The Sun Will Shine in Vietnam

Annotation

Flora Molton, born in Louisa County, Virginia in 1908, started out as a gospel singer, as well as preaching (following in the footsteps of her father). Partly blind from birth, she moved to Washington D.C. in the 1930s, switching to guitar in 1943. She spent most of the 1940s and 1950s playing country blues on street corners in D.C. Molton used an "Open D" ("Vastepol") tuning, and thus a basic guitar style, serving mainly as a background to her vocals. She used a metal ring, sliding it across the strings, to create a moaning sound. In the 1960s blues and folk revival Molton started to appear in coffee house, clubs, and festivals, and cut a couple 45s on her own label. (1) Released in the early 1970s, the song "The Sun Will Shine in Vietnam" (Molton's Records # 0002) took an anti-war stance. Molton looked to the future, when the war would be over. But criticised the politicians for failing to bring peace, claiming that "the devil likes this condition". It contained other religious references, such as "thou shall not kill" and that the "lord he is not pleased". Interestingly, the lyrics also made a social-economic point, saying that the "blood spilled by the poor" was unfair, while…

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

About the artist

Flora Molton (born 12 March 1908 in Louisa County, Virginia; died 31 May 1990 in Washington, D.C.) was a gospel-blues street singer and slide guitarist who performed on the streets of Washington, D.C. from 1942 until shortly before her death, recording for L+R, Lively Stone and Ocora; her anti-war song was first titled "Sun's Gonna Shine in Vietnam Someday". [Source: Wikipedia]

Themes

Anti-War · Soldier's Perspective · Religion

In collections

Blues songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs