Der Rock'n'Roll-Krieg

The Vietnam conflict has been called "America's first rock-and-roll war" because of the predominance of rock music that permeated the American experience there. As draft quotas were raised and deferment and exemption loopholes closed, an overwhelming number of military personnel belonged to one generation: the average age of combat soldiers was 19 and, according to some figures, 90 percent were under 23 years of age.

Many of these conscripts did not want to be in Vietnam, and no one wanted to be alienated from his own generation back home. Therefore, many GIs imported their tastes in music into the war zone. Rock music was the most popular genre, and beads and peace symbols were worn with and on many uniforms.

Among the military branches, there was not much deviation in musical preference. There was a great rift between officers and enlisted men, however. According to an interview in Rolling Stone, most enlisted men preferred hard rock or psychedelic music; 30 percent enjoyed rhythm and blues; 10 percent, country; 5 percent, classical; and 10 percent, folk. The men often complained that Armed Forces Vietnam Radio broadcasts were geared to officers, with light classical music scattered among what the soldiers called "lame," "teenybopperish," "polka party," or "bubble-gum" music. One soldier, who spoke anonymously in Rolling Stone, called Armed Forces Radio "the world's [worst], small-town midwest old-woman-right-wing plastic useless propagandizing bummer unturned-on controlled low-fidelity non-stereo."

Some of the constraints on the type of music allowed on the airwaves came from the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) government, which prohibited from being played, among other songs, the Animals' hit, "We Gotta Get Outa This Place." Most of the radio programs were prerecorded in Los Angeles and included top 40 hits.

Because radio did not reflect the preferences of most soldiers, the status symbol among GIs was the tape recorder. Cassette tapes, either brought from home or purchased on leave, were the most popular medium for music in Vietnam. The tape players were small, battery operated, highly portable, and therefore easily carried into the field.

The rhythms, raw energy, and screaming guitars of rock music mirrored the confusion of war and firefights, and since music helps define a generation, music helped define the Vietnam War. Snatches from lyrics of popular songs were used in the context of the war. "Rock-and-roll" substituted for "lock and load," referring to the procedure for readying the M16 for firing or for switching the weapon from semiautomatic to automatic fire.

Songs were written alluding to Vietnam, or those connections were assumed. "Purple Haze," by Jimi Hendrix, a former "Screaming Eagles" paratrooper, had references to the purple smoke used at landing zones. Phrases from the Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour," such as "Coming to take you away, dying to take you away," had special meaning for Marines at Khe Sanh.

Popular among the enlisted men were Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, and other Asian bands that could imitate British and American rock groups and their hits with uncanny accuracy, even though band members could not speak English. These groups played in enlisted men's clubs and civilian bars in Vietnam. Some of the more popular songs performed were "Simon Says," "Black Is Black," "Unchained Melody," "Gloria," "San Francisco (Wear Flowers in Your Hair)," "Sky Pilot," and "Hey Jude." According to writer Michael Herr, "sounds were as precious as water." Some GIs even tried to form bands, but the effort often proved futile because of troop movements and a general distrust of rock music by the officers.

Music has always provided needed relief during wartime, but in World War II and Korea there was not the separation in musical preference between enlisted men and officers that occurred during the Vietnam War. World War II was different from the Vietnam War in that the forties witnessed a unified mission of fighting fascism and nazism. In the later stages of the Vietnam War, there was no such unity of purpose. This was the first war in which the GIs listened to antiwar and protest songs while fighting in the conflict. In previous wars, the music had always been supportive.

René Märtin