In 1967 I was 20 years old and wanted change. Today I am 76 years old, and I still want change. In those 56 years I have seen that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Vietnam, civil Rights movement, all of that was going on during this time.

As relevant TODAY as it was back in the day!

Yes this is the original and the writer. "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield is often considered an anti-war song, but it's actually about the group's stance on anti-loitering laws and the 1966 Sunset Strip riots. The song was written by Stephen Stills after witnessing a riot outside a club on the Sunset Strip where young people were protesting a curfew. The Sunset Strip was a popular area for rock and roll counterculture in the 1960s, and the song also addresses the closing of the West Hollywood nightclub, Pandora's Box. Another song by Buffalo Springfield, Bluebird kzfaq.info/get/bejne/r7F4jJt-vc3NqmQ.htmlsi=U9aTPAADPNnpSEwJ The band members interchanged making different groups in the 60, and the members are more famous that the bands, so for people not living back then, learning the members is more important in understanding the dynamics of the music. It was a great time to be alive and made this music the most meaningful in my lifetime, though I love all music. My only hope it that all others who sample these songs know the meaning and cost to humanity and what the young people wanted to birth in these times of great unrest. We were changing the world and only got credit for making things worse. We are the Boomers. We started the fires of change, but did not really have control of world events that became our reality. Today is another big time of change with huge cost to human rights and death of humanity... Shine on all you crazy diamonds.

Steven Stills is a HIGHLY under rated guitarist. His writing and singing is always top notch. Later in Crosby, Stills, & Nash he really was one of the best!

The song is a protest song Stephen Stills wrote about a curfew law on the Sunset Strip. At the time Buffalo Springfield was the house band at the iconic club Whisky A Go Go. Local residents and businesses in Hollywood were complaining about loitering on the streets. There was a big demonstration protesting the curfew and Stills wrote the song for it. He sang lead, Neil Young played the famous guitar hook. Then they released it as a single. Yes, Public Enemy used this for the Spike Lee movie "He Got Game" and Stills actually recorded his part for them and appeared in the video.

I still love this song 55 years later

This song, "Ohio" by CSNY, "Eve of Destruction" by Barry Maguire. Lennon. You can't hear war protest songs anymore on the radio because of franchising. It was a better world when people called out evil, rather than just talk about women and $$.

Gotta love a young Neil Young with those legendary sideburns....

Buffalo Springfield existed from 1966-68. Released three albums. This was their biggest hit. Obviously, a protest song. The lead singer is Stephen Stills. After the band broke up, Stills united with David Crosby (formerly of The Byrds) and Graham Nash (formerly of The Hollies) and formed... wait for it... "Crosby, Stills and Nash." They also had Dallas Taylor on drums and Greg Reeves on bass. Sometimes Neil Young, who had also been in Buffalo Springfield, joined with them. So, they alternately operated as CS&N or as CSN&Y. Young is the composer and lead singer of the group's 1970 protest song "Ohio," about the Kent State shootings. Both Stills and Young have substantial bodies of work as solo and informal collaboration artists as well.

I don't think you need to apologize for the "sampling" by hip hop or other genres. It's an excellent way to get introduced to a band. I love that you go digging for the originals.

I have always loved that song. That is Neil Young with the huge sideburns.!

I'm 72 and I still want change, it's not just the young.

Hard to believe that this song is still relevant even today.

Neil Young, Steven Stills, Bruce Palmer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer) Jim Messina are Rock Royalty! Buffalo Springfield is Rock Royalty!

Highly underrated band - really cleared the way for CSNY a few years later.

“Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.”

Recognizing cycles is important. It’s hard to miss the similarities in what’s happening today. Always been a favorite of mine. Thanks for this one!

Steven Stills. Brilliant writer. This is a protest song. No over thinking needed.

We need to bring back some of these songs, they are just as relevant today as they were when I first heard them back in college.

I'm 70 so I grew up when music was made by the people who actually played the instruments and sang without fine tuning! I don't care for rap ,hip hop, I know it's a new generation thing, where's the actual talent? I appreciate you diving into our generation of music 🥰

I graduated highschool in 1967... Vietnam was probably the biggest protest focus....so was racist issues... the whole "God is dead" thing.... hippy lifestyle issues...it wasn't a pretty time, but then when has there been a really pretty time where humans are involved 😢😢😢

They protested anything they thought was wrong. I studied Rachel Carson in high school. She wrote Silent Spring about the dying species and this was 1962. I studied her in late 60s. We knew. We cared.

