During the 60s, artists and songwriters had a lot to say when it came to politics. Here are four rock songs from that era that could potentially bring world peace, or at least encourage people to think about it.
“Give Peace A Chance” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono
John Lennon wrote this as an anti-war song during one of his and Yoko Ono’s “bed-in” protests. The song lists a lot of the “isms” that society seems to be obsessed with (Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, etc.) and concludes its first section by asking the listener to “give peace a chance.”
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“It wasn’t like ‘You have to have peace!’ Just give it a chance,” Lennon once told David Sheff. “We ain’t giving any gospel here – just saying how about this version for a change? We think we have the right to have a say in the future. And we think the future is made in your mind.”
“All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles
The Beatles really nail it on the head with “All You Need Is Love”, which was mostly written by Lennon. McCartney later reflected to Barry Miles on how huge the song’s message actually was.
“The chorus, ‘All you need is love’, is simple, but the verse is quite complex,” he shared. “In fact, I never really understood it; the message is rather complex. It was a good song that we had handy that had an anthemic chorus.”
“Blowin’ In The Wind” by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ In The Wind” suggests peace in a different way than other songs. It asks, “How long must we continue before enough is enough?” No matter how many times I listen to this song, it never gets old.
“Yes, and how many years must a mountain exist / Before it is washed to the sea? / Yes, and how many years can some people exist / Before they’re allowed to be free? / Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head / And pretend that he just doesn’t see?”
“Come Together” by The Beatles
This song wasn’t actually written as a protest song at all. “Come Together” was originally written for activist Timothy Leary, who was running for governor of California against Ronald Reagan at the time. Leary had a slogan for his campaign, “Come together, join the party,” which is what Lennon based this song on. Ironically, the chorus of this song sounds like it could be a song about peace, even though it was originally meant to help people make a political decision.
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