Ohio, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (Neil Young, 1970).
Recorded by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Ohio was written and recorded literally in the days after the Kent State shootings in May 1970. The shooting deaths of four students took place on May 4th, and Neil Young wrote the song after seeing photos of the shootings in Life magazine’s May 15th issue. The song was recorded in Los Angeles on May 21st. The context of the protests at Kent State was Richard Nixon’s Cambodian Incursion, which began on May 1st. The tragedy at Kent State continues to be remembered through the song as much as John Filo’s iconic Pulitzer Prize winning photograph.
Whatever your position is on Vietnam, this is truly one of the most chilling protests songs ever recorded. Young later wrote that David Crosby was weeping after the final take. You can literally hear Crosby’s keening during the song’s fadeout. The four dead were Jeffrey Glenn Miller, Allison B. Krause, William Knox Schroeder, and Sandra Lee Scheuer.
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.