I was 14 when this was popular. I still love this song.

A lot of people think it's a war protest song but according to the songs writer Stephen Stills (Crosby, Stills & Nash) the song was about the Los Angeles curfew riots in 1966.

This was one of the most popular protest songs of the era.

I LOVE when they are sampled!!!! It forces me to go look up my favorite original!!!

This song is still fitting of the times.

Stephen Stills (of Buffalo Springfield) was on the song with Public Enemy, and he does sing the original hook. My husband said to me that he loves it when rap artists sample classics because it makes him want to go hear the original. He first heard this song on The Muppet's I heard in my parents vinyl collection.

Essential song that you NEED to know, bro. Huge part of rock history.

One of my all-time favorites. It is still relevant today.

Love being with you on your career change as an archaeologist.😅

I'd describe young people as not only being much more passionate but much less cynical. As the years go by, reality wears you down, and you have much more to lose. It just becomes easier to fall in line. Love to all you young people fighting the good fight. ❤

When I was 15 years old, my best friend and I had a band and we did this song. I still have the recording of us.

"What a field day for the heat"

I was 9 when this came out. Played over and over and over etc on my record player. Still listen regularly

We were the first generation that didn't want to be just like our parents; that wanted change, that wanted an end to war and had a voice to be heard. It was certainly an amazing time to be a teenager/young adult.

I don't have the words to convey how it felt growing up during this time, the music keeping time with all the things happening in our world. It influences us to this day,

6:57 you're describing what legendary child psychologist Jean Piaget called the "messianic stage" of late adolescence and early adulthood. From Jen's Rogmann (2020): "Here, the stage model is used to explain why, in late adolescence and early adulthood, many young people are prone to adopt idealistic and utopian social and political ideas which they reassert with an almost zealous vigor. Yet, at the same time, and probably due to a lack of experience and an egocentric tendency, they tend to underestimate the difficulties and the ramifications of attempts to implement their ideals in complex, real-world settings." J. Roggman, Notes on Piaget & Inhelder's Formal Operational Stage as a "Messianic Stage", University of Hamburg 2020

Yes, Finally For What it's worth, a song by Buffalo Springfield, written by Stephen Still of Crosby Stills & Nash sometimes Young. One Hell of a song. Here is my take of the first part of the song in my view. World Freedom For What It's Worth,... I hope we all remember that song. Released on Dec, 5, 1966 Songwriter: Stephen Stills. Recorded by: Buffalo Springfield. They warned us, not just for that time for all times, but did we listen The sh!t of it is, it didn't stop then, it just changed. It morphed. World Freedom, There's something happening again, What it is, is getting clearer, It starts when we gave into fear, There was a man who once said, The Only Thing We Have have To Fear Is...Fear Itself, It's time We stop And find that sound! Everybody!: wake up to what's going down?

Buffalo Springfield was (in retrospect) rock & roll royalty, because it was made up of members who later went on to form bands like Crosby, Stills & Nash (& sometimes Young), Poco, Loggins & Messina and The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, not to mention the solo careers of Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Richie Furay and Jim Messina. The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield were basically responsible for launching the LA rock and pop scene of the 60s and 70s, and their musical footprints are all over other genres like country and Americana. Stephen Stills wrote the song about the Sunset Strip Riots of 1966, particularly the attempts to close down the nightclub Pandora's Box. Stills, who'd grown up partly in Latin America, saw the protests happening and then saw the riot police approaching, and it reminded him of the repressive Gestapo-like approach of Latin American riot police. He got the hell out of Sunset Strip, went home and wrote the song.

Buffalo Springfield was the short-lived but awesome 60s band that brought us legends Stephen Stills and Neil Young, among others. Check out "Mr. Soul" from their second album. 😊

74 year old black Vietnam veteran. That war was wrong.

This and Country Joe McDonald and the Fish's I feel like I'm a fixin to die are probably the two biggest protest songs from the 60s

Buffalo Springfield was my favorite band in college. I actually attended their final concert as headliners. One-hit-wonders October Country opened followed by Gary Puckett and the Union Jack. Great concert!

