up next on a second look, from a stirring civil war hymn to a 20th century rock hit. the songs that fueled a movement or fired a crowd. all straight ahead tonight on a

second look. good evening and thanks for joining us i'm julie haener. today the music that rallied us. the battle hymn of the republing. it was -- republic. it was a poem that julie wrote about the union troops. the poem was put to the music of the song john brown's body. and the result was one of the most patriotic songs in america. it was played not only at the funeral for robert f. kennedy but also at the memorial for churchill, ronald reagan

included it in the night of his inauguration. and when the world rallied after the september 11th attacks the battle hymn of the republic ran not only from the cathedral but from st. paul's cathedral in london. >> ♪ in 2008, more than 2,000 people gathered in santos plaza. singer country joe mcdonald sang them in woody guthrie's

song, this land is your land. >> ♪ guthrie recorded the song during the second world war as his response to berlin's god bless america. many see it as the hard times that gripped the nation. as the stock market again tumble and the nation faced a economic crisis, guthrie was honored in the bay area as their words spoke to american's resilience during the tough times. the party that had been the roaring 20s came to a halt, and the gloom that lingered grew into the recession. their story was immortalized by signs of wrath. woody guthrie's music captured

the spirit of those who lived through those times. >> as i was walking, i saw a sign there, and on the sign there it said no trespassing. but on the other side it said nothing, that side was made for you and me. >> reporter: woody guthrie's granddaughter and john steinbeck's son were together in the bay area. the two reflected how in these uncertain times, people are looking back ward to the old messages. >> it means a lot to people as far as their voice being heard or they need to stand up for their politicians or they need to stand up for their house or their land. >> we're about to hit some really, really really rough times. and it's very funny that every time we do all the old music and all the old pass words sort of come out of our history. their waving steinbeck around, they must be angry about

something. >> reporter: but is it comparable to what is going on today to the great depression. >> i'm fine quoting mark twain who says history doesn't repeat itself but it does rhyme. and there's a lot of rhyming going on between the great depression and the crisis of the financial market. >> reporter: kathleen freedo says we are far from the markers that framed the great depression. conditions that sparked social unrest on the streets. >> i think americans are on a position now to be much more impathetic about the great depression society.

>> when we find ourselves in that position where government has betrayed us and business has cheated us. suddenly we're all the victims of all of this it clears a cohesion in the people. >> reporter: if people try to respond to a crisis they turn to the music. >> still to come on a second look, the songs that sparked th

welcome back to a second look. tonight we're revisiting the music we rally around for the generations drafted to fight in the war in vietnam the popular sounds of the times reflected

the movement. randy shandobil reports. >> ♪ >> reporter: in the 1960s and 70s protests songs filled the air way. protest songs were number one hits. >> ♪ war, what is it good for stphepbd. >> ♪ tell me what's going on >> ♪ they're old enough to kill, but not to vote ♪ >> ♪ all we are saying, is give peace a chance ♪ even in the vietnam war

earliest years, songs raised questions. >> ♪ if you have any debt it takes getting old ♪ too many people have died ♪ we're now in the fifth year of the war in iraq, and if the polls are right, it's more unpopular than the wars in iraq. so why are we not hearing more protests songs. >> you're listening to klax berkeley. >> klax is the university's station in berkeley. this time around there's no draft, but -- >> we're still going to the polls. we're still expressing our disinterest. we're still going to protests. if it isn't in the radio it doesn't mean it's not in our thoughts. >> reporter: this was country joe mcdonald almost 38 years ago leading hundreds of thousands of people at wood stock in an anti war sing

along. >> ♪ and it's 57, open up the prairie gates ♪ ain't no time to wonder why we're all going to die ♪ >> and this is country joe today. he told us he thinks there's actually more political music now than ever. especially punk and hip hop. >> ♪ >> but most of it is not on the radio. >> the job of radio is to play music that sells the most. the music that sells the most is the love songs. >> stick around, new releases thursday. >> reporter: dave mawry has been a dj on kfog for more than 30 years. he said back in the 60s and 70s everyone was familiar with the protest songs because most young people listened to the same music. but now -- >> all these different generas of music and radio stations playing the different kind of music and certain stations you know won't play certain generas of music. so it just kind of splintered.

>> it's harder to pay attention. >> no. >> reporter: some say another reason why things are different, in the years going up to vietnam there was no 9/11. no surge of government patriotism. >> when a president talks to god are the conversations brief or long? did he ask to rape our women's rights and send poor farm kids off to die. >> there was a huge uproar. there was a lot of newspapers wrote about how it was kind of insulting. >> reporter: so cal x mccauley says most anti war music is found on the internet or

special stations. perhaps the biggest exception the most heard anti war music, green day. >> i have no control over what clear channel plays or anybody plays. i can't go down there and make radio play my music. >> the media's fault, the artists, a splintered music scene, too controversy, whatever the reason. overtly political music like this just isn't heard much anymore. >> music has long carried the message of freedom around the world. in 1988 amnesty international organized a series of 20 concerts to draw attention to the universal declaration of

student rights. it included bruce springsteen and tracy chapman. the north american leg covered six cities starting in san jose and ending 10 days later with this concert in oakland. >> there are lots of people in the audience and they come for different reasons. probably the majority of kids come for a rock concert. but i think that special change is not usually made for a majority. >> ♪ get up, stand up for your rights ♪ don't give up the fight.

