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This is a cross-university blog project between the University of South Carolina - Upstate and Clemson University for the Fall 2007 semester.
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22 comments:
John Lennon – “Give Peace a Chance” (1969)
two, one two three four
Ev'rybody's talking about
Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism
This-ism, that-ism
ism ism ism
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance
its goin' great
Everybody's talkin' bout'ministers,
sinisters, banisters and canisters,
bishops and fishops and rabbis and pop eyes,
and byebye, byebyes
all we are saying is give peace a chance,
all we are saying is give peace a chance,
let me tell you now
Ev'rybody's talking about
Revolution, evolution, masturbation,
flagellation, regulation, integrations,
meditations, United Nations,
Congratulations.
All we are saying [keep talking] is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance
Oh Let’s stick to it
Ev'rybody's talking about
John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary, Tommy smothers, Bobby Dylan,
Tommy Cooper, Derek Tayor, Norman Mailer, Alan Ginsberg, Hare Krishna,
Hare Hare Krishna
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance
Hello group,
My name is Laura; I am currently a freshman at Clemson University studying construction science and management. The first thing I noticed about John Lennon’s lyrics for “Give Peace a Chance” was the repetition. The majority of the song is words that have suffixes such as “ism, ation, and ister” added to them. Lennon points this out himself by saying “This-ism, that-ism.” This method conveys the theme that people want to label everything to make them feel more in control. When the suffixes are added to certain words they no longer make sense and they sound ridiculous. After each stanza with a different suffix the phrase “All we are saying is give peace a chance” is repeated. This phrase serves as the thesis. The humorous made up words support the argument for peace. Since the attempt to classify everything is apparently not solving any issues peace should be given a chance.
Laura W. 33
Hello Group,
I’m Raphael and I’m an architect major. While reading the lyrics to “Give Peace a Chance”, I noticed that it focused on every other aspect of this period besides the war. In doing this it shows that the overall community in the 1969 era was talking about these other highly talked about things. Leaving out, the importance of the war, and how it is killing many soldiers in the process. John Lennon is calling out to the people in his song and challenging them to be different. Let’s be a part of the resolution and not the problem. Like when Lennon says, “everyone’s talking about revolution, evolution, masturbation, flagellation, regulations, integrations,” he is meaning with all the sinful things such as flagellation, why don’t we try a new approach. Let’s give peace a chance. When looking at the pictures from the 1960’s era and viewing the many movements that took place “Give Peace a Chance” is what runs through your mind. These soldiers are putting their lives on the line for we Americans. Instead of sending more and more soldiers to fight why don’t we come to an agreement? What’s the harm in that?
103 Raphael 21
Hi group,
I'm Christen and I am currently a business major. I think that this piece of writing is very repetitive. It seems like some of the time the author is just making of words that don't make sense just so he can rhyme. This is shown once in the stanza where he is talking about "bishops and fishops and ribbis and pop eyes". This doesn't really have much to do with what he is talking about. It just rhymes. It also seems like the author gets his point across by repeatedly stating "All we are saying is give peace a chance", but doesnt exactly give good reasoning why we should do this.
Christen E.(35)
Hello Group,
My name is Martise' and I am currently studying architecture. The lyrics for John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance" seems to have no clear meaning with the words it uses, but it actually makes a lot since. It talks about all the things that are being talked about besides the war. It focuses on what everyone wants to be thinking about besides the torment of the war. The things that are mentioned do not really make since because of the endings used in the first part of the song but I believe that was the whole idea in the first place. Not for the song to use words that don't really exist but to convey a sense of how things are seen at the moment. Peace is what everyone wants but can't actually get get during the time because of the war. It is causing everything to be mixed up but peace needs to be given a chance.
Martise' G. 33
Hi all,
My name is Adam and I'm an engineering major at Clemson. Reading the lyrics to the song and trying to make any sense of them is pointless. I believe this is what Lenon wanted; to confuse readers with what exactly he was targeting, but preaching a larger sermon of confusion. The late 60's and early 70's were a very turbulent time period in American history. Social unrest because of the Vietnam war led to a very strong counter-culture. Experimentation with sexuality, race, drugs, and lifestyles greatly diversified America, and created many unique voices.
