The 1960s was a tumultuous decade for the United States. With its intervention in the Vietnam War as well as the growing Civil Rights movement, the streets of almost all major cities in the United States have seen some form of major protesting for some cause. It was from this mass civil unrest that the band Buffalo Springfield was inspired to write their hit song “For What It’s Worth”. Heavily influenced by the multitude of protests that were occurring in North America at the time, the song heavily reflects the distressed and agitated atmosphere of the time period.

“For What It’s Worth” was primarily inspired by a certain wave of protests that occurred in Hollywood known as the “Sunset Strip Curfew Riots”. Apparently, during these riots, about a thousand young residents of Hollywood took to the streets to protest a recent curfew put in place. Although it started peacefully, the riots soon became violent with protestors and police clashing in the streets. Sadly, occurrences such as these were not uncommon during this time, and it was normal to hear about youth movements fighting against the police whilst exercising their right to congregate and protest.

Widely regarded as a song that represents all protests and an anti-war song, themes of senseless violence and activism are a common occurrence within this song. The song’s chorus is simple, short, yet has such an impactful meaning. It tells the listener to stop for just a moment to reflect on what’s going around them. The significance of this chorus is that all around us here in the United States, there are people protesting and devoting so much of their time and energy towards certain causes, only to go unheard of until the violence breaks out. How often do we hear of protests in the media before the violence breaks out? Why is it that people only start to care about these movements when people are getting hurt? That is one of the core themes of this song. Later in the lyrics, the song talks about the great division that is caused by pure arrogance, singing, “Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong”. In our own modern day political climate, this line is still applicable to the movements and ideologies of today. As time has gone on, people have only become more arrogant and close-minded in their beliefs, seeing themselves as the only correct people in the world, and everyone else as simple-minded and wrong without even considering their side. The most important message in this song is definitely the allusions to the youth protests going on in the 60s, where young people were taking the time to stand up for what they believed and exercising their right to protest.  Today, not just in the United States, but all over the world, it is the youth who makes their voices heard and stands up for what is right, and it is this new, young, and mindful generation that will bring about the changes most necessary to this Earth.