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American Music, World War II And The Vietnam War

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Throughout the history of the United States, war and political actions have played as several influences for practices. One practice that has a massive connection with war and politics is music. It has the capability to express protest themes such as anti-war or anti-establishment. Music can also set the mood for the entire environment, such as a depressed scene creates slow, or somber-toned music. Or if the setting is rebellious and ecstatic, musicians will want to create fast-paced dancing music. In this essay, I argue that American music plays a drastic part in war and political applications and in the history of the United States, the Prohibition Era, World War II and the Vietnam War have significant evidence to prove this ideology.
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The Allies and the Axis, two opposing alliances battled each other from 1939 to 1945 with an estimation of over 60 million causalities. With the surprise aerial attack from Japan on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, many musical artists were underway with recording war-themed songs. “Music played its role, whether as an instrument of blatant propaganda or as a means of entertainment, and uplift, music pervaded homes and concert halls, army camps and government buildings, hospitals and factories.” World War II had a colossal effect on the growth of jazz music, which also performed a part in the United States’ war effort. “Jazz and jazz-influenced popular music were a rallying cry for U.S. servicemen, and helped as well to boost the morale of loved ones at home, who by listening to patriotic and romantic songs on the radio and on their phonographs were encouraged to wage war on the home front.” In 1943 Bing Crosby recorded the infamous “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” track with its intention of praising the soldiers fighting for the American citizen overseas in Europe. Christmastime in the United States is revolved around spending time family and friends. Once World War II was underway, the typical rituals performed around this time were broken. Crosby’s song recognized the belief that even if things have changed, the loved soldiers, fathers, anyone in context overseas …show more content…

There were two sides to how the war was felt by the American population: pro-war and anti-war. The side that overpowered the other in terms of popularity was the opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War. The quotation below briefly describes why the majority sided with

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