In the two songs "I Ain't Marching Anymore" and "Turn, Turn, Turn," there are strong anti-war messages, and listening to the two in conjunction with one another can give a better understanding of the ideologies in America in the 1960s.

In the song "I Ain't Marching Anymore" by Phil Ochs, the lyrics hold a strong anti-war message. The song is sung through the perspective of a soldier in each war, who participated and no longer wishes to fight for the government. He begins by saying, "I marched to the battle of New Orleans / At the end of the early British War," which is an allusion to the Battle of New Orleans, which occurred at the end of the War of 1812, and he then refers to "The young land started growing," which is a mention of the young, growing American nation. The next battle Ochs discusses are the "thousand different fights," in which he "killed [his] share of Indians," and he is referencing the battle at Little Big Horn, in which thousands of Native Americans were killed in a thoughtless genocide. He next mentions two conflicts in the same verse; "I stole California from the Mexican land / Fought in the bloody Civil War," This first reference is to the Mexican-American war. The second is to the American Civil War, where men "killed [their] brothers," He next references the "battles of the German trench," which is World War I, often referred to as the "war to end all wars" and he also brings up the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II. He finally brings up the Cuban Missile Crisis, where the world was almost at the brink of a nuclear war. This song was released in 1965 as a protest against the Vietnam War, and Ochs manages to portray his feelings towards the Vietnam conflict without even mentioning it. This shows the ideology in 1960s America because many people were against the war and there were anti-war protests regularly.

In the song, "Turn, Turn, Turn" by The Byrds, the lyrics are taken almost word-for-word from the Bible. The song discusses there being a proper time and place for all things through repetition of phrases that are all similar. The central purpose of the song is to convey the message that everything has a time and place, and the war going on in the world must be replaced by world peace instead. The use of imagery in the song creates an image in the listener's head; the quick switch between opposing images causes it to stick in the listener's mind. The song also is trying to say that different situations require different actions; it quickly emphasizes the difference between war and peace, creating a negative thought of war. The song is clearly a plea for world peace: "a time for peace, I swear it's not too late" clearly is begging the world to stop fighting and move on to having peace. 
