Song Stuck In My Head This Week - 05th December '09 - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Ohio

Last Sunday I was at the acoustic night I go to at a pub near me and one of my friends did a cover of 'Ohio'. I have loved this song for years but, with the amazing performance he did (aided by a couple of friends to provide the harmonies) it has been stuck in my head all week with ease.

'Ohio' was an anti-Vietnam protest song but, unlike other ones of that era talking about the fighting going on away from home, this song was written about the deaths of four students at the Kent State University in Ohio. They had been present on campus while a group of students were protesting against the war there. The Ohio National Guard came in to the campus to restore order and ended up shooting the four students dead as well as injuring nine others (one of whom suffered permanent paralysis as a result). Some of the students who were shot were actually taking part in the protest but others were merely observers.

The song, in many parts of society, brought home the horror of what had occurred - the youth of America being killed because of a war in Vietnam, but on US soil. I think it is as symbolic how wrong the war in Vietnam was as any of the other protest songs of the time.

This is, in my opinion, a brilliant song and I hope you enjoy it.


Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young - Ohio

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.