Ohio

Song Name: Ohio 

Year of Release: 1970

Written By: Neil Young

Performed By: Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

Key Lyrics: “Gotta get down to it, soldiers are cutting us down/Should have been gone 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.”

Description: Neil Young penned the lyrics to the song after seeing the photos of the Kent State shootings in Life magazine. The band had rehearsed the song by the time they entered the studio and finished that same session, also finishing the song’s B-side, “Find the Cost of Freedom,” which was written as an ode to Vietnam war dead. Young termed the events at Kent State as, “probably the biggest lesson ever learned at an American institution of learning.” Towards the end of the song, Crosby can be heard shouting “Four!” “How many more?” and “Why?” repeatedly. 

Why It Was Important: The song was written about the shooting of four unarmed protestors at Kent State University earlier that year. Crosby once stated that Young’s decision to keep Nixon’s name in the lyrics was “the bravest thing I ever heard.” The song became iconic to the counterculture movement and in 2010 the Guardian called it “the greatest protest record ever.” At the time, the song was so controversial that many radio stations, especially those in Ohio, banned it.

Recordings

Ohio (studio version)

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Ohio (Live at Golden Gate Park, 1991) [Official] (live performance)