Rhetoric of Protest: Rough Draft

Julian Aronfeld

2/22/16

There's something happening here
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

I think it's time we stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's going down?

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking' their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind

            November 1966, the Sunset Strip Riots in Hollywood, California; young hippies butting heads with riot shields as celebrities are handcuffed just for protesting an unfair traffic law. Although the song “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield is commonly mistaken as an anti-war song, protesting the war in Vietnam, the song is actually written based on the Sunset Strip Riots that occurred 1966 through 1970. The riots were started because of unfair traffic laws that had nothing to do with the ongoing war. Though the song doesn’t reflect the public’s feelings about the war directly, this song serves as a useful protest artifact which reflects the high tensions and emotions in the country during a time of war, and during a time when counter-culture had a lot of societal significance.

            “For What It’s Worth” is a song reflecting the side of the counter-culture. A very popular rock club in Hollywood called Pandora’s Box had closed down because residents and business owners living around the night club wanted a curfew and traffic blocks to stop the annoyance. Stephen Stills, writer of the song “For What It’s Worth”, had participated in the Sunset Strip Riots in 1966. His bias on the subject is obvious, given that he refused to call it a riot, and instead called it “’A funeral for Pandora’s Box’” and described it as “’Looking like a revolution’” (LA Times). The writer, and the band as a whole, identified itself with the counter-culture. The counter-culture was a revolutionary movement for youth in the 1960s and 1970s. It sparked an anti-government culture partially thanks to the baby-boom, which left youths marginalized and desperate for an identity, and partially thanks to the war in Vietnam, which left young people scared for their lives over an ideological difference that many of them felt apathetic toward in the first place. The tension grew as the generation grew older and more aware, as generations tend to do. Kennedy’s “liberal ideology” on foreign affairs was losing popularity, such as the “most urgent threat to [Capitalism] being Communism” and more importantly, the belief that it was “the duty of the US to bring [Capitalism] to the rest of the world” (Churney). The new liberal identity focused on anti-war and civil rights movements, and even shunned the evils and greediness of Capitalism. The song itself was written to help those who weren’t there visualize the riots, but that only scratches the surface of the song’s meaning. The listener is supposed to visualize the real tension in the air and the raw emotions felt. Hearing about it is obviously not the same as really being there; strong emotions felt by everyone there were the catalyst for the violence to escalate. It started with some small fights, and became a revolution, as protestors even attempted to tip a bus over. In fact, the song was first played on a one-time only re-opening of the night club, in front of an audience mostly comprised of those who participated in the riots (LA Times). Stills saw the embodiment of hippie counter-culture during the Sunset Strip Riots, the passion and need for change; he attempted to recreate that passion in his song, and show the world what it was really like to be a part of the revolution.

            Stephen Stills wanted to make a bold statement in his song “For What It’s Worth”. His attempt to recreate the passions felt during his participation in the Sunset Strip Riots is obvious when looking at the rhetorical strategies used in the song lyrics and music style. With context, it is obvious that the song is meant for the youth of America, as he describes the riots from a 2^nd person point of view. Stephen Stills’ use of visualization, 2^nd person, and vague language appeals to the youths in the counter-culture, by projecting strong emotions toward revolution he felt during the riots.

            Stills’ use of visualization is the backbone of the rhetorical strategies in his song, supplemented by his 2^nd person descriptions. He describes a scene of “A man with a gun…Battle lines being drawn…A thousand people in the streets” (Stills). These visualizations serve to make the listener picture all of the details of the riots, but also from his point of view. By using the words “here,” “over there,” and “you”, a new layer of description is added. The listener is no longer watching the riots happen, they are participating in them alongside the band. This is a very effective use of pathos through empathy triggering strong emotional connection. When he identifies the listener as a fellow revolutionary, he invites his audience to put themselves in his shoes and really watch the violence. This can evoke emotion, since the listener is now a part of the song. It is also helpful that Stills himself is part of the identity he projects onto his audience. It adds depth to his ethos for the audience because now he isn’t simply trustworthy because he was at the riots; he was there with you. You trust his word, because he had experienced the emotions he is making you feel. An example of an emotion he wants his listener to feel, more prominent that anything else, is a sense of confusion. He achieved this end rather well with his use of vague language. The listener is thrown into a situation where “Something’s happening here/But what it is ain’t exactly clear”, and confusion sets in right off the get-go (Stills). Confusion is a strong emotion, because it catalyzes other feelings for people. Depending on the situation, confusion can become fear, frustration, excitement, hysteria, or any combination of these emotions. When thrown in with large crowds and police intervention, it becomes much clearer why the riots broke out into such a display of violence and hysteria. Throughout the song, his language conveys confusion, like urging listeners to “Stop children/What’s that sound? /Everybody look-what’s going down?”  (Stills). He is asking the audience if they know what is going on, even though they obviously don’t, which is supposed to create a sense of confusion for the listener. A young protestor knows the feeling of fear and confusion, so his audience is reached very well simply through the rhetorical strategies used. Logic is not really a part of his purpose, so Logos is hard to be found in this song. Logic doesn’t have a place in riots and counter-culture, and certainly doesn’t have a place in strong emotional response.

Rhetorically, Stills used rhetorical strategies very well; he created an aura of confusion and excitement, and threw the listener in without warning. Historically, the song serves as an icon for 1960s counter-culture, protest ideology, and anti-establishment. It holds the #63 spot on the Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” and is used commonly to represent 1960s culture, such as the movie “Forrest Gump”. Stills wrote a strong piece that artistically captured a moment in time when he felt confused and fearful; when a peaceful event in memoriam of a popular club quickly became anarchy.

           

Works Cited

Rasmussen, Cecilia. “Closing of club ignited the ‘Sunset Strip Riots’” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times Publisher 5, Aug. 2007. Web. http://articles.latimes.com/2007/aug/05/local/me-then5

Churney, Linda. “Student Protest in the 1960s” Yale University Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. 2016. Web. http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1979/2/79.02.03.x.html

Stills, Stephen. For What It's Worth. Buffalo Springfield. Atco Producers, 1967.