Music has long been a powerful mirror of cultural trends. During America’s controversial involvement in the Vietnam War, popular music became a key arena for expressing both support and opposition. Pro-war songs often highlighted patriotism, duty, and solidarity with soldiers, reinforcing traditional ideals. Meanwhile, anti-war artists used their music to question government decisions, mourn the human cost, and rally a growing peace movement. Together, these contrasting voices revealed a nation divided, showing how American popular music not only reflected history but actively shaped public conversation during a turbulent era.

To help us dive safely into this melodic menage of cultural history we have brought on Dr Justin A. Brummer . Justin is the founding editor of the Vietnam War Song Project (VWSP) since 2007, based in Austin, TX, a unique cultural-historical archive, cataloguing, analysing, and digitising 6000+ songs that reference the Vietnam War, as well as the acquisition of original vinyl records and other physical sources. He is co-author of the discography Vietnam on Record at the University of Maryland, and has featured in prominent news and history outlets, including the BBC, PBS, NPR, Shindig!, Military.com, the Journal of TX Music History, and History Today.

The archive for the Vietnam War Song Project is hosted on RYM. Songs are posted on the YouTube channel of the same name. Project updates are on Bluesky and Instagram.

Don't forget to check out Curious Canadian History! The other Canyon Entertainment podcast hosted by David Borys

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