"I was waiting for someone to come along, some young singer 18 to 22 years old, to write these songs and stand up," Young told the Los Angeles Times. "I waited a long time. Then I decided that maybe the generation that has to do this is still the 1960s generation." The songs will be played live for the first time next month, by original longhairs Crosby, Stills Nash and Young.
The first names on the sheet for any American peace concert would be - with the possible exception of pop-punks Green Day - musicians whose worldview was shaped by the Vietnam war. Bruce Springsteen (who has commented on Bush and the war to the fiftysomething audiences coming to watch him play Pete Seeger songs on his current tour), Wayne Kramer of the MC5, country singer Steve Earle, Chuck D of Public Enemy and former Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra are all old enough to have been affected by the conflict, if mostly too young to have been drafted. When Michael Stipe headlined the Bring Them Home Now gig in New York in March, he told the crowd how his father served in Korea and Vietnam when he was a child, and spoke of registering for the draft while Jimmy Carter was president. But it's been a while since any of these artists spoke directly to young people, as opposed to long-term fans.
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http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1803475,00.htmlSome interesting points on the generational differences in anti-war art.
Is the absence of a draft the difference? Probably a lot of it.
I turned 18 in 1969 & lived in fear because college wasn't on my horizon at that point.
I come into contact with people now in their mid-30s and I'm appalled at their ignorance at even the most basic facts regarding government. Basic 8th grade civics stuff. Did Reagan ban the teaching of civics?
I LOVE the Jello Biafra quote I abridged for the subject line.