“That’s what songs do”: The song Paul McCartney said had the power to end a war
Most musicians aren’t looking to do anything more than write something people can tap their foot to when woodshedding their material. Anyone looking to significantly impact society never goes out of their way to write a career-defining anthem, because that only happens when everyone adopts something as their own. And while The Beatles have had many of their songs become the soundtrack to the 1960s for many people, Paul McCartney felt some of his friends were responsible for penning some of the most revolutionary songs in history.
But how does one get in the mindset to write a monumental song? Sure, every musician has their bag of tricks that they go back to when making their masterpieces, but the core behind any great song like ‘We Shall Overcome’ or ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ comes from the fact that people can get it under their fingers with only a few chords. Because if people want to bring their congregation together, it would have to be through something everyone could sing.
Beyond being a great song, though, there has to be a lot more grit in the delivery than the standard love song. ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ only worked because millions of people could relate to what Kurt Cobain was screaming about, and when the Black Lives Matter movement slowly took over the world, it was easy for everyone marching in the streets to relate to something as powerful as Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Alright’.
For anyone from McCartney’s generation, though, it all came back to the Vietnam War happening half a world away. Most people had been used to seeing the death and destruction on the news every single night, but it took the Summer of Love for teenagers to realise that they had a voice, and if they were going to follow anyone, it would be people like Bob Dylan and The Beatles.
Then again, the Fab Four weren’t exactly in the best place, either. Each of them had been through their fair share of changes, and when John Lennon started making his experimental projects with Yoko Ono, it was only a matter of time before he started thinking about a solo career. But he did have one thing to give to the world during his in-between years with ‘Give Peace A Chance’.
“A million Americans went with a big protest to Nixon saying, ‘All we are saying is give peace a chance’. Fairly shortly after the war was stopped. They needed a [voice]. That’s what songs can do.”
Paul McCartney
The call for peace had been heavy on his mind ever since writing ‘Revolution’, and when reflecting on the record, McCartney said the song was one of the few songs he knew powerful enough to unite people against the war, saying, “It [was] all about Vietnam, and a million Americans went with a big protest to Nixon saying, ‘All we are saying is give peace a chance’. Fairly shortly after the war was stopped. Now I’m not saying that song stopped it. It’s the million people that stopped it, but they needed a [voice]. That’s what songs can do.”
And while McCartney had tried his hand at speaking out against injustices, he was never cut out for the same kind of pointed statements his old mate had. Songs like ‘Give Ireland Back to the Irish’ and ‘Big Boys Bickering’ certainly have their hearts in the right places, but since Macca was always known for his tuneful side, it’s easy for the sing-song approach of the tunes to get lost in the shuffle.
With Lennon, though, he never had to beat around the bush in terms of what he was talking about. You were up to speed the moment that you heard the title of the track, and when he had crowds of people chanting his mantras alongside him, there was no limit to what he could accomplish.
