My daughter is currently working at a venue hosting a songwriting conference. While talking with a songwriter she was given this advice: You can be as sad as you want, but you have to remember to include some hopefulness or no one will want to listen to you.

That comment really stood out to me, especially since it came while I was researching the protest songs from the Vietnam War.

The Vietnam War was the first war where the soldiers could actually have the ability to listen to music while they were actively stationed in Vietnam. They had their radios, portable record and cassette players, and were treated to live music events.

But, the music can be hard to listen to for a long time because of how sad and depressing it really is. The protest music of that era was mostly angry, or used to highlight the death and destruction happening. The songs are powerful reminders of a terrible time where many people died fighting in a war that they didn’t even know why they were fighting it. Our soldiers of that time weren’t welcomed back home as heroes. There wasn’t widespread support for the veterans which caused them even more pain and suffering. It was a dark time for a lot of Americans, and our music of that time reflects it.

But, in 1969, John Lennon released the album ‘Imagine’, and the song with the same name. It struck a chord with a lot of people because of the hopefulness in the message. The lyrics are about imaging a peaceful place where there’s “nothing to kill or die for”.

Imagine is now remembered as one of John Lennon’s best songs, and I believe it’s because it’s describing a better place. It’s fitting that this was the last song that John Lennon ever performed live.

Lyrics

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky

Imagine all the people
Livin’ for today
Ah

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too

Imagine all the people
Livin’ life in peace
You

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

Source: LyricFind

Things to check out:

We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War. By, Doug Bradley and Craig Werner. umasspress.com/9781625341624/we-gotta-get-out-of-this-place/

https://time.com/4949617/music-vietnam-war/

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-04/imagine-50-years-john-lennon-beatles/100238128