America’s involvement in the Vietnam War garnered backlash which came in the form of college-led anti-war protests. At a time when people were beginning to reclaim their individual freedom of speech, voices on opposing sides made their message regarding the war heard whilst trying to suppress their rival’s. Music icons of the Counterculture, such as The Rolling Stones, preferred to express their disapproval for the war lyrically rather than explicitly. It is fitting then, that The Rolling Stones, who were known for their raunchier lyrics at the time, would go on to also compare the Vietnam War to an actual apocalypse. One of their most popular songs, “Gimme Shelter,” hinted at the band’s thoughts on the war in Vietnam. The song made its first appearance on the band’s album Let It Bleed in 1969. Lead vocalist Mick Jagger co-wrote the song alongside guitarist Keith Richards; the two were the band’s primary songwriting team. In regards to the song, Jagger once remarked “that’s a kind of end-of-the-world song, really. It’s an apocalypse; the whole record’s like that”. Truly, the song conveys the band’s message through the usage of rhetorical terms such as metaphors and repetition, to name a few.
Following the signature guitar riff, the song delves into its first metaphor of war: “Oh, a storm is threat’ning my very life today”. The metaphor of a storm endangering the singer’s life mirrors the threat the Vietnam War posed for mankind. A violent force of nature like a storm does not discriminate in its victims, much like how the Vietnam War carelessly created civilian casualties. The metaphor persists throughout the song through the imagery of floods, another agent of chaos. Not much later in the song, the repetition of the words “rape, murder!” serve to reinforce the senseless brutally so many Americans glimpsed on their television screens every night. The listener is repeatedly reminded of the devastating repercussions of, dare I say, an apocalyptic environment.
The message behind the words shifts between condemnation for the war and a hope for peace. After the first metaphor for violence, the beginning stanza carries on with the lyrics “If I don’t get some shelter oh yeah, I’m gonna fade away”. The shelter he seeks is a metaphor for the hippies seeking peace and love, sentiments that the Counterculture tried to promote during wartime. The Counterculture Movement would have been more widely accepted were it not for its close ties to drug use. The song repeats the words “it’s just a shot away,” in reference to the use of heroin. Unfortunately, teenagers and young adults turned to a range of drugs, some more harmful than others, order to achieve the peace they sought. The third stanza is comprised of the lyrics “Ooh, see the fire is sweepin’ our very street today, burns like a red coal carpet, mad bull lost its way”. The song draws an allusion to the rapid and sometimes violent changes happening in cities scattered across America. The events happening in Vietnam sparked such massive social unrest which could only be sated by peace.
For their strong message against the Vietnam War, The Rolling Stones enhanced their song with rhetorical devices. The rhetorical terms they chose to employ would have been understood by an audience living through the American occupation in Vietnam. They were not alone in their dissatisfaction with the war and its senseless violence. So, instead of taking to the streets with other protesters, the band expressed their contempt through their songs’ lyrics.
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