< ! -- Image with inadequate rationale removed : " Machine Gun " is a song written by American musician Jimi Hendrix , and originally recorded by Band of Gypsys for their self-titled live album ( 1970 ) . It is a lengthy , loosely defined ( jam-based ) protest of the Vietnam War , and perhaps a broader comment on conflict of any kind . The Kent State shootings of May 4 , 1970 amplified sentiment that was portrayed by the United States 's invasion of Cambodia and the Vietnam War in general , and protest songs about the Vietnam War continued to grow in popularity and frequency . There were anti-war songs such as Chicago 's " It Better End Soon " ( 1970 ) , " War " ( 1969 ) by Edwin Starr , " Ohio " ( 1970 ) by Crosby , Stills , Nash , and Young , and " Bring The Boys Home " by Freda Payne ( 1971 ) . Another great influence on the anti-Vietnam war protest songs of the early seventies was the fact that this was the first generation where combat veterans were returning prior to the end of the war , and that even the veterans were protesting the war , as with the formation of the " Vietnam Veterans Against the War " ( VVAW ) . Graham Nash wrote his " Oh ! Camil ( The Winter Soldier ) " ( 1973 ) to tell the story of one member of VVAW , Scott Camil . Other notable anti-war songs of the time included Stevie Wonder 's frank condemnation of Richard Nixon 's Vietnam policies in his 1974 song " You Have n't Done Nothin ' " . Protest singer and activist Baez dedicated the entire B side of her album '' Where Are You Now , My Son ? '' ( 1973 ) to recordings she had made of bombings while in Hanoi . Steely Dan 's " King of the World " on their 1973 album '' Countdown to Ecstasy '' joined the protest against nuclear war
Kent State shootings
Kent State shootings
Protest songs in the United States