A lot of artists from this time we're singing about being against Vietnam. So relevant today. Peace out ✌️ ☮️

Its not being irrational…its all about feeling invincable, and that it was our responsibility to make the changes the grown-ups wouldn’t. “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem!” (Popular bumper sticker of the day).

2 Great parts of CSNY. Stephen Stills & Neil Young. Saw them 3x ❤ Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young! You must check out "Teach your Children" and "Our House" Amazing Harmonies! RIP David Crosby.🎉

This is so thought-provoking. Memories are running through me - my heart, my soul, and my brain. Too much to talk about.

I'm 64, I remember these protests on the news as a kid. Of course my parents thought these kids were rebellious and stupid. I never thought that. Even as young as I was. I grew up at the tail end of hippie Era. I also grew up rebellious, opinionated and resistance to authorities especially government and police. I never protested but got into a few situations where I was arrested. My stand was on equality and race. Ppl that treated others differently based on sex, race and personal choices. Anyhoo..now I'm older. History repeats itself. The young have the energy and wear with all to protest and make waves. I salute them all, no matter the cause. This song is what was happening at the time, race wars and Vietnam War. Old Bob Dylan did many tributes to these causes....I always shed a tear when I hear these songs. Stay blessed.❤

Some people are saying it was a vietnam war protest but it wasn't. It was kids protesting about a curfew which was enforced on them by the authorities and meant they couldn't meet up and go to their music club in the evening. Local shopkeepers had complained it was hurting trade. The police rounded them up every evening and arrested them and put them in vans and charged them for just being there. Then they said they were going to shut the club down. It was it's last night of opening. The kids came out with signs and stood in front of the club. It was a quiet protest, but then the police were called and intimidated them, and all of a sudden it became serious. It was a total over reaction by the police chief to send his men in force like that to deal with basically what was a bunch of teens. It turned into a riot, kids got hurt, property got damaged. Some members of Buffalo Springfield were driving in that direction and were stopped and turned back by an armed policeman. They found out what it was afterwards and wrote that song.

love when classic songs are sampled.... sincerest form of flattery

Another oldie but goodie revived by Black Pegasus!! Thanks again. ☺👍

I’ve always loved this song! ❤❤❤❤

Kent State. you don't forget

Iconic!!! Vietnam, Civil Rights, Equal Rights for Woman.

In the mid-sixties, a lot of youngsters would congregate around Sunset Blvd., in L.A. There were great music venues and sometimes the kids would even stop traffic. This was when the "freaks" got loose, and the cops were called in to break it up. The cops came in and broke some heads, too. Thus, Stephen Stills reaction via "For What It's Worth." Peace on earth.

Google search brought this up: “For What It's Worth,” by Buffalo Springfield is often mistaken for an anti-Vietnam War song, but really the song reflects group's stance on anti-loitering laws and the Sunset Strip Riots of 1966.

There were no music videos when this was performed. Someone put this together.

A protest song that has been used in many instances over the years and is generic enough to work for any cause still. brilliant on them.

one of the defining songs of the 1960s

It was originally about the riots over the curfews imposed in LA but it is so well done each generation since has been able to apply it to hte issues of the day. I think we could all use their advice today: "Stop children, what's that sound? Everybody look whats going down."

It's an anthem - check out CSN & sometimes Y, they defined a generation - Woodstock (written by Joni Mitchell) Ohio (about shooting of unarmed student protesters at Kent State), Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, just a very wonderful rabbit hole to go down.

66 and still fighting the good fight.

This song has been used in more movies and movie soundtracks than any other song in music history. I read somewhere once that "For What It's Worth" has been used in at least 38 movies. The song was inspired by the Vietnam War Protests going on during the mid to late 1960's.

We didn’t have music videos back then, that all started with MTV in the 80s. These videos you see are from recorded television shows. We had a lot of variety shows back then, so there was almost always a musical guest. No climate protests until the 70s. This was during the Vietnam war. Young people just out of school always think they now know everything, it’s not until you actually live life that you find out how stupid you were in your 20s. Experience beats higher education.

They were protesting the Vietnam War and the draft. In 1967, 11,363 American troops were killed in Vietnam. Keep in mind that the military was not all-volunteer in those days as it is today. Young men were being drafted and sent to their death or a long-term case of PTSD. A huge cultural shift happened in the 1960s, and we're still dealing with the aftermath.

