3 Folk Songs About the Vietnam War That Still Bring Tears to Listeners’ Eyes
The article revisits three folk songs that address the Vietnam War and its human cost, showing how the music ranges from direct protest to personal accounts of veterans. Together, the songs criticise war and those who direct it, while also drawing attention to the experiences of people who served.
Phil Ochs’s 1965 album *I Ain’t Marching Any More* included its title song’s criticism of the Vietnam War and America’s wider military history. Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War” condemns arms makers and powerful figures who profit from conflict. John Prine’s “Sam Stone”, inspired by friends who served in Vietnam, tells of a veteran who dies from a drug overdose.
- Phil Ochs challenged America’s military history.
- Bob Dylan targeted those who profit from war.
- John Prine portrayed a veteran’s painful fate.
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The Vietnam War was fought from the 1950s to 1975, involving North Vietnam and its allies against South Vietnam and the United States. It became deeply divisive in America, where many people questioned the human cost of the fighting and the decisions that sustained it.
Folk singers used songs to respond to the war in different ways. Phil Ochs criticised military conflict and America’s history of war, while Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War” accused arms makers and influential figures of benefiting from it.
John Prine’s “Sam Stone” focuses on a veteran’s struggles after serving in Vietnam. Its account of addiction and death draws attention to the lasting effects of war on people who return home.