"Give Peace a Chance" - The Plastic Ono Band
by Christian Garcia-Salinas
In the midst of life
and career troubles and world tribulation, John Lennon and Yoko Ono decide to
get married in 1969. Not only do they decide to invite the press into their
hotel room from 9 A.M. to 9 P.M., but they have what they call a “Bed-In for
peace”. This being one of the most talked about marriages in the last few
decades, a Bed-In during their honeymoon to protest against war seemed too good
to miss for the press back in 1969. The birthplace of this song was a hotel
room in Montreal, Canada as Lennon was asked why he was doing what he was doing
as a protest, and he just replied “all we are saying is give peace a chance”.
John Lennon performing "Give Peace A Chance" live from his Bed-In.
John Lennon was a one
of a kind man, and this pictorial biography shows it to a great degree of
accuracy, from his rise to fame with The Beatles, to his troubles while being
separated from the band, to his two famous relationships, his Anti-War
movement, and his untimely death.
 |
| "John Lennon: All I Want Is The Truth" A Photographic Biography, where references were taken from the end of Lennon's life. |
There have been other
versions of the song, all relating to the same theme: peace. It has parodies on
cartoons such as SpongeBob SquarePants as well, where SpongeBob attempts to
save Jellyfish Fields. In such a catastrophe as the September 11, 2001
terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, this song took a big role on another
remix of this song, but the exception was that this time, it was one of the two
original singers that brought it back: Yoko Ono. This time was the first in a
very long time that this song was brought back to public audiences by one of the
two originals from Montreal, Canada. It has a different tone and rhythm to be
able to be adapted to today’s technology and recording capabilities. A big
difference is that this song uses a style called “Spoken Word” type of singing
by Yoko Ono, as opposed to the original version with John Lennon in which he
sang the whole song, and that this remix contains lyrics specific to the war on
terrorism of that time.
Yoko Ono's remix in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
This type of songs had
a strong impact not only in the movements they were intended for, for example,
the original version to “Give Peace a Chance” became the anthem for the
Anti-War movement in America in the 1970’s. These songs tend to have a
tremendous impact on the general population especially whenever they come from
such big figures such as Lennon himself writing it along with having that
Bed-In during his honeymoon. Along with this music, hundreds of people protested
against the Vietnam War in San Francisco and Washington.
What about the direct
meaning of the song? Its lyrics do not mix together or make sense at all. I
heard all of these comments while I did my research. And my one response is
that of Lennon, all he wanted was to “Give Peace a Chance”, without worrying
about anything else, or anyone else’s thoughts on what he said in his song.
References:
References:
Partridge, Elizabeth. John
Lennon, All I Want Is The Truth : A Photographic Biography. Viking
Childrens Books, 2005. Print.
Barringer, Mark. "Modern American Poetry." Modern American Poetry. (1999): n. page. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.
