For What It's Worth
| "For What It's Worth" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It" |
"For What It's Worth" is a song by Buffalo Springfield, written by Stephen Stills. It was first released as a single in January 1967, and was later added to the rerelease of their first album, Buffalo Springfield. The single peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Song information
While the song has come to symbolize worldwide turbulence and confrontational feelings regarding events during the 1960s (particularly the Vietnam War), Stills reportedly wrote the song in reaction to escalating unrest between law enforcement and young club-goers relating to the closing of Pandora's Box, a club on West Hollywood, California's Sunset Strip. The song's title appears nowhere in its lyrics, and many casual listeners likely know it better by the famous first line of its chorus: "Stop, hey, what's that sound?"
In other media
- "For What It's Worth" has been featured in a number of documentaries, television shows and films, including Forrest Gump, Born on the Fourth of July, Jarhead, Three Kings, The West Wing episode "Isaac and Ishmael", Walk on Water, Breakfast on Pluto and Lord of War. It is also parodied in the 2006 film Ice Age: The Meltdown by its protagonist "Sid" with slightly altered lyrics.
- Cover versions: The Staple Singers' 1967 cover of the song was one of their greatest hits. Cher also covered the song in 1969. The rap group Public Enemy sampled "For What It's Worth" in their 1998 song "He Got Game". That song also featured Stephen Stills performing the bridge. Another cover of the song can be found on Ozzy Osbourne's 2005 CD Under Cover. The song was also sampled by the group Oui 3 for their 1993 release For What It's Worth. Punk rock band Rise Against covered the song during an AOL Session in 2006. It was also covered by The Candyskins and is featured in their album "Space I'm In." 2007 brings a new cover version by Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades on their album "Influence."
- "For What It's Worth" is also the name of a song by The Cardigans, on the album Long Gone Before Daylight (2003).
- The song was also used in an advertising campaign for Paul Keating during the 1990s.
- During live performances, Dave Matthews Band frequently segues into "For What It's Worth" after jamming at the end of their song "Jimi Thing". This has been recorded on several live albums, including The Central Park Concert and The Complete Weekend on the Rocks .
- Led Zeppelin have played "For What It's Worth" during live performances. On the bootleg On Blueberry Hill, the band segues into "For What It's Worth" after playing Good Times, Bad Times.
- On a few occasions on the Muppet Show, Kermit and the gang performed the song, but changed the message into an anti-hunting song, with the setting in a forest with woodland creatures. Every musical interlude was filled with wild hunters shooting their guns and all the animals hiding.
- For the movie Walk on Water the song was remixed by the artists Sergio Mendes and Shantel. Both the original version and the remix can be heard in the movie.
- Christian artist Tobymac featured a song called "What's Goin' Down" on his album Momentum that features several of the lyrics from "For What It's Worth."
- In the movie Lord of War, the song is played in the background as the camera follows a bullet travelling from its factory to a civil war and into a child soldier's head.
- Chumbawamba uses lyrics from "For What It's Worth" in their song "Timebomb" from their album Anarchy.
- Skee-Lo took inspiration from the sentences "Stop, hey, what's that sound? / Everybody looks what's going down" for some lyrics of his song "I Wish". His version was then sampled by Les Rythmes Digitales for the song "[Hey You] What's That Sound?".
- In 2006, Stephen Stills was interviewed by Tom Kent on his radio show "Into the '70's" and pointed out that though many people think "For What It's Worth" is about the Kent State Shootings, it was actually recorded before that event.
The Pro's of Con often preform this song, when they jam with Levi Wolf a member of the Montouge, using Levi's harmonies to their advantage.
- Was featured in the 2003 documentary, "Invisible Children"