Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" (1967) and Country Joe McDonald's "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" both are very well known and portray the Vietnam War from the perspective of the anti-war protests happening throughout the 1960's and mid 70's. Even though these songs can be very similar, they take different approaches to try to convince the younger generation to join the fight against the war. Springfield's song makes the listeners question what the government is doing in regards to the war. Springfield uses the scare tactic to frighten the pubic about how little information they really do not know in regards to the war. Country Joe McDonald, in his famous song, uses the approach of sarcasm to appeal to the audience and emphasize his point that war is bad. Also McDonald talks about what is happening in The United States and not just what is happening in Vietnam. Overall, both Springfield's "For What It's Worth" and Country Joe McDonald's "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" represent the anti-war culture in The United States during the Vietnam War, but have different approaches on how to address the nation.

Springfield and McDonald's songs were both written to oppose the Vietnam War and use a few of the same techniques to convey their point. Springfield begins by writing "There's something happening here, But what it is ain't exactly clear" ("For What It's Worth"). What Springfield is saying is that many people in The United States did not know why the war was actually happening. They knew that a lot of civilians and soldiers were dying in Vietnam but they did not know the reason. This can instill fear in many listener's heads because there is a huge war happening in a undeveloped country that is putting many American's (and Vietnamese civilian's) lives in danger. McDonald says at one point "What are we fighting for? Don't ask me, I don't give a damn" ("I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag"). McDonald is speaking for everyone when he asks the question of "What are we fighting for?" because many people simply do not know why our troops were in Vietnam in the first place.  When he says "I don't give a damn" in regards to why the United States was fighting that war, he is sarcastically and blindly obeying what the government is making Americans do. No matter what questions U.S. citizens ask, and no matter what response they get in return, they still need to fight if they are drafted or be supportive of the war when needed. Both of these songs reference the lack of information the government and military gave them about the war and how the public should educated themselves on the reasons there were troops in Vietnam. 

Another similarity seen in both "For What It's Worth" and "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" deals with the inevitable fate of death and violence. Springfield writes in his song "There's a man with a gun over there telling me I got to beware" ("For What It's Worth"). Even though many Americans were detached from the war if the did not have to fight in it, the Americans that were fighting were constantly in danger. Violence was everywhere in Vietnam because the Vietcong, the members of the communist guerrilla movement, who used Guerrilla warfare, which was mostly surprise attacks or hidden traps. McDonald references death as well when he obviously says, "Open up the pearly gates, well there ain't no time to wonder why, whoopee! We're all gonna die" ("I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag"). The "pearly gates" are a symbol of heaven, which is where everyone will be when they are dead. He then goes on to say that everyone is going to die and sarcastically says "whoopee", which demonstrates the counter argument of the pro-war generation and how, by supporting the war, they are single handedly killing innocent American soldiers. Even though both songs reference violence in Vietnam, there are many differences as well that help the anti-war movement.

Springfield's "For What It's Worth" tells the nation to look what is happening in Vietnam through very frequent repetition. The phrase that is continuously repeated is "We better stop hey, what's that sound? Everybody look   What's going down?" ("For What It's Worth"). Springfield is trying to open the United States' eyes to the war in Vietnam. Springfield is trying to tell them to look at what is happening to the civilians of Vietnam and what is happening to the American Soldiers. McDonald is not focusing on opening the eyes of Americans; he is focusing more on the war itself. He says at one point "Now you can go out and get those reds 'cause the only good commie is the one that's dead" ("I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag"). The political aspects of the war are being discussed in the song, which is a huge difference from Springfield's song. The sarcasm shows the extreme of the pro-war generation and how they want to kill anyone who is a Communist. The word "reds" "commie" refers to the members of the communist party slowly taking over Vietnam. As Springfield uses repetition to talk about American's opening their eyes

The nation was divided by two extremes: the younger generation anti-war protests and the older generation pro-war campaign. One main reason "For What It's Worth" was written was to show both sides, and that the divide was tearing the nation apart. When the song says "Nobody's right if everybody's wrong, young people speaking' their minds getting so much resistance from behind" ("For What It's Worth"). Both sides of the argument were not right. On one hand you have the young generation that believes in peace who are continuously having rallies a protests. On the other hand you have the older pro-war generation that is punishing the young generation for having an opinion. The main point of "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" is to serve as comic relief and prove that the older generation, who is pro-war, sounds like they want U.S. troops to die. McDonald uses sarcasm throughout the whole song, which serves as juxtaposition to the war. He is juxtaposing the gruesomeness of the war to the hilarity of sarcasm. Not only does this keep his audiences interested in his views, but also it emphasizes the anti-war campaign. The song says "So put down your books and pick up a gun, we're gonna have a whole lotta fun" ("I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag"). No one has fun in a war, but the sarcasm used emphasized the complete opposite of fun. By saying how "fun" war is, the people fighting for the war will realize how ignorant that sounds. The people supporting the war do not actually want people to die, but McDonald makes it seem like they do. It truly makes the listener think about what every person related to the war must be going through on a daily basis.

In conclusion, both Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" and Country Joe McDonald's "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" address the anti-war protests happening in the United States and use different approaches to trying to justify their views on war. Both of these famous songs were written within a few years and were sung at concerts to protest the Vietnam War. Springfield's song definitely had a clearer message; it just came out and asked "What's going down?". This song was asking the public if they actually knew what was happening with the war in Vietnam. It forced the listeners to open their eyes and pick a side in the war-divided nation. McDonald's song used sarcasm as a device to emphasize the devastation due to this war. The juxtaposition of something funny, like sarcasm, to something completely serious, like war, demonstrated how crazy the people supporting the war sound. The divide between the younger generation' anti-war protest and the older generation's pro-war mindset was so large there was no middleman: it was all black and white. Many songs came out during the war that demonstrated anti-war and pro-war views, which happen to still be famous today. 

