For What It's Worth
by Buffalo Springfield
- 99
- BPM
- D major
- Key
- 10B
- Camelot
- 66
- Danceability
- 41
- Acousticness
Buffalo Springfield recorded "For What It's Worth" on December 5, 1966, at Columbia Studios in Hollywood. The Sunset Strip curfew riots were still fresh, and the band and Ahmet Ertegun pushed for a rush release. Five days later, on December 10, the Top 40 station KHJ began playing the single. It reached KHJ's Boss 30 chart on December 28 at number 26, and rival KRLA followed on January 14, 1967. That same day Billboard identified it as a regional breakout. Two weeks later it debuted at number 90 on the Hot 100, and on March 25 it peaked at number seven, staying on the chart for fifteen weeks.
Stephen Stills had written it after the riots on the Strip that November, when young people clashed with police over a curfew. The band had become the house band at the Whisky a Go Go that year. The title came after the song was finished. Stills told Ertegun he had a song, "for what it's worth", if he wanted it. Ertegun gave it the subtitle "Stop, Hey What's That Sound". Atco wanted a follow-up album. The song was added to the March 1967 second pressing of the first one.
The single did not chart in the UK, though the BPI certified a 2004 release platinum in 2023.
For What It's Worth runs at 99 BPM, the tempo of hip-hop, R&B and reggaeton. In classical terms it sits in andante territory. A bar of 4/4 lasts 2.42 seconds, and a quarter-note delay is 606 ms. It is in D major, Camelot 10B, which shares its notes with B minor and mixes cleanly with G major and A major.
We use multiple sources as part of our online research for the song story including Wikipedia.