Protest songs in the United States Tom Paxton ("Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation" - about the escalation of the war in Vietnam, "Jimmy Newman" – the story of a dying soldier, and "My Son John" – about a soldier who returns from war unable to describe what he's been through), among others. The first protest song to reach number one in the United States was P.F. Sloan's "Eve Of Destruction", performed by Barry McGuire in 1965. The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s often used Negro spirituals as a source of protest, changing the religious lyrics to suit the political mood of the time.
Hello Vietnam supported the Vietnam War effort, as the song's spoken third verse by Wright indicated: Wright's popularity of the song came at a time when war protest songs dominated pop music charts and when public support for the war eroded. The song was used as the opening theme in the film "Full Metal Jacket". Hello Vietnam "Hello Vietnam" is the title of a song written by Tom T. Hall and recorded by American country music singer Johnnie Wright. It spent twenty weeks on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot Country Singles chart with three weeks at number one. The single, with backing vocals