Stephen Stills wrote and sang For What It’s Worth while a member of Buffalo Springfield.
Stephen Stills, musician and multi-instrumentalist, is best known for his work with Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young).
Wikipedia:
“For What It’s Worth” is a song written by Stephen Stills. It was performed by Buffalo Springfield, recorded on December 5, 1966, and released as a single in January 1967; it was later added to the re-release of their first album, Buffalo Springfield. The single peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This song is currently ranked #63 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time as well as the eighth best song of 1967 by Acclaimed Music.
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peacefuldisaster commented on Yahoo Music:
“The song has a very specific meaning. Stills wrote it about his observations from the protests of young club goers and their conflict with the police when the Paradox Box club in West Hollywood, CA was forced to close in 1966 because of a curfew the city was enforcing.
“The protests became known as the Sunset Strip riots. The song is NOT about Vietnam, unemployment, or any other general topic.”
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Lyrics
For What It’s Worth Song by Buffalo Springfield
There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear
Telling me I got to beware
Everybody look what’s going down
Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong
Getting so much resistance from behind
Everybody look what’s going down
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
Everybody look what’s going down
Into your life it will creep
You step…
Buffalo Springfield
Wikipedia: The band was plagued by infighting, drug-related arrests, and line-up changes that led to its disbanding after two years. Three albums were released under its name, but many demos, studio outtakes, and live recordings remained and were issued in the decades that followed.They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.