Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Neil Young's "Ohio" & the Anniversary of the Kent State University

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Ohio 1970 Kent State University
Video by: Mars Daniels




A few days ago, I wanted to post a blog entry to commemorate a very important and memorable event in American history, albeit a dark one.

However, these last few days have been crazy for me. My work schedule between three of my four jobs began to be truly hectic, and unfortunately, I found myself with neither the time nor the energy to really do a blog entry about this.

Today, though, I feel better, and decided to go ahead and do a blog entry about the recent anniversary of the Kent State shootings in Ohio, which inspired the brilliant rock protest song by  Neil Young,  "Ohio."

The students were peacefully protesting the war in Vietnam, and the escalation of it into Cambodia.

The police responded by opening fire, ultimately killing four students, and wounding nine others. One was paralyzed for life.

There was a student strike across the country of four million afterwards, as schools and universities across the land closed. The already unpopular war in Vietnam became even more unpopular.

Somehow, this seminal event has largely been forgotten, and relegated to relatively obscure history, which kind of muffled the shots that were heard around the country, if not the world, from Kent University on that day. But it is important that we should remember, particularly with excessive use of force by police beginning to be such a prominent issue today.

So, here is my blog dedicated to remembering the Kent State Shootings, as well as the iconic rock tune that it inspired, "Ohio." Here are the lyrics to the song:



"Ohio" Lyrics/ Neil Young

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.


Finally, here is an article by the Rock Hall of Fame that gives a bit of the history behind the song, delving into the protests by the students, and the obvious spirit of protest in the lyrics and intense feel of the song:



The Story of "Ohio" by Rock Hall, May 17

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