Some Vietnam era protest songs seem dated both musically and lyrically. This is not the case with Stephen Stills’ “For What It’s Worth.” Now actor-singer Billy Porter, known for his outspoken views on LGBT and racial justice, has lent his considerable talents to the Buffalo Springfield classic. The results are predictably stirring.
“I decided to record ‘For What It’s Worth’ because I wanted to have my art and my music matter, make a difference,” Porter said in an official statement. “I’ve always been a political person. I come from the generation where the music reflected what was going on in the world, in the day. The song was written and performed sort of during the Civil Rights era, the Vietnam War. It was protest music and I wanted to have a hand in bringing that back and speaking truth directly to power.”
A Grammy, Tony and Emmy winner, Porter adds a new and contemporary spin with soulful multi-tracked vocals, a contemporary backbeat, and soaring guitars. Anyone familiar with his roles in FX’s Pose or his Broadway work in the musical Kinky Boots will be pleased with his version of “For What It’s Worth.” If you are not familiar with Porter’s career, you will still agree with Stills’s assessment that this remake is “pure genius.”
“I am both proud and delighted that Billy Porter is covering my song,” Stephen Stills added. “For many years, no one tried to ‘make it theirs,’ as covers are supposed to do. That an artist of Billy’s caliber has chosen to add his flourish to my song from so many years ago is totally in keeping with what I intended.”
“For What It’s Worth” is the follow-up to Billy Porter’s most recent single, “Love Yourself,” which hit No. 1 on the Billboard club play songs chart in summer of 2019 and was timed to World Pride/Stonewall50.
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