For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield (1967)

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[1960-1969 Best Songs]

Billboard Top 100, 1967, #27

If I had to pick the quintessential song of the late 1960s, this would be it. I wasn't born until 1970, but every time I hear this song it's like I'm there.

If you've every watched a documentary (or any number of films) set in the late 1960s, you know what I mean: Still photo slide shows of angry protesters, slow motion video of soldiers, some in black and white, some in faded color. Behind all these scenes is a melancholy blues guitar, ringing like the toll of a bell.

Cliche? Yes, but has any song ever more fused itself to a time and place? You can't tell the history of these years without this song, and you can't hear this song without thinking of the times it belongs to.

Alongside it's official place in our historical reference is the fact that it's an extraordinary song.