Before someone can start explaining the significance of the song to the event, one should describe the situation itself. On April 30, 1970, President Nixon announced the U.S. invasion of Cambodia. Americans learned on national television that 150,000 soldiers would be drafted for the war -- this from a president elected on his promises to stop the Vietnam conflict (Humanist 3). Just a day later, demonstrations broke out on college campuses across the nation. In the Midwest, word spread around Kent State University about a rally to be held at noon Monday, May 4, on the Commons (Humanist 4). After a weekend of mob chanting and destruction in downtown Kent, Ohio, Mayor Leroy Satrom asks that the Ohio National Guard be called in to maintain order. The group of marshals

Let's take the time now to look at the lyrics of the song "Ohio" and how they pertain to the event. One thing about the song is that it is not very complicated. Basically there are only two verses to the song that are repeated over and over again for a long time. The reason the song might be so long is the simple fact that the more you repeat something, the more likely the lyrics will be remembered. A reason that the song was written with simple lyrics was maybe so that this song could be sang at other protests so as to not have this incident happen again. The first line of the song, "Tin soldiers and Nixon coming," means that the national guards were seen as just an extension of the army. So the tin soldiers can be seen as the national guards. The reference to Nixon is that he wanted people to go to Vietnam to fight. "We're finally on our own," means that since their own country is fighting against them, they now have to rely on each other. "This summer I hear the drumming, Four dead in Ohio." The drumming refers to the casualties that were suffered during this protest and the last line to the verse is easily understandable. The first half of the second verse means its time to do something because the guards are taking physical action against them. The next line, "Should have been done long ago," leaves me a bit confused. The way I interpret this is that the whole idea of protesting should have started sooner then it did. Maybe if they made their voice heard earlier then Nixon wouldn't have ordered troops to Vietnam. The second half of the second verse means that if you were at this event and saw the people getting shot, you may have run away from the event, but this incident will forever stay in your mind.

One other view of why this event happened is stated: "Most people will tell you that May 4 happened because students were protesting the Vietnam War." But Jerry Lewis sees it differently. As

Some common words found in the essay are:
National Guard, Cambodia Americans, Guard Ohio, , Stills Nash, Senate Amsterdam, Chi Minh, Jerry Lewis, Commons Humanist, Kent University, national guard, people aware, half verse means, national guards, voice reason, verse means, physical action, humanist 4, tin soldiers, people aware riots, lost jobs, reason song,
Approximate Word count = 1296
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)