The War in Vietnam was a part of the Cold War, massive confrontation between the USSR and the USA around the world. The war continued for about 10 years. t turned to be an important phenomenon for the American society. Today historians agree that the decision to send troops to Vietnam was contradictory, and such discussions took place that time also. The war cased different opinions. Though the mass media tried to manipulate people and broadcast the government’s ideas,  musicians also played an important role in shaping public opinion. In the 1960s rock music came as the space for uncensored protest, as the place for public dialogue.The paper is focused on the images of the war in Vietnam in the songs of three music bands: «Creenedce Clearwater Revival», «Jefferson Airplane» and «The Jimi Hendrix Experience». Whether the war influenced many spheres of human life, the work researches political criticism, shows different aspects of such criticism in music, turning to broad historical and cultural context. The aims of the presentation are to show the ways, reasons and specifications of the musicians’ criticism and its interaction with the publiс mood. Finally, some findings about the role of music in people’s self-expression in the context of critical events and its role in cultural memory are made.