3 Lyrics About War From the 60s That Still Tug at Our Heartstrings

Whether it’s a song talking about nuclear warfare or the war in Vietnam, music from the 60s always has a way of saying the thing we can’t quite put into words. Here are a few lyrics from these songs that still hit us hard today.

“The War Drags On” by Donovan

“They are just there to try and make the people free / But the way that they’re doing it, it don’t seem like that to me.”

According to Genius Lyrics, “The War Drags On” was released by Donovan on his album Fairytale, but not on the original version. This song follows the tale of “a soldier named Dan” who fought in Vietnam. Later on in the song, Dan has a nightmare about his time as a soldier. The song reveals that “there’s no more war,” because “there’s no more world.”

“I Ain’t Marching Anymore” by Phil Ochs

“It’s always the old to lead us to the wars / Always the young to fall.”

Phil Ochs gives a rundown of America’s history with war in “I Ain’t Marching Anymore” and tells the listener that he’s hanging up his hat. Ochs was known for this song, which he sang at protests and rallies. Although the singer-songwriter died in 1976, it was during the early to mid-60s that he told Songfacts that “songwriting was easy.”

 “It could be alcohol; it could be the deterioration of the politics I was involved in,” he explained. “It could be a general deterioration of the country. Basically, me and the country were deteriorating simultaneously, and that’s probably why it stopped coming.”

“Eve Of Destruction” by Barry McGuire

“If the button is pushed, there’s no runnin’ away /There’ll be no one to save with the world in a grave.”

This song was actually written by P.F. Sloan, but Barry McGuire has the most popular version of “Eve Of Destruction”. This song pretty much covers all the political bases. It’s about the Vietnam War and the Cold War and even touches on civil rights and Middle East conflicts. However, McGuire didn’t really see this song as a protest anthem but more as informational.

“I wasn’t protesting, it was just a bunch of news. Our newspapers, protesting newspapers,” McGuire explained to The Wrecking Crew. “They’re just telling you what’s going on in the world. Well, that’s all ‘Eve Of Destruction’ was…”

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