SONGS IN FILM: THE VIETNAM WAR

TIMELINE

This is a timeline of all 10 movies I've chosen for this project. I've chosen the top 3 songs per movie to review.

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Some songs on this list are happier, feel-good songs. I chose them to be on the list because I felt they were the better known songs of some of these movie soundtracks. Examples of these include Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding, Gimme Some Lovin’ by Spencer Davis Group, and Chapel of Love by The Dixie Cups. Some of the more classic protest songs in this list include Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwarer Revival, For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield, and Blowin’ in the Wind which is covered by Joan Baez but it’s originally sung by Bob Dylan. When we hear these songs paired with some of the violent imagery of these Vietnam War movies, audiences get a more realistic feel of what life was like in the 1960’s and early 1970’s.

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In addition, as listed in the article, Why the Vietnam War Produced Such Iconic Music, Lily Rothman says that one of the reasons for this was because "awareness of war permeated the lyrics and sound of the music being produced." The Vietnam War was different, and therefore the movies were different, because music played such a big role in the time period, and even in the war itself. Soldiers brought radios with them to listen to in Vietnam, so this music was always a constant.