Analysis & InferEnce

November 1966, Sunset Strip, Hollywood, California

Buffalo Springfield was the band at a local club called Whisky a Go Go. The band would often play late into the night to huge crowds of young people (teens and young adults). In fact, there were several clubs along Sunset Strip where famous bands would play until the early morning hours. The atmosphere on the Strip many nights was like that of a large street party. Local residents and businesses were becoming increasingly annoyed by the noise, crowds, and traffic. They asked Los Angeles County to pass a local law that would prevent people from walking along and hanging out along the strip after 10PM. The young music lovers were outraged and felt like this was a violation of their rights.

The young people organized a rally on Saturday, November 12, 1966. They told people to show up that evening and protest the proposed curfew. That evening, as many as 1,000 young demonstrators gathered on Sunset Strip. Although the rallies began peacefully, trouble eventually broke out; there were many acts of vandalism and physical altercations between protesters and police which lead to many arrests being made. In fact, the disruption was so great that night and over the weeks to come that some of the clubs were forced to shut down

This is situation that inspired Steven Stills to write the song, "For What It's Worth." Stills wrote the song quickly, it took him about 15 minutes, and did not think it would become a hit.  In fact, the song gets its name from the comment Stills made when he brought the song to the studio, "I have this song here, for what it's worth, if you want it."

The song instantly became a hit and has remained a classic symbol of protests and civil rights. It is often associated with the Vietnam War and the counterculture of 1960's America. Recently, the song was was used at the Democratic National Convention to reference the Black Lives Matter and other anti-police/anti-establishment protests in 2020.

In 2000, the 1966 recording of "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The song has been covered and sampled by many popular groups including the hip-hop group Public Enemy in their 1998 song, "He Got Game," which featured Stephen Stills reprising his vocal performance from the original song.