♪

♪ when we come back on a second look, remembering bill graham and the causes he championed through his concerts. a bit later, the boss comes to oakland. we take you to bruce springsteen's 1985 born in the usa tour.

tonight on a second look we examine the music that has accompanied some of the most memorable events. music has always been a big cause of raising money to help

the poor, or those with death threatening illnesses. bill graham was a big supporter of those causes. >> reporter: master showman that he was graham would have appreciated the drama of it. even in death he was bigger than life. >> i always wanted to be undestrictable. it never occurred to me really. i expected bill to go get old with the rest of us. >> reporter: in his 20s, bill graham wanted to be an actor. his career as a concert empresario had a strange beginning. this was the mid-60s when san francisco rock music was new and revolutionary. bill graham was a little older

than the flower children who clustered in the park conspicuously smoking pot. but he shared their message. he showcased locallal will -- local talent such as the jefferson airplanes. he knew talent when he saw it. as when he heard the guitar rifts of carlos santana. graham had found success in the rock concert business. >> great business, it's a great love affair. joyful, most insane, most pleasant, most disgusting, greatest vilist business we know. we buy and sell people and put them on stages. >> reporter: in a business that was mostly about money. graham got a reputation as hard driving and shrewd but also as a man who wasn't all about

money. the very talented janice joplin gave him credits. >> i get sick and tired of people saying, the world is terrible, the streets are dirty, there's too many drugs, the wars, what else do you do? do you fetch? what else do you do? if you have the ability to do something, do it. if not, shut up. >> reporter: rock groups such as the grateful dead owed their fame to bill graham who discovered and promoted them. but they also experienced the darker side of this hot tempered backstage perfectionist who micromanaged everything from the lighting to the soap in the washrooms.

bob weer remembers seeing graham pacing the lobby as a young musician showed up late for a concert. >> it was just like in anology fashioned movie. grabs his hat and throws it on the ground and starts stomping on it. i didn't know i would see that for real. >> graham wanted perfection and it was chaos. there were a million incidents where bill would just be so frustrated his eyes would bulge out but there was nothing he could do. because he loved it so much and we knew. >> reporter: he grew on to new york and los angeles. but he never let on on his pace. he took on more causes. clearly he missed the days when

going to a rock concert was a kind of political statement. >> everybody was against what was going on in washington and vietnam and the civil rights and there was a, a bond. much different today. today the majority of the people that -- because of the times we live in go to be entertained. >> reporter: he was 60 years old on a november night in 1989 when he and two associates left a concert taking off in driving rain and high winds. the helicopter ran into an electric tower near vallejo, all three were killed.

abruptly and inexplicably he was gone. >> and coming up next, the boss comes to the bay area. whoever said that "less is more" is more or less mathematically challenged. less isn't more, it's less. and the only thing more than more is a lot more. which is exactly what i get at embassy suites. more space... more down time. more family time.

-more me time. -more me time. -more me time. because the more more i have, the more i have to have... more. [ female announcer ] more room. complimentary drinks. free breakfast. embassy suites. get more.

to be -- tonight on a second look, we've been examining the music tied to war. bruce springsteen wrote a song that wrote about the toll that war had taken it. ronald reagan praised it for embodying the theme of making dreams come true. art cribs was there. >> reporter: inside the coliseum tonight the faithful came early. for $17.50 you could see or perhaps only hear springsteen from the last row at the top or down front with scott and cindy campbell. >> did you expect when you got

your ticket to be right in the man's face? >> i hoped to be right in the man's face. >> there's something special, maybe magic about bruce springsteen. maybe it's just natural honest concern. >> he's one of the people, he's one of those rare caring people that transcends show business, very rare. >> it's been a long time since i've been to a concert. and he really move me, plus my wife dragged me down here. so it's time to let lose again. >> reporter: springsteen was part of a very successful we are the world album. with money and food going to the starving in ethiopia. here tonight he represents a spirit in the usa. >> ♪ >> my husband was a vietnam veteran, 100% disabled and it does. i'm proud to be an american.

there's neither a gender more age gap at a bruce springsteen concert. the young and old relate. >> we have all of bruce springsteen's albums. >> i love his songs. >> ♪ and that's it for this week's second look. i'm julie haener, thank you for watching.