Ohio - Crosby, STills, Nash and Young
Lyrics:
Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming, We're finally on our own. This summer I hear the drumming, Four dead in Ohio. Gotta get down to it Soldiers are gunning us down Should have been done long ago. What if you knew her And found her dead on the ground How can you run when you know? La la la la la la la la La la la la la la la La la la la la la la la La la la la la la la. Gotta get down to it Soldiers are gunning us down Should have been done long ago. What if you knew her And found her dead on the ground How can you run when you know? Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming, We're finally on our own. This summer I hear the drumming, Four dead in Ohio. Four dead in Ohio Four dead in Ohio. |
The song "Ohio" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young presents a clear anti-war standpoint. The lyrics provide a commentary on the Kent State shooting that occurred on May 4, 1970, when a group of Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on a crowd of student protesters who were advocating to put an end to the Vietnam War. Four students were killed in the shooting, as mentioned in the line, "Four dead in Ohio", some of which were not even involved in the conflict, they were simply on their way to class.
This particular song seems fairly critical of the foreign policy involved in the conflict; the lines "We're finally on our own", and "Soldiers are gunning us down" imply that the songwriters believe that their government has abandoned them, so they have sided with the anti-war protesters and believe that it was unjust of the guardsmen to have opened fire on them. This specific depiction of these events displays a fantastic example of how war can affect society, not only through the mention of people organizing to protest a war they did not believe in, but also through the fact that their own government was so invested in the affairs of other countries that they went so far as to use violent measures against their own citizens who were trying to oppose them. I personally agree with the songwriters in that it was unjust of the guardsmen to have fired upon the protesters, seeing as how Amendment I of the Constitution of the United States of America clearly states that citizens have the right to assemble. Simply appearing "unpatriotic", as put by Ohio Governor Jim Rhodes, is no excuse to open fire on someone. Analysis by Caroline Miller |