The Beatles and the Anti-War Movement

2380 Words5 Pages

The Beatles have been noted as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, and most persuasive bands of all time. They were both musical and lyrical masterminds whom interpreted their opinions through their music. Of those many opinions their main message they wanted to send was the idea of peace. The Beatles opposed the war in Vietnam and were avid participants in the anti-war movement; by trend setting, not being afraid to speak their mind, and writing songs including: “Give Peace A Chance,” “Revolution,” “All You Need Is Love,” and many more. These songs insinuated and instilled their views on world peace, and back their opinions on the war. The Beatles are probably one of the greatest sensations the world has ever seen. No other band has ever had a larger effect on their fans and listeners as The Beatles, ever since they started to take over the ears of the world during the birth of “The Beatles Revolution” (not to be confused with The Beatles song “Revolution”) in 1963. A lot of their songs were based on their continual efforts to promote the concept of world peace. No other song written by John Lennon is more blatant in this promotion of peace than the song “Give Peace A Chance.” Songfacts.com says, “This song was recorded in 1969 during John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s notorious “bed in” in which they stayed in bed for eight days in an effort to promote world peace. This song quickly became an anti-war movement anthem when a large number of people thought America should not have been fighting the War in Vietnam.” Lennon directly states in the third verse of “Give Peace A Chance,” “(Let me tell you now) / Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout / Revolution, Evolution, Masturbation, Flagellation, Regulation, / Integrations, mediations, United Nations, congratulations / All we are saying is give peace a chance / All we are saying is give peace a chance” (“Give Peace A Chance”). This shows that peace was a huge inspiration when it came to John Lennon’s songwriting. The Beatles wrote hundreds of songs throughout their long career and many of which had the same main ideas in them. Those two ideas seem to standout in most of their songs, and they are the ideas of peace and love. They were so passionate about these two ideas especially world peace, that they became avid participants and leaders in the anti-war movement, against the War in Vietnam. It seemed strange ... ... middle of paper ... ...p://www.lyrics007.com/The%20Beatles%20Lyrics/Come%20Together%20Lyrics.html>. "The Beatles - Revolution Lyrics." LYRICS. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. . Fontenot, Robert. “Revolution: The History of the Classic Beatles Song.” About.com. 6 October 2009 . “Give Peace A Chance by John Lennon.” songfacts.com. 2009. 6 October 2009 . "John Lennon :: Give Peace A Chance Lyrics." Absolute Lyrics - The Music Lyrics Database. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. . Pollack, Allan W.. “Notes on "All You Need Is Love".” soundscapes.info. 1996. 2 October 2009 . Pollack, Alan W.. “Notes on "Revolution" and "Revolution 1".” soundscapes.info. 1997. 3 October 2009 . "While My Guitar Gently Weeps Lyrics - The Beatles." PERSONAL WEB PAGES - home.att.net. Web. 22 Nov. 2009. .

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