Protest Songs of 1960's
In history, words have had a tremendous ability to empower the people to rise up to achieve their desired goals. Often times words have the power to help affect a change in government, racism, or condition of life. Gandhi was the first to teach us the power of non-violent movements to help attain the goals and desires of the people. He showed us that the power of words could drive Britain, one of the most powerful countries, to release their rule over India. He helped accomplish this by walking long marches protesting the wrongness of the Britain power over India. Just like Gandhi songwriters in the 1960’s used the power of the word to help achieve their desired results. Instead of making lectures, they decided to write songs filled with symbolism and meaning with a direct message. These people wrote passionate songs fighting for their rights. If these people didn’t stand up to the wrongness of the culture we would still be living in it today. John Lennon, one of the most influential songwriters and musician to ever lived, wrote a song called “Give Peace a Chance.” John and Yoko were staying at Queen Elizabeth’s hotel on May 26th,1969 when John and Yoko decided to stay in bed for six full days to promote peace. Being already famous because he was a band member of The Beatles, he got a great deal of attention from news stations. John got the song idea and the song’s rhythm by listening to all the media knock on his door. He decided to follow through on his idea and write the song. “All we are saying, is give peace a chance” is one of the lyrics in this song and is also one of the most popular lyrics in the world. He wanted to stop the war in Vietnam and wanted a war-free world. This song quickly became the anthem of the anti-war movement as many Americans felt that we should not being fighting in Vietnam. On October 15, 1969, a multi-city demonstration called The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, took place, with protesters singing this song in mass