Morgan Valeri

Ms. Michko

AP LANG

08 December 2022

An Inside Look on Neil Young’s Song, Ohio

SPEAKER

Neil Young was born in 1945 in Toronto, Canada. He is the father of three children and was

able to find major success in his five bands. After battling polio disease throughout his

childhood, Young was able to discover his passion for music in his early teens. In his initial

band, The Squires, Young presented himself as a leader where he took charge in songwriting as

well as other musical management. Not long after, he found himself working with music for

over seven hours a day, as he earned himself major gigs in order to make his way to the top.

By 1969, Young joined Crosby, Stills, and Nash, where they released eight albums together.

After just one year in the band (1970), four of Kent State University’s students were shot after

protesting for the Vietnam War Movement and the Cambodian Invasion. Right after hearing

this devastating news, Young was determined to write a tribute as fast as he could. Not only an

hour later, he came back from the woods and played his song for the rest of the band, and they

loved it. Even though they were all working on releasing a new album together, Young knew

that they had to get Ohio out as quickly as possible. Years later, he reflects “And we didn't

care. We didn't care about any of those rules. We didn't care about the record company saying,

'Listen, you don't want to do this. Let 'Teach Your Children' get up there, do its thing, and then,

you know, a couple months later, bring it out.' What we wanted to do was bring it out instantly

now” (Young). This has shaped his character to be viewed as charismatic, and selfless

(including his bandmates), as he was inspired to put his song out in hopes to spread as much
Morgan Valeri

Ms. Michko

AP LANG

08 December 2022

awareness as he can. Of course at this time, there were many of his listeners who had

controversial opinions on this song, but he stood against that and pushed to spread his song as

a peaceful tribute for the four students.

PURPOSE

During the writing process of Ohio, Young’s main intention was to inform the public how

awful and devastating this occurrence was, and what they can do as individuals to contribute

an impact. For instance, band member Graham Nash states “Four young men and women had

their lives taken from them while lawfully protesting this outrageous government action. We

are going back to keep awareness alive in the minds of all students, not only in America, but

worldwide…to be vigilant and ready to stand and be counted… and to make sure that the

powers of the politicians do not take precedence over the right of lawful protest” (Nash). In

addition, Young collectively makes a call to action for his listeners when he writes with

compassion, thought, and motivation in the aim to have his supporters take notice of what has

happened to these children. This song has created the ability to help many of the families in

need from the Kent State Shooting. For example, many individuals have donated profits to the

other students who were hospitalized to reach a total of $675,000. As a result, Young’s call to

action certainly became an achievement in his strive to notify his audience on what had

happened.
Morgan Valeri

Ms. Michko

AP LANG

08 December 2022

AUDIENCE

Neil Young has given his audience the opportunity to take part in standing with anti-war

beliefs. Focusing back to the song, his primary audience is both US citizens as well as the rest

of the world who have listened to Ohio. But in terms of the Kent State Shooting, the primary

audiences were the individuals and their families who had been directly harmed or affected by

the situation. The secondary audience are those who have been informed by what has occurred

on either the news, radio, or other forms of communication. He has connected with his

listeners by educating them in the present time so that they are aware of the devastating

consequences and can have an immediate and emotional response. A majority of the audience

values the fact that students in America need both respect and protection, so this situation does

not occur again at other university settings. Young has anticipated the audience’s response to

be a mix of support and disagreement because of its controversial message. For instance, it

was definitely a risky move to mention President Nixon by name in the song. It was reported

that “Crosby once said that Young calling Nixon's name out in the lyrics was 'the bravest thing

I ever heard.' Crosby noted that at the time, it seemed like those who stood up to Nixon, like

those at Kent State, were shot. Neil Young did not seem scared at all” (Crosby). Going further

into this, Young knows that having Nixon’s name in a song like this will always be part of his

legacy, and as a way for future generations to be made aware of what was happening during

his presidency. This was an opportunity for Young to persuade his audience to believe that

Nixon was to blame in the long run.

Morgan Valeri

Ms. Michko

AP LANG

08 December 2022

CONTEXT

Clearly, in Young’s song Ohio, he focuses on the remembrance of the four students who were

killed in the Kent State Shooting on May 4th, 1970. As well, he criticizes the unfortunate

effects of gun violence in regards to Ohio’s National Guard. For example, one of the lyrics in

his song sings “Should have been done long ago” (Young). Diving deeper into this, Young is

expressing his thoughts on how America’s Guards should not be killing the innocent lives of

students who are simply protesting against violence. His morals demonstrate that he is a firm

believer in non-violence, as well as protecting America’s children. The issues discussed in this

song can be viewed as both political and societal. For the political aspect, this certain event

took place in which President Nixon had full control over at the time. For the societal

viewpoint, the Kent State Massacre has brought full attention and awareness throughout

America’s people, resulting in a definitive opinion from different individuals. Young certainly

draws a few implications for the future. For instance, he has hope that this event does not

repeat itself and can come to an end as quickly as possible. He holds the blame in his hands for

those who took part in the violence, and strives for solace as a nation.

