast support. I would also like to thank my other committee members, Dr. Mark Blum and Dr. Benjamin Harrison, whose comments and assistance sent my research into new and exciting directions. I would also like to thank Dr. Aris Cedeño, not only for helping me realize many ideas during my time at Louisville, but also for introducing me to his native Panamá, travel in Vietnam, and my dissertation’s fourth reader, Dr. Clarence Wyatt (who I also, of course, thank for his help with this project). I offer unending gratitude to Dr. Tatjana Soldat-Jaffee, whose patience and perseverance proved astonishingly great. I would also like to thank Mr. Vu of Annam Tours in Hué, Vietnam, along with my intrepid travel and research assistant (and dear friend), Carrie Murray, for helping me see the Vietnam War on Vietnamese soil. My appreciation for Ron Brazda, Jim McGarrah, Fran McVey, and all the other Vietnam Veterans who assisted me with this work remains infinite: without you, this work would have never been written. Finally, I would like to thank my parents and extended family – Gay & Steve for the music, my sister Allison and my Gram for humor, my Granpa for lending me his home to write, my pets for their writing companionship – and my wonderful fiancé, Joey Schumacher, who kept me in the game and coached me through the tough plays. iv ABSTRACT The Historical and Cultural Meanings of American Music Lyrics from the Vietnam War Erin Ruth McCoy April 5, 2013 This dissertation analyzes song lyrics written in the United States during the country’s involvement in the Vietnam War (1945-1975) By using social, historical, political, philosophical, and cultural criticisms. The majority of this dissertation focuses on Anti-Vietnam War protest lyrics, but neutral and pro- Vietnam War stances are also recognized. This work aims to primarily discuss music written in the United States during the Vietnam War era, But does recognize greater spheres of social protest against the war that occurred aBroad. This dissertation asserts that the Anti-Vietnam War movement was on to something – an ideology that war was not the answer, and that, given a chance, peace could work. The Anti-Vietnam War movement Brought the United States to a previously unseen cultural crossroads, yet those against the Vietnam War were ultimately unaBle to pronounce the movement as victorious. The horrors of war in Vietnam – depicted in this dissertation through Vietnam Veterans’ memoirs as well as through literary, philosophical and multi-media historical artifacts – and the angry cries against it – seen through historical and philosophical artifacts along with song lyrics from the era – present a portrait of v the United States of America in a state of crisis. By combining a close reading of song lyrics with history, literature, philosophy, and other art forms of the era, we can ultimately see that the United States’ decision to enter the Vietnam War was a choice, but the option chosen was incorrect according to many American voices. Keywords: United States of America, Vietnam War, music lyrics, Anti-Vietnam War protest music, antiwar protest, historiography, new criticism, new historicism. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .....................................................................................................iv ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................ v INTRODUCTION: Approaching the Vietnam War Era ...........................................1 CHAPTER I: America Moves Toward Vietnam, in Song...................................... 20 CHAPTER II: Who Was Against the War?................................................................ 64 CHAPTER III: Who Was For the War? ....................................................................119 CHAPTER IV: Who Fought in Vietnam? .................................................................155 CONCLUSION: Find the Cost of Freedom ..............................................................199 REFERENCES...................................................................................................................225 APPENDIX .......................................................................................................................232 CURRICULUM VITA ......................................................................................................240 vii INTRODUCTION: APPROACHING THE VIETNAM WAR ERA Some geographical landscapes demand to Be called By their proper name: isthmus, peninsula, and estuary, for example. In addition, in February of 2008, I experienced my first mesa. I was at a party in a meticulously and lovingly handcrafted desert home that overlooked a glittering AlBuquerque, New Mexico. Our hosts were lovely, and the company included a group of people that can best Be descriBed in two seemingly contradictory terms: Grateful Dead fans and university scholars. These were the Deadheads who went to Duke as the idealistic 1960s faded into the disillusioned 1970s; this was an academic conference after-party, complete with live music from David Gans, musician, author, and host of a weekly syndicated radio show on Sirius/XM satellite radio called The Grateful Dead Hour. He mostly played his own material, which was musically innovative and lyrically folk-punk. Like many people at the party, he was of a certain generation and made of a certain fortitude that refused to let go of counter-culture ideologies like love, hope, revolution, and a more unified and equal society. He did, however, play a cover of a Grateful Dead song, and it is a testament to my level of Dead fandom that I cannot recall the name of it.1 When 1 Grateful Dead fans, due to the Band’s encouragement of its audiences recording shows, are musical archivists in a way that is unprecedented. This unique feature of the group’s fan Base has yet to Be matched By any other popular music group in the United States, though Phish and Widespread Panic also encourage audience recordings. 1 Gans played this cover, the party’s mood fell into one of reverence, and group commenced to swaying – sort of dancing – and singing along with the music. Looking to my friend, a fellow graduate student, my age, who was along for the ride, I raised my eyeBrows. He smiled Broadly: “Hippies!” he mouthed. But these were hippies who talked Hegel, had tenured positions at great public and private universities, and published books. It should not have surprised me; academics have always Been key figures, even catalysts, in historical accounts of counter-culture events of the 1960s and 1970s. Their influence carried on into notable figures I identified with my generation: Marxist, “New Leftist” Herbert Marcuse fostered radical Black Panther and activist (and now Berkeley Professor) Angela Davis, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. participated in Civil Rights events with a young Jesse Jackson in tow - why wouldn’t some members of the counter-cultures go on to academia? And why wouldn’t these former-yet-somewhat-current “hippies” hold a professional conference panel examining the music, lyrics, performances, and ultimate legacy of a band they so dearly loved? The discussed aspects of the Grateful