Give Peace a Chance: Difference between revisions

| B-side = "[[Remember Love (Yoko Ono song)|Remember Love]]" ([[Yoko Ono]])

| released = 4 July 1969 (UK)<br />7 July 1969 (US)

| studio =

| venue =

| length = 4:54

| label = [[Apple Records|Apple]]

}}

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==Writing and recording==

The song was written during Lennon and Ono's "[[Bed-In]]" honeymoon in Montreal.<ref name=Stories21>{{cite book|last=Noyer|first=Paul Du|title=John Lennon: The Stories Behind Every Song 1970–1980|year=2010|publisher=Carlton Books Ltd.|location=London|isbn=978-1-84732-665-2|edition=Rev.|page=21|chapter=John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band}}</ref> When asked by a reporter what he was trying to achieve by staying in bed, Lennon answered spontaneously "Just give peace a chance". He went on to say this several times during the Bed-In.<ref name=Stories21/> Lennon asked his press officer, Derek Taylor to find a recording engineer. On 1 June 1969, in Room 1742 at the [[Queen Elizabeth Hotel]] in Montreal, André Perry, owner of a local recording studio, arrived and used a simple setup of four microphones and a four-track tape recorder he brought with him.<ref>"[https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/john-lennon/songs/give-peace-a-chance/ Give Peace A Chance]", The Beatles Bible'', accessed 7 September 2019</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://beatles.ncf.ca/pic_essay.html|title=John Lennon + Yoko Ono: Give Peace A Chance|website=beatles.ncf.ca|accessdate=20 March 2022}}</ref>

 

The recording session was attended by dozens of journalists and various celebrities, including [[Timothy Leary]], Rabbi [[Abraham Feinberg]], Joseph Schwartz, Rosemary Woodruff Leary, [[Petula Clark]], [[Dick Gregory]], [[Allen Ginsberg]], [[Roger Scott]], [[Murray the K]] and [[Derek Taylor]], many of whom are mentioned in the lyrics. Lennon played acoustic guitar and was joined by [[Tommy Smothers]] of the [[Smothers Brothers]], also on acoustic guitar.

 

{{blockquote|Originally there were no intentions to have any over-dubs done. But when I left John, he looked at me and I said, 'Well, I'll go back to the studio and listen to this and see what it's like.' And then I decided that the background was a bit too noisy and needed a little 'sweeping.' By this I mean, we kept all the original stuff, we just improved it a bit by adding if you like, some voices. So we called a bunch of people in the studio that night, I did, actually that was my decision. And that's probably why John gave me such a credit on the single.<ref>Perry's studio and full address are written on the 45 label.</ref> And since it was multi-track I dubbed the original 4-track to an 8-track machine and then used the other 4-tracks to overdub some voices. The next day I went back to John [with the mix]. They moved everybody out of the room and it was just the three of us, with Yoko, and I played it for him and he thought it was wonderful. Kept it 'as is.' There's a story going around about overdubbing in London, England. Nothing was overdubbed in England. The only thing that was overdubbed, like I said, is some of these people, and the reason why I did it, is I wanted to give him some kind of option. You see the point of the matter, it's not that we wanted to cheat anything, it was a question of like, not usable, the condition was absolutely terrible. [We took] the original stuff that was there, and added a few voices in a cleaner recording environment.<ref>André Perry, ''Beatology Magazine'', quoted at ''[https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/john-lennon/songs/give-peace-a-chance/ The Beatles Bible]''</ref>}}

 

 

==Lyrics==

 

==Release and aftermath==

"Give Peace a Chance", backed with Ono's "Remember Love" as the [[B-side]], was released on 4 July 1969 in the UK,{{#tag:ref|UK Apple APPLE 13<ref name=Listen18/>|group="nb"}} and a few days later on 7 July 1969 in the US.{{#tag:ref|US Apple APPLE 1809<ref name=Listen18/>|group="nb"}}<ref name=Listen18/> The song reached number 2 in the [[UK Singles Chart]],<ref name=OCC/> and number 14 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] in the US.<ref name=AM/> ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' described it as "an infectious rhythm ballad" with "clever arrangement and performance."<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=2021-02-20|date=July 12, 1969|page=64|title=Spotlight Singles|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/60s/1969/BB-1969-07-12.pdf}}</ref>

