All these memory jogs! Yes, Kent State. I remember it vividly. May 4th, 1970. I was a Junior in High School and I thought the country was rapidly going down the toilet. Shooting protesting college students was something we saw in the Soviet Union (remember them) or Communist Eastern Europe, not in the U.S.A.
The first time I heard Ohio (by Neil Young) after the shootings I was amazed and slightly obsessed. It became an anthem.
Ohio
Lyrics by Neil Young
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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 gunning 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 gunning 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.