“I never really realised”: The story behind Graham Nash’s timeless protest anthem
In 1971, Graham Nash broke from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young with his debut solo album, Songs for Beginners, written largely from his newfound perspectives within political activism in California.
Songs for Beginners opens with ‘Military Madness’, a poignant reflection of a lifetime marred by the overarching effects of war. “The army had my father,” Nash sings, “And my mother was having me.” The sadness that permeates the story is contrasted with grooving, upbeat guitars, bringing a wistful tone to the entirety of Songs for Beginners.
Nash also reflects on his move from his native Blackpool, Lancashire, to California, where violence continued to follow him. “Military madness was killing the country,” Nash cries, “Solitary sadness creeps over me.”
He sings in hopes that the wars will end, morbidly noting “And the body count is finally filed,” and calls out the governmental powers-that-be for being responsible for the brutal chaos: “I hope The Man discovers / What’s drivin’ the people wild.”
“I wrote this about my dad going off to World War Two, but it was recorded while the war in Vietnam was happening,” Nash reflected to Uncut in 2026. “Obviously, I’ve got over 50 years of hindsight to analyse what was popular about particular songs of mine. But I never really realised then how long they would remain relevant.”
Nash painfully notes that his songs’ timeless quality is an unfortunate truth, brought upon by the seemingly never-ending barbarities of war. “‘Military Madness’ – look at the war that’s going on between Russia and Ukraine,” Nash stated, “And with the Israelis in Gaza, which, in my own personal opinion, is a genocide against the Palestinian people.”
The song’s core resonates with all of those who have been affected by war and are subject to its longstanding presence, whether that be decades after the events of the state of one’s current reality.
‘Military Madness’ stands alongside another of Nash’s songs that chronicle the then-current events. ‘Chicago’ is another piece on Songs for Beginners that harnesses a similar perspective. Its lyrics reference the anti-Vietnam War protests that occurred during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and the subsequent trial of the Chicago Eight, the protest leaders who were charged with conspiracy to incite a riot.
“I wrote ‘Chicago’ around the same time,” Nash explained. “Wavy Gravy, whose name was actually Hugh Romney, called me one day and said: ‘Can CSNY come to Chicago and do a concert and give the proceeds to the Chicago Eight?’ Crosby and I were able to go, but Stephen and Neil, unfortunately, couldn’t make it. So I wrote ‘Chicago’ for Stephen and Neil.”
The harrowing opening lines of ‘Chicago’ – “So you’re brother’s bound and gagged / And they’ve chained him to a chair” – were written about Bobby Seale, the Black Panther leader and sole Black American defendant in the Chicago Eight trial, who was chained to his chair in the courtroom after repeatedly speaking up against the rulings by the judge.
There is an attempt at a glint of hope in the song’s chorus of “We can change the world / Rearrange the World… It’s dyin’ to get better,” as Nash encourages people to live life on their own terms: “Rules and regulations, who needs them?”
Still, the two songs – and Songs for Beginners, in its entirety – are poignant time capsules that remind us that as time has progressed, little else has changed.
