Four Dead in Ohio

"Four Dead on Ohio" was written immediately after the Kent State Massacre, which took place on May 4, 1970. The song was originally call "Ohio" and its name was later changed. The song is unique and gutsy because it is only ten lines long that are repeated twice. This was a very courageous act made by Neil Young because he called Nixon out, who ordered for seventy seven Ohio National Guardsmen to storm the Kent State campus, where students were protesting the Vietnam War. Twenty eight of the seventy seven men started shooting when they reached the top of hill on campus. A total of sixty seven rounds were shot leaving four dead and nine others wounded. Some of the most moving words in the song for me are "what if you knew her and found her dead on the ground" because I feel like this really depicts the pain that the students felt on the campus that day. America was a place where they always felt they had the freedom to speak and express themselves but the shooting put everyone on edge and infuriated all who became aware of what the government was capable of. Below is one of the most famous pictures taken on that day and make me think only of those words that I shared with you earlier in this post. I have also uploaded a link where you can watch the music video, learn the words, and see images from that day and all of those who were affected and still grieve over the loss of their classmates.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI7-m919ynU