"For What It's Worth" is one of the most influential and remarkable songs from the 1960s. Many directors still use this song in their TV shows and movies to symbolize that decade. "Stop, hey, what is that sound? Everybody look what is going down." is the most famous lyrics for people to remember this song. .
Due to this song, Buffalo Spring becomes "synonymous with the injustice and political turbulence of the 60s, and their mark on music is still felt strongly today" (Shmoop Editor). Many people believe that Buffalo Springfield writes this popular song as a Vietnam protest song. However, that reason is not the real inspiration for Stephen Stills to write the song. In fact, "the song was the first of the Sunset Strip riots in Lost Angeles in 1966 an event that hit close to home for Buffalo Springfield, who were the house band at the Whiskey a Go Go on Sunset Boulevard at the time"(Shmoop Editor). Stephen Stills tells the story of this song's origin: "I had had something kicking around in my head. I wanted to write something about the kids that were on the line over in Southeast Asia that didn't have anything to do with the device of this mission, which was unraveling before our eyes. Then we came down to Sunset from my place on Topanga with a guy - I can't remember his name - and there's a funeral for a bar, one of the favorite spots for high school and UCLA kids to go and dance and listen to music." (Graff 78).
First of all, it is essential to know the background of the band: "Buffalo Springfield was an American super group that didn't exist long enough to be recognized as such. Though the band's tenure was short, Buffalo Springfield was a pivotal rock group with an organic, home-grown musical approach that reverberated beyond the Sixties. Along with the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield laid the groundwork for the folk-rock and country-rock genres that took root in the Seventies.
