WI Country music supported the Vietnam War?

arrowiv

During the immediate post 9/11 period and during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, many country singers turned out highly patriotic tunes supporting the war and just being gung-ho pro-USA. Even when popular support against the war increased several years later, these singers still churned out patriotic songs. I got thinking what if there had been more country music support for the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 70s? Would could sing similar patriotic songs then? Who were the leading country acts back in the day? Would any of them really switch sides once the majority of America turned aganst the war just like they would against the Iraq war?
 

David T

People sure as heck interpreted Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee" and "The Fightin' Side of Me" as pro-war songs--or at the very least anti-dope-smoking-peaceniks songs.
 

TRH

It's too soon. Country music has always been (supposed to be) the music of the working man, and there's still enough Southern Democrats left that that perspective will still be well-represented, compared with the post-9/11 meatheadedness that we had at that point. Also, it's big on tradition, so it won't change on a dime.

David T said:
People sure as heck interpreted Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee" and "The Fightin' Side of Me" as pro-war songs--or at the very least anti-dope-smoking-peaceniks songs.
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Merle was more politically conservative than a lot of his contemporaries, from what I know. Compare to Johnny Paycheck or Willie Nelson, say.
 

The Red

I don't know if the majority of Americans ever really turned against the war as such. It seemed that there was a broad recogition that it was turning into a costly quagmire with no end in sight and that it was better to negotiate but I'm not sure a few country tunes are going to change that.
 

TRH

The Red said:
I don't know if the majority of Americans ever really turned against the war as such. It seemed that there was a broad recogition that it was turning into a costly quagmire with no end in sight and that it was better to negotiate but I'm not sure a few country tunes are going to change that.
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I've been getting the sense that it was unpopular while it was on, but became the most popular war we ever fought the moment we stopped fighting it.
 

The Red

TRH said:
I've been getting the sense that it was unpopular while it was on, but became the most popular war we ever fought the moment we stopped fighting it.
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I guess there's always resentment when you lose a war, no matter how complex.
 

TRH

Seandineen said:
Barry Sadler,
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Wikipedia page notwithstanding, I hesitate to call that a country song so much as a campfire ditty. Even if you accept it, though, he was a soldier who wrote a country song, and I don't think that's the same as established country artists going all Darryl Worley, which I think is what the OP is looking for.
 
History Learner

History Learner

Banned
TRH said:
It's too soon. Country music has always been (supposed to be) the music of the working man, and there's still enough Southern Democrats left that that perspective will still be well-represented, compared with the post-9/11 meatheadedness that we had at that point. Also, it's big on tradition, so it won't change on a dime.
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Southern Democrats of the 60s were certainly no peaceniks.
 
ennobee

ennobee

I agree with TRH. Country music in the late 1960's was way too different from the music of 2002. Country didn't really get that patriotic subtones until the 1980's. In the Vietnam era it was still closer to the likes of Bob Dylan then to the likes of Rush Limbauch.
 

arrowiv

I just can't picture singers like Toby Keith and Lee Greenwood singing Anti-Nam songs similar to the All-American Pro-War songs they did for the Iraq war.
 

GunsCarsGuitars

Banned
TRH said:
It's too soon. Country music has always been (supposed to be) the music of the working man, and there's still enough Southern Democrats left that that perspective will still be well-represented, compared with the post-9/11 meatheadedness that we had at that point. Also, it's big on tradition, so it won't change on a dime.



Merle was more politically conservative than a lot of his contemporaries, from what I know. Compare to Johnny Paycheck or Willie Nelson, say.
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Actually, Merle was a bit of a left-wing darling, with his songs about being fatherless and poor. He was only seen as 'conservative' after Okie.
 
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