Give Peace A Chance

The song Give Peace a Chance, by John Lennon, which was his first hit away from his band, The Beatles, was recorded on May 31, 1969 at a “Bed-In” that he set up in a room of Queen Elizabeth’s Hotel in Montreal. Accompanied by Yoko Ono, the two stayed in bed for a total of eight days, beginning on May 26, to try to promote one cause, world peace. They got a huge amount of media attention for this, which is exactly what they needed in order to promote world peace. John Lennon, however, was not the only one singing. He actually teamed up with Tommy Smothers, Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, and Petula Clark to produce the song. This song was released during the era of the Vietnam War, so it quickly became the anti-war anthem in the United States for the vast amount of Americans who felt like their country should not be at war with Vietnam. For example, on October 15, 1969, The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, which was a huge anti-war protest, took place, and the song Give Peace a Chance is what many of the protestors were singing. The American people’s reaction to Lennon’s song definitely made him proud, as he referred to the day when he heard hundreds of thousands of anti-war protestors singing it outside of the White House as “one of the biggest moments of my life.” I think it’s great that a musical icon like John Lennon wrote a song to promote a cause he really believed in. I believe it gave already anti-war supporters something to relate to and use when they were out protesting, and people who either were pro-war or were indifferent a different view to at least consider.