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Episode details

World Service,30 Dec 2023,49 mins

The Vietnam War soundtrack

The Documentary

Available for over a year

Beatriz De La Pava plays the music that chronicled the Vietnam War, and speaks to the people who experienced it, suffered it, fought it, and campaigned against it. She researches the ways in which pivotal real-life events are reflected in the lyrics of popular songs, and shows how music paints a vivid picture of the social, political, economic and cultural landscape. She also reflects on the racial issues that traversed the conflict, sparking the draft resistance movement, and the appalling consequences of using chemicals during the war. Image: Armoured personnel carriers of the U.S. 25th Infantry Division seal off an area of Cholon, Saigon, where heavy fighting erupted, 8 May 1968 (Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images)

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Tracklist

  1. Track
    Artist
  2. 1.
    War
    War
    Edwin Starr
  3. 2.
    The Unknown Soldier
    The Unknown Soldier
    The Doors
  4. 3.
    Ballad of the Green Berets
    Ballad of the Green Berets
    Sgt Barry Sadler