When talking about the concept of remembering war, there are two general ways one does so. The first is that of remembering war as part of a collective.  Societies all have their own ways of remembering war. American society enjoyed remembering World War II and for the most part still does. And yet with Vietnam, the collective's views shifted. The collective remembered Vietnam as an unnecessary, confusing, and controversial conflict. Unlike the Second World War, the collective did not see Vietnam as a glorious battle for honor. The collective's methods of remembering war are obviously what we as a society believe as a whole.

The other way in which we remember war is as individuals. We make our own conclusions about how we remember war, and whether the collective impacts those views or not, they are still those of the individual. He can agree with the collective, or he can be opposed to it. But for each person who remembers war, soldier or civilian, his individual memory is what will always shape his views of war.

With that said, how does music fit in? What is music's impact on the way societies remember war? The impact is far greater than perhaps any other medium. We remember war in films we see, in books we read, in paintings we look at. But those ideas and concepts are artificial. They may not last. Music is a universal art form which anyone can relate to. One does not have to be able to read, does not need sight, does not need touch. Music has been with us as a society for nearly all of time, and will be far after we are all gone.

Professor Jennifer Blyth says "There is no doubt that music either enhances or taps into an emotionalism that we don't get from text or maybe from poetry, but because it's abstract it has this very great power over us...There's something mysterious about that...How can something seemingly so abstract, so non related to the language we usually communicate, how can it have so much power over us?" ¹  Professor Blyth is exactly right. It is the power of music which makes it remain us as a society. The songwriters tap into this power, and the society utilizes it to form their own remembrances of war.  Because with music, the individual speaks for the collective when remembering war.  Songs like The Ballad of the Green Berets and Yankee Doodle Dandy are so popular because they have been etched into our memory as a society. John Fogerty forever took his place in mainstream culture because he spoke for the people in Fortunate Son.  Bob Dylan is perhaps one of the most legendary American musicians of all time because he spoke for his society for his entire career. We as a collective remember war the way we do because of individuals.  During World War II, Americans at home were listening to the same songs that the soldiers were hearing at U.S.O. shows in Europe.  That men of John Fogarty's age who agreed with his messages but then were sent to Vietnam and were killed is a tragedy their families still do not understand. Music is empowering, and at the same time it taps into our emotions like no other art form.

That's why it stays with us the longest and why it is part of our memories. And that is why it is so much a reflection of how societies remember war - because it can affect anyone at anytime, regardless of beliefs, religions, age, color, or any other category. Blyth says that the individuals "...are trying to create an awareness that society has not yet fully realized. They come before awareness in society...(for example) People might not have known that they were discontent about Vietnam if music hadn't suggested it in the first place...So rather than thinking all the time that music comes out of a particular culture...as with The Rite of Spring, it actually sews the seeds of discontent."²   The music of the individual becomes the voice of society. It becomes what we as a culture believe in, and stays in our memory. That is why music has such an impact on the way we remember war. The individual speaks for the collective through his music, and in doing so creates the memory not of the war, but of the music which makes us remember the war.  Music more than any other art form is what triggers memories, of anything. It takes you to a place in your mind that seems so real, that it is etched in your brain forever.  In remembering war, an individual musician may not have created the memory, but with his music forever linked to it, he will always be a part of what you, as an individual, and we as a society, remember in war.