Exigency in "Blowin' In The Wind"

Exigency means the state requiring effort or immediate action. "Blowin' In The Wind" was sung by Bob Dylan in 1963. During this time period, the Vietnam War was still active and African American were still being discriminated. Throughout the song, Bob Dylan asked a series of question, which he believed was the problem. All the questions he stated or asked were always asking "How many," this  signifies as that thing like the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement  have been happening for a while and when are there going to stop or get noticed. Lines like, "how many deaths will it take till he know..many people have died?" or " how may years can some people exist...to be free?" captured situations that were going on during the time period when the music was released. The answer to all the issues was simplified by Bob Dylan to one line- which was, " blowing in the wind." The exigence in Bob Dylan's  Blowin' In The Wind" song was that all these issues  are going on and the solution to these issues was in front of us. He wanted the war to stop and also wanted people to be treated equally because these issues have been going on too long.

Kairos of Elvis Presley's "If I can Dream"

Elvis Presley's "If I can Dream" was a strong and very meaningful song that meant a lot for the 60's age and for the time around which it came out. The song was recorded June 1968, 2 months after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr and even the name of the song is obviously in reference to the tragic event. The lyrics "If I can dream of a better land, where all my brothers walk hand in hand" is in direct relation to King's quote " I have a dream that one day [...] little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hand with little white boys and little white girls". The song was also released in the prime of Elvis' career. At that time whenever a song was released by him, everyone heard it. This song in particular hit Billboards Top 100 and stayed for 13 weeks reaching at its highest the #12 spot. To this day it is considered by many as one of his deepest songs. 

Kairos of Fortunate Son

The song Fortunate Son was released in 1969 at the height of the Vietnam War, when most young men in America faced the scary prospect of being drafted into a war many of them thought was unjust. It was widely acknowledged at the time that men who had a decent amount of money and/or a high position in society could finesse their way out of the draft. The average man didn't have that luxury, short of running to Canada. The song acknowledges this injustice; the "fortunate son" refers to men who could get out of the draft. The song is sympathetic to the every-man who was essentially doomed to go to war, speaking for them: "It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate son". It's also important to keep in mind that opposition to the war was largely an unpopular opinion at the time, although it doesn't seem like that in hindsight. This means that the song was powerful because it spoke for the young men who maybe didn't have the courage to speak out against the draft for themselves.

Audience of "Fortunate Son"

     The anti-war anthem "Fortunate Son," by Creedence Clearwater Revival, was a booming call against the Vietnam War. Released in 1969, this song appealed to all the people of the lower and middle classes who were the most affected by the war, who also were the ones that had the most distaste for the war. The song's lyrics echo the angers of the poor, "Some folks are born, silver spoon in hand... Lord don't they help themselves, y'all. But when the taxman comes to the door Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale." Here, the song speak directly to the average American and tells them how the rich keep arguing for the war and supporting it, but they always seem to escape being drafted or having to pay for it. They don't pay the taxes for the war effort and they don't lose their lives over it either. John Fogerty, the lead singer of the song, uses different names for the rich like "fortunate one, senator's son, millionaire's son," to emphasize the people that he is criticizing. Everyone else are the one's paying the price and the song is urging them to take notice of this fault in society and to go against the war.
     The message of this tune and it overall sound made this song become extremely popular to middle America and has since been heard in nearly every movie that references the Vietnam War, Although the song never directly cites the Vietnam War as its subject, its attacks against the social elite and the nationalistic imperialism of the United States are parallel to the issues towards the Vietnam War. Anyone and everyone from farmers to teachers took grasp of this song as their anthem and call for an end to the Vietnam War.

Read more about the song here: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/john-fogerty-addresses-fortunate-son-concert-for-valor-controversy-20141113

Audience of "For What it's Worth"

"For What it's Worth" was released in 1966 and written by Stephen Stills. Still wrote the song due to the inspiration he got from the "SUNSET STRIP CURFEW RIOTS." The line " There's something happening here" was referring to the riot, which is asking for the purpose of the riot. Stills intended audience of the song were the police and the children who were participating in the riot with the reputation of " Children, what's that sound?" The song was then picked up as an anti-war song specifically for the Vietnam War.
The Vietnam War  "was a long, costly armed conflict that pitted the communist regime of North Vietnam and its southern allies..., against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States." As a result of the war, many troops died.

Being used as an anti-war demonstration against the Vietnam war its intended audience was the government- "We better stop." This quote emphasizes on the intention of the protestors and what they want- which is no war. Trying to convince them to not participate in a worthless war where "Nobody's right if everybody's wrong". This line in the song explains how each side( the protestors and the government) try to justify why each group is wrong and if they both believe each other as being wrong, then no one is right. To deploy troops back to the United States so they can be with their family., which was some of the reasons the protesters were against the war including the toll it had on the economy.

Sights And Sounds Of The November 1966 Sunset Strip Riots

Texts

"Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival:

Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Ooh, they're red, white and blue
And when the band plays "Hail to the chief"
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no

Yeah!
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh
But when the taxman comes to the door
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no millionaire's son, no
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no

Some folks inherit star spangled eyes
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord
And when you ask them, "How much should we give?"
Ooh, they only answer More! more! more! yoh

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no military son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, one

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, no no no
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate son, no no no

Anti-draft Poster: