"Give Peace a Chance" - The Plastic Ono Band

"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:

 

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.