“For What It’s Worth” is an anti-war song calling attention to the protests taking place within America. Buffalo Springfield, the singer, draws attention to not only the protests, but the brutality surrounding the protests, and requests that people stop hurting one another. It is less a song of anger and more as a cry for peace. “For What It’s Worth” connects deeply with American culture during the Vietnam War as student protests soon became student riots, “There's battle lines being drawn / Nobody's right if everybody's wrong / Young people speaking their minds / Getting so much resistance from behind.” Springfield is commenting on the uselessness of it; people are not only destroying cities but hurting themselves just like the soldiers over in Vietnam that they are protesting against. He wants the American people to see the error in their ways, violent protests will not resolve the issue of the war.