So relevant for today

Songs like this transcend time and that just blows my mind how these bands wrote these songs that still ring true to this day

"Paranoia strikes deep. Into your life it will creep."

Crosby skills Nash and young recorded a song for dead in Ohio in 1970 that was speaking about the riots that were going on at Kent State University 4 of the protesters were fatally shot. It was a very Violent time in our country until the Vietnam war finally ended.

Thank you for explaining "sampling." They respected this, at least. Buffalo Springfield led to CSN. Very important band.Both Stephan Stills and Neil Young.

Congratulations on your new baby! SO precious

Wow this was like what year and nothing's changed and it's still 2024 and it still happening what does that tell you about the world

That was "Pandora's Box", (a nightclub on the Sunset Strip) just before the scene where they are rocking the car. On Saturday, November 12, 1966, fliers were distributed along the Strip inviting people to demonstrate later that day. Hours before the protest one of L.A.'s rock 'n' roll radio stations announced there would be a rally at Pandora's Box. That evening, as many as a 1,000 youthful demonstrators, including such celebrities as Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda (who was handcuffed by police), erupted in protest against the perceived repressive enforcement of these recently invoked curfew laws and the forced closure of Pandora's Box. (from Wikipedia)

Now you are in my wheelhouse!! I just loved them and this was what my generation voiced for change. We still need change.

One of my favorite songs of all time.

The year I was born, and is one of my 78 year old mother’s favorite songs. Grew up to her listening to the good stuff; Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, The Doors, The Stones; she’s still Rockin!!! ❤ Shout out to Public Enemy! My favorite is “Night Of The Living Baseheads” 🔥

@Black Pegasus did you realize that the lead singer in this Buffalo Springfield performance is Stephen Stills who went on to form Crosby, Stills and Nash ?

what comes around goes around. and here we are again. it was a very volatile time. i see so much going on now that i've seen before. it's time for us to grow as a society again, and there are always growing pains. this song is as relevant today as it was back in '67.

Thank you one of my favorites ❤❤❤

Oh wow far out goovy. song thank you thank you thank you so much😂😂😂😂😂❤❤❤❤❤❤

This was not written as a protest song but became one during Vietnam War, per Stephen Stills.

SUCH a GREAT TUNE!!! Thanks for this one, BP! :) ENJOY!! HUGS!!!

All the above .

Members of Buffalo Springfield became Crosby, Stills and Nash. There was a lot of unrest at the time. The war, the draft, civil rights and the protests that sprang up got the attention of the man, who called the heat. There's always a lot going on and the 60's had it's share.✌️

This was a Vietnam protest song.

I loved it back and still love it and find it relevant still. I am 71.

One of my faves from the 60s - before I was born!

In 1967, the war in Vietnam was escalating. Young men were drafted at 18 years old but didn't have the right to vote or drink until they were 21 in most states. Yes, there were protests... lots of them.

Saw your short early this morning with you holding your precious baby girl, congratulations, she is beautiful.

"Singing songs and carrying signs...Mostly say 'Hooray for our side' "...such a prophetic lyric given all the 'protests' these days where the 'protesters' resemble the fans out to support their favorite football team...

It's also about the shooting at Kent State in 1970 where four unarmed students were killed protesting the VN war. It was a very tense time, with young people speaking up, as referenced in the song. Woodstock had occurred the summer before and the world never looked back. It was a time of revolution, social change, great music!

I was 18 when this came out …I loved it then and I still do. I think we need more protest songs these days…

You said, As a young man you want the best for the world. You’re right. Just change on word- change man to person to include women. I was out there in the seventies when I was in my early twenties. Congratulations to you and your wife.! Welcome, BRIGHTLY!

That is a perfect description of the protest mechanism. Thank you

This was in the midst of the Vietnam war and they were observing the politics of it, this song is as strong today as it was then. Deep meaning. I am reminded of "Masters of War" (Bob Dylan).

This one is timeless 👏👏👏

I was 12 when this album (vinyl) was newly released. I had a mad "crush" on the lead singer Stephen Stills (cowboy hat). My "crush" turned into administration for his talent.. I'm still a fan of Crosby Stills Nash (Young) all these years later. I'm a Southern California native. 😉

Was in Hollywood for new years eve and heard them a few months before this was released. Great live band