"Country" Joe McDonald embraces freedom of speech like a drowning man would a scuba mask. Even still, he knows that there's more to a good protest song than three chords and the truth.

McDonald -- who went from honored soldier to member of President Nixon's infamous enemies list by expressing discontent through song -- said he forged a career in the 1960s-70s not by being the loudest revolutionary, but by taking time to figure the best musical groove to make a point. McDonald, who has continued to perform and record past his salad days of the peace and love era, is one of the featured performers at Hippiefest at Pechanga Resort & Casino tonight.

Age hasn't caused McDonald to change his left-wing ideals that were mostly in step with the hippie movement. But in discussing his career recently, the songwriter from Berkeley struck a tone of a man more with a bone to pick than an axe to grind.

"I had a different kind of life," he said. "I think the main thing was that I had a simple belief. I believed management was bad and workers were good, that communism was good and capitalism was bad. … I still do believe that we will have peace on Earth one day. I do believe that justice in the end will be done."

Yet, there was an element in that statement that indicates the differences McDonald had with some liberal political thought. The soldier is the worker, he said. As such, his songs dealt with the warriors disillusioned by the country's leaders. His most revered song -- as part of a psychedelic folk-rock band Country Joe and the Fish -- included a chorus "One, two, three, what are we fighting for?" that struck enough of a nerve that Vietnam War troops actually used it on the battlefield.

It's a song that illustrates how people who want peace at all costs can still support the troops, McDonald said.

"I really like that (troops chanted the chorus), but I wasn't that surprised because I was a veteran myself," he said. "I wrote that from the point of view as a veteran. I consider it kind of a work song."

The song wasn't an instant hit among the rank-and-file, though. It took time for the message to take hold that McDonald respected those in uniform. That regard for servicemen and women eventually led to a split with more extreme antiwar advocates of the era, such as actress Jane Fonda.

"In the military, I understand the repercussions of not following orders," McDonald said. "What I don't support are the big-shot leaders, be they the leaders of the communist party or Greenpeace or the leaders of the United States because they get so out of touch."

But self-righteousness doesn't automatically translate to good music. McDonald, who has built a career that has spanned more than 30 albums and 40 years, said there's a method that works best for him.

"I try to identify the singer, or the person telling the story," he said. "If it's a military thing, it's a soldier. If it's a lumber thing, it would be a lumber worker point of view. Then I try to make the music fit the subject matter. By that, I mean if I were writing about Clara Barton and the Civil War, it would be sorta bluegrassy. If it's about the heartland, country western.

"I want to make it entertaining more than accurate because I'm advocating. I'm not an expert. If you make them too didactic, it gets boring. What you do is get a simple message across: Save the whales or support the troops."

Yet, McDonald balanced that belief with an additional point: His goal in writing is not simply to express opinions.

"Basically, I don't write to make money or to support causes; I do it to make myself happy," he said. "Sometimes, it'll take a year with the subject matter, like the Iraq war. I had to wait a year for the right tonal setting and the right phrase in my mind with that.

"I don't force it anymore. I have other things, family, to occupy my time. When I was younger, I would torture myself a little bit."

What he's also comfortable with is how some in generations after the 1960s embraced the hippie culture. McDonald said enough younger people have approached him through the years to where he's confident that those generations are not simply into tie-dye.

"There's hippies everywhere," McDonald said. "They love the concept of peace and love, dressing the way you want to. There are people who have a warm feeling in their heart for what the style stands for.

"I'm encouraged by it. As far as generations are concerned, the ripple effect of the 1960s is still happening globally. … I believe it will remain timeless, alive and well. I even see it in the hip-hop generation, the punk generation, the rave generation."

HippieFest featuring the Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie, Felix Cavaliere's Rascals, the Zombies Featuring Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent, Mountain Featuring Leslie West and Corkey Laing, Mitch Ryder, Badfinger featuring Joey Mulland and "Country" Joe McDonald

When: 7 p.m. Aug. 16

Where: Pechanga Showroom, Pechanga Resort & Casino, 45000 Pechanga Parkway, Temecula

Tickets: $50-$75

Info: (951) 303-2507