During the Vietnam war people were extremely mad. They did not believe there was a reason to go to war and protest music was born. The draft began to reach into the student population, by 1968 there were half a million US troops in Vietnam. Protest music became a huge part of everyday life for hundreds of people. People were not going to accept this war so they did something about it. Never before in the history of America did music speak such a political message that represented strong beliefs of the people towards the Vietnam War. .
Much of the music in the 1960s was one of the key means of protest for people against the Vietnam War (Hopkins). Bob Dylan was a well known artist that produced one particular protest song titled, "The Times They Are A Changin." The lines "There's a battle outside/and it's ragin'/it'll soon shake your windows/rattle your walls" are a reference to the Vietnam War. Dylan also sings the lines, "Come mothers and fathers/throughout the land/and don't criticize/what you can't understand/your sons and daughters are beyond your command." These lines are a reference in poetic terms saying how frustrating and how much anger people have with the fact that many of their parents, sons, and daughters were being sent off to war. He also had many other anti-war songs that were more general. John Lennon, who is famous for being a member of The Beatles, is probably the most famous and well known protest song of that century, Give Peace A Chance (Anderson). This song became the anthem of the anti-war movement as many Americans felt the country should not be fighting in Vietnam. On October 15, 1969, a demonstration called The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam took place with protesters singing this song in mass. Society in the 60s were greatly influenced by music that protested the Vietnam War. .
Protests soon became violent and affected Americans on their own soil.