Vietnam: Counterculture and Music

Objective(s):

    • Students will be able to examine the impact the counterculture & Vietnam had on music during this Era.

Essential Question: What impact did the growth of the counterculture & the Vietnam War have on music during this Era?

Procedures:

    1. Download the Counterculture Worksheet (click on the blue arrow on the right) and read over the questions.

    2. Follow the link to the HippoCampus presentation on the Counterculture. View or read the presentation and answer the questions.

    3. Follow the link to the Billboard Magazine article "The Vietnam Conflict Spawning Heavy Barrage of Disk Tunes." Read the article and jot down an answer to the following question: Why did the Vietnam War produce such a large number of songs?

    4. Listen to two Vietnam era songs: "I Fell Like I'm Fixin' to Die" by Country Joe McDonald (Country Joe and the Fish) and "War" by Edwin Starr. Both are available on grooveshark. Lyrics will be provided (see below). You will fill out a recording analysis sheet on both songs (see below).

  1. Next, you will each write a response to the essential question posed above: What impact did the growth of the counterculture & the Vietnam War have on music during this Era? I expect you to use evidence from learning materials in your 1-page response to the question. We will discuss this question as time allows.