 

 

A live concert performance of the song is included on ''[[Live Peace in Toronto 1969]]''. (Source: Apple Records) John, Yoko, and the Elephant's Memory performed the song on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon in September 1972. (Source: YouTube)

The British group [[Yes (band)|Yes]] also paid tribute to Lennon's words on their 1971 release ''[[The Yes Album]]'', in "[[I've Seen All Good People|Your Move]]".<ref>{{cite web |last=Pemberton |first=Pat |url=http://www.spinner.com/2010/12/09/jon-anderson-yes-live-tour/ |title=Jon Anderson, Former Yes Frontman, Pays Tribute to John Lennon in California |publisher=Spinner |date=9 December 2010 |access-date=24 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703180835/http://www.spinner.com/2010/12/09/jon-anderson-yes-live-tour/ |archive-date=3 July 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

 

 

 

==Personnel==

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===Track listings===

'''7" single'''

 

 

===Charts===

!align="center"|Peak<br />position

|-

|align="center"|54

|-

| studio =

| venue =

| length =

| label = {{hlist|Mind Train|[[Twisted Records (U.S.)|Twisted]]}}

| producer =

| prev_title = [[No, No, No (Yoko Ono song)|No, No, No]]

| next_year = 2009

}}

 

===Track listings===

#Dave Aude Club Mix (8:26)

#Dave Aude Dub (8:26)

#Double B Full Vocal Mix (6:57)

 

#Phunk Investigation Mix (7:45)

#Eric Kupper Vocal Mix (8:50)

#Mike Cruz Vocal Edit Mix (8:40)

 

#Blow-Up Popism Mix (5:00)

#Blow-Up Electrono Mix (6:44)

!scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

|align=center|32

|-

 

==Covers==

*[[U2]] have performed the song in concert at least 27 times in whole or as a snippet, the first time on 13 December 1980 at the Paradise, Boston, Massachusetts and the last time on 18 May 1998 at Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.u2gigs.com/Give_Peace_a_Chance-s220.html|title=U2 Give Peace a Chance – U2 on tour |first1=Andre |last1=Axver |first2=Matthias |last2=Mühlbradt |website=U2gigs.com|accessdate=20 March 2022}}</ref>

*The song has been used in films, television shows and theatre as it has become a recognised semiotic to indicate protest; for example it was sung by students in the 1974 film ''[[The Trial of Billy Jack]]'', and by peace activists in the 1996 film ''[[Pretty Village, Pretty Flame]]''. The song was featured in an episode of the TV series ''[[Mad About You]]'' in 1995.

*[[Elton John]] recorded the song as a B-side to his UK single "[[Club at the End of the Street]]" in 1990. He also performed the song live on his 1970 US tour with bassist [[Dee Murray]] and drummer [[Nigel Olsson]], singing only the refrain "All we are saying is give peace a chance".

*[[Joni Mitchell]] referenced the song in "[[California (Joni Mitchell song)|California]]" from her 1971 album ''[[Blue (Joni Mitchell album)|Blue]]''.

*[[Louis Armstrong]] recorded the song on 29 May 1970, for an LP entitled ''Louis Armstrong and Friends'' (aka ''What a Wonderful World''). The 1970 Louis Armstrong recording was released as a Philips 7" 45 A side single in the UK, 6073 703.

*[[Pearl Jam]]'s [[Eddie Vedder]] led the crowd in singalong to the chorus during a 2003 concert in [[Adelaide]], [[Australia]].

*The metal band [[Aftermath (American band)|Aftermath]] recorded and released the song as a single in 2020. The version was mentioned in both the official [[John Lennon]] [[Facebook]] and [[Twitter]] pages.

*The song was performed by [[Rockin' 1000]] as part of the opening segment of the final of the [[Eurovision Song Contest 2022|2022 Eurovision Song Contest]].

 

==See also==

 

==External links==

 

{{John Lennon singles}}

{{Yoko Ono}}

{{authority control}}

 

[[Category:1969 songs]]

[[Category:2008 singles]]

[[Category:John Lennon songs]]

[[Category:Peace songs]]

[[Category:Protest songs]]

[[Category:Quotations from music]]

[[Category:Slogans]]