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On 26 May 1969, John Lennon & Yoko Ono moved into the Queen
Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal for the historic seven-day bed-in
protest against violence in the world. On 01 June, the last
day of the bed-in, John posted lyrics on the hotel room walls
for a spontaneous group recording. This DVD captures the actual
live recording of 'Give Peace A Chance' as it was recorded
at the sit-in...
The
1960s were coming to an end and unbeknown to the public, The
Beatles were a spent force, driven apart by both internal
and external pressures. No announcement had been made, but
John Lennon had handed in his notice, sick of being a Beatles
and the restrictions this imposed upon him. One of his first
solo actions was to take to a bed in Toronto to promote peace.
The event, which was extensively filmed, captured the media's
attention around the globe, and ended with an impromptu recording
of a song - 'Give Peace a Chance', the last great anthem of
the decade.
Looking at the footage now Lennon comes across as considered,
articulate and informed. In fact, this documentary clearly
gives a lie to the hysterical media reaction at the time that
highlighted his 'crazy antics'. Lennon takes such care with
explaining his commitment to promote world peace that his
words often seem totally in opposition to the popular image
of him as a shallow bandwagon jumper - a voice for hire for
radical causes.
Sadly,
the song's horrible - little more than a football chant, but
it crystallised an international mood for an alternative to
direct confrontation, epitomised by Vietnam.
The
second half of the documentary covers some totally unnecessary
re-recordings of the song, but the extras (more interview
footage) more than make up for this.
In the end, the thing that really stands out is how reasonable
Lennon's 'demands' were. He wasn't calling for anything dramatic
- just that people give a chance for peace to work. Yes, it's
naïve, but you'd be hard pressed to argue with the sentiments.
Give
Peace a Song fails to rehabilitate 'Give Peace a Chance'
but it provides a valuable insight into the thinking of John
Lennon and in the process rewrites a little bit of post-Beatles
history.
Anthony
Clark
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