‘For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey What's That Sound)’ (often referred to as simply ‘For What It's Worth’) is a song written by Stephen Stills. Performed by Buffalo Springfield, it was recorded on December 5, 1966, released as a single in December 1966 and peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the spring of 1967. It was later added to the March 1967 second pressing of their first album, Buffalo Springfield. The title was added after the song was written, and does not appear in the lyrics. In 2004 Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song at number 63 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Although ‘For What It's Worth’ is often considered an anti-war song, Stephen Stills was inspired to write the song because of the Sunset Strip curfew riots in Los Angeles in November 1966, a series of early counterculture-era clashes that took place between police and young people on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, California, the same year Buffalo Springfield had become the house band at the Whisky a Go Go. Local residents and businesses had become annoyed by how crowds of young people going to clubs and music venues along the Strip had caused late-night traffic congestion. In response, they lobbied Los Angeles County to pass local ordinances stopping loitering, and enforced a strict curfew on the Strip after 10 p.m. The young music fans, however, felt the new laws infringed upon their civil rights.
On Saturday, November 12, 1966, fliers were distributed on the Sunset Strip inviting people to join demonstrations later that day. Several of Los Angeles's rock radio stations also announced a rally outside the Pandora's Box club on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Crescent Heights. That evening, as many as 1,000 young demonstrators, including future celebrities such as Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda (who was handcuffed by police) gathered to protest against the curfew's enforcement. Although the rallies began peacefully, trouble eventually broke out. The unrest continued the next night, and periodically throughout the rest of November and December, forcing some clubs to shut down within weeks. It was against the background of these civil disturbances that Stills recorded ‘For What It's Worth’ on December 5, 1966.
While memories of the November riots were still fresh, the group pushed for a rush-release of ‘For What It's Worth’. On December 10, 1966, five days after the song was recorded, local Top 40 radio station KHJ began playing the single. It first appeared on the station's "Boss 30" chart on December 28, 1966, at number 26, and was followed by rival KRLA on January 14, 1967, where the single entered its "Top 40 Requests" at number eight. Also on January 14, Billboard magazine identified it as a "regional breakout" and the single appeared on its Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart. Two weeks later, it debuted at number 90 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number seven on March 25 and remained on the chart for a total of fifteen weeks. Although the single did not reach the charts in the U.K., the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified a 2004 release by Warner Music as platinum (sales and streams of 600,000) in 2023.
Label – AtcoSongwriter – Stephen Stills
Producers – Charles Greene, Brian Stone
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]There's something happening here
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
A-telling me I got to beware
[Chorus]
I think it's time we stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
[Verse 2]
There's battle lines being drawn
And nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Are gettin' so much resistance from behind
[Chorus]
It's time we stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
[Verse 3]
What a field day for the heat (Ooh-ooh-ooh)
A thousand people in the street (Ooh-ooh-ooh)
Singing songs and a-carryin' signs (Ooh-ooh-ooh)
Mostly say, "Hooray for our side" (Ooh-ooh-ooh)
[Chorus]
It's time we stopped
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down
[Verse 4]
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life, it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the man come and take you away
[Chorus]
We better stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going
We better stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going
We better stop
Now, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going
We better stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down