WhistleStop, I agree with your point to some extent, and I'm no Neil Young fan, but I think another perspective might be in order. First, yes, protest songs are simplistic and emotional and one-sided. That's been true for centuries, and wishing that the rabble-rousers would be more rational and even-handed, or that the rabble would be too smart to be roused, is just wishful thinking.

Second, I think it helps to remember (if you were around then), or try to understand, the context of this song. Most of us who grew up in the 50s and 60s really believed in "The American Way." All of a sudden, here were four people our age who had been shot and killed by United States soldiers. One of them wasn't even in the protest, she was walking to class, 150 yards away from the guardsmen. "Soldiers are gunning us down" -- that line, that fact, speaks to the shock and anger and disbelief, that lashed across the country that week, the feeling of betrayal, the idea that American soldiers had killed American citizens who were engaged in an activity, political protest, that was part of the "freedom" that we were supposed to be fighting for in Vietnam.

The country was certainly polarized -- listen to the student on the WKSU program saying that his fellow students "deserved" to be shot. And I'm not going to start an argument about rock-throwing and self-defense and all that--there are many sides to the story, and each of us can review what facts are known and draw our own conclusions. But there is no question that this killing was outside the realm of anything we had ever seen, or ever expected to see. Protest -- and protest songs -- don't generally come from a reasoned, scholarly, even-handed assessment of a situation. They come from anger, and a desire to transform helplessness into strength. And that's what makes "Ohio" so effective -- galvanizing and empowering to those who agree with its viewpoint, exasperating to those who don't, but something that is difficult to ignore.

I'm most encouraged that one of the lasting legacies of Kent State is a commitment by the University community to the study of nonviolent conflict resolution and other issues relating to the democratic process, in order to help prevent such a tragedy from recurring.

By the way, a summary by two KSU professors of the events surrounding the shootings, with an extensive list of references, can be found here. I never realized how many more, both Guardsmen and students, might have died that day, had it not been for the successful efforts of some faculty members to defuse the situation.

Aloha,
Mark