EXIGENCE

As stated in a previous context, the main problem that inspired Neil Young to write Ohio is the
Morgan Valeri

Ms. Michko

AP LANG

08 December 2022

event that took place at Kent State University that took the lives of Jeffery Miller, Allison

Krause, William Schroeder, and Sandra Scheuer. There is most definitely a sense of urgency

for this situation. It makes perfect sense that Young wanted to communicate his opinion, and

his empathy to other US citizens who have been grieving. He even went to the extent where he

had pushed aside his track “Teach Your Children” that was supposed to be released first, but

instead he took this matter into his own hands and spread his message even quicker. He

believes that it was a necessity to have this song out as soon as possible to fulfill his desire for

America to have the chance to hear and reflect upon what had occurred. The concept that

needed to be understood by other Americans is the fact that gun violence should have never

been the answer that caused this protest to come to a destructive end.

CHOICES

After analyzing the lyrical pattern in Young’s song, Ohio, there are a few different trends that

can be noticed. For instance, his word choice is extremely effective for informing the public on

this tragedy. Word choices such as “Tin soldiers and Nixon coming”, and “Four dead in Ohio ''

can provide a brief explanation for advising what has just taken place in Ohio. On top of his

strategic word choice, he also mentions some rhetorical questions in this piece like “How can

you run when you know?” and “Four dead in Ohio (how many more?)”. By simply asking

general questions like this, he has the ability to emotionally move his audience to the point

where they will truly take these questions into account. Besides Young’s rhetorical questions
Morgan Valeri

Ms. Michko

AP LANG

08 December 2022

and word choice, he also provides well-organized syntax within his song. By starting off the

song with the people involved (soldiers and Nixon), this gives the public a general idea of

what the meaning behind the song is about. Towards the end of the song, this is where he

mentions the four who were dead in Ohio. If he had displaced these lyrics in a different part of

the song, his audience may have been confused about the situation/message if he just got

straight to the point. He used the people involved as an opening in the song to portray how this

event at Kent State started, and who the ones behind it were. Neil Young presents a sense of

realism in this piece, as he is committed to spreading this content for the world to hear. By

establishing formal word choice, this has persuaded his listeners into giving him their trust for

believing that he is taking this situation into a serious matter. To sum up his extraordinary

format of the song, his repetition at the end stating “Four dead in Ohio”, can remind his

audience of who he is writing this song as a tribute to.

APPEALS

Even though Young’s lyrics are filled with lots of repetition, he effectively uses appeals that

can have an emotional outcome for his audience. Going into depth on this, he surely

demonstrates the situation of cause and effect. The cause being the students who were

protesting against the Cambodian Invasion, had its unfortunate effect on them being shot by

Ohio’s National Guard. He appears knowledgeable within his lyrics as he explains the

misfortune with a sensible mindset that can form the result of gaining trust from his listeners.
Morgan Valeri

Ms. Michko

AP LANG

08 December 2022

Young also highlights some first-person plural pronouns when he writes “We’re finally on our

own” (Young). Here, this can create a connection with his audience by explaining that they are

all experiencing this tragedy together, and will get through this as a nation.

TONE

After viewing many of the live performances, it is unquestionable to describe Neil Young’s

tone in this song as passionate, emotional, and heartfelt. There aren’t any major shifts in the

tone due to the fact that the song sticks to carrying its main point the entire time, but Young

does tend to sing very tensely live, especially after repeating “Four dead in Ohio” 10 times.

Presenting a tone so intense like this, can emotionally move the listener into seriously taking in

account what has happened at Kent State. The audience can now feel what he feels while

singing the song, and can even give more respect and sincereness to those whose lives have

been lost or harmed at Ohio’s shooting.

Morgan Valeri

Ms. Michko

AP LANG

08 December 2022

WORKS CITED

Doyle, Jack. “Four Dead in O-hi-o, 1970,” PopHistory, 13 July, 2009,

https://pophistorydig.com/topics/tag/crosby-stills-nash-young-ohio-song/

“How Neil Young Came to Write OHIO After Kent State”. Youtube, Uploaded by David

Hoffman, 12 August 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FzYEn_gevw

Lewis M, Jerry. “The May 4 Shootings at Kent State University : The Search for Historical

Accuracy”, Kent State University, A Social Science Perspective, September 1992,

https://www.kent.edu/may-4-historical-accuracy

McDonough, Jimmy. “Neil Young- Bio”, Neil Young, NEILYOUNG.EU, 2003,

http://www.neilyoung.eu/bio.html

Sutor, Dave. “Neil Young's 'edgy' and Iconic song 'Ohio' Reflected Emotions of a Generation in

wake of Kent State shootings”, The Tribune-Democrat, The Guardian, 4 May 2020,

https://www.tribdem.com/news/dave-sutor-neil-youngs-edgy-and-iconic-song-ohio-reflec

ted-emotions-of-a-generation-in/article_b2bfe812-8d37-11ea-a3d6-f785c0ff5801.html