Each little stanza of the song seems to address some sort of general idea. The first stanza has "-ism"s, or belief systems. The second stanza represents leadership. the third is a mix of social disorder and unrest with the change of our nation to a more liberal outlook. I don't recognize many of the names in the final stanza, but I can take a good guess that they all represent well-known figures that can be associated with their own agendas.
Through this confusion, Lenon gives some clarity to what the main goal of the song is, "All we are saying is give peace a chance". I think Lenon's song may just be a way of showing his desire to unite all these varying ideas and concepts into one movement for peace. BUT, it could just be an acid trip as well....
Hello Group,
My name is Michael and I am in business management at Clemson. In "Give Peace a Chance," John Lennon uses rhyming words to describe that there is much more being talked about concerning things other than war. In the first stanza he makes up certain "ism" words to rhyme, describing that people are often talking about or doing things that are not often necessary, so he offers peace, repeating "give peace a chance." These made up words are humorous examples of things that are concerning, and he is offering peace as an alternative. In the second stanza it seems that the words he uses are things we should refrain from having to think about, like when he says "byebye, byebyes." Maybe he is suggesting that if we give peace a chance, the likelihood of war would go down,
and we would have less "byebyes" to talk about.
Michael I. 60
Hello Group,
My name is Taylor and I am a civil engineering major at Clemson. In this song by John Lennon, I believe he is just trying to say what the title says. That is to just give peace a chance. He actually says this line eight times throughout the song. Some of the lines in the song really do not make much sense and that is ok because that is not the point of this song. It is simply to give peace a chance. I also thought that it was pretty neat that this song came from John Lennon, who was part of the most popular band of all time, the Beatles. If he could not influence people, no one could. Therefore, he was using his credibility to convince people to simply "give peace a chance."
Hello group,
I hope everyone had a good week. After reading the comments posted by everyone it appears that we all agree that John Lennon is offering peace as an alternative solution. Adam pointed out that each stanza address a different general idea, which is an important distinction. Contrary to Adam’s belief that the stanzas are meant to confuse the listener, I believe that each stanza focuses on an area of the culture that is concerning. In my opinion the made up words mimic the confusion that is present in the culture. They do enable the song to rhyme, as Christen noted as there only function, but I believe the words service a more important purpose. Like Michael said, Lennon offers peace as an alternative to the confusion of the stanzas. When I first read the lyrics I focused more on the theme and the attended audience. Taylor emphasizes that John Lennon is the author. One the most famous musicians every writing and singing about peace speaks volumes about what Americans were focused on.
Laura W. 33
Hey Group,
After going through all of the post it is apparent that we all have the same basic thoughts about the lyrics of the song. John Lennon has a great idea for what he knows everyone wants instead of war. I like when Raphael says, "Let’s be a part of the resolution and not the problem." He is emphasizing how Lennon thinks we need to accomplish peace during a time of war. It is the easiest thing to understand because we all want peace at a point in time if not all the time. It seems easy to have peace but it's actually one of the hardest things to get because there are so many other people in the world around us. I also like how Taylor states that Lennon says the line "All we are saying is give peace a chance" eight times throughout the song because it is the main point that he is trying to get across to everyone.
Martise' G. 33
Hey Group,
My name is Laura and I'm a sophomore Biochemistry major at Clemson. When reading these lyrics it's pretty clear that he is trying to be confusing. He makes up a lot of words to add to the confusion. Lennon wants this to be confusing because he is trying to highlight all of the political and social confusing going on during the time he wrote the song. Obviously everybody kind of thinks the same thing about this.
Laura G. 69
Hey Group,
This poem by John Lennon uses many made up words leading to the phrase "give peace a chance." I agree with Martise that I think we all agree what Lennon is trying to represent though this poem. He tries to indicate just how serious war is, and that we should try and let peace come between that. The words he uses are just unique ways to lead up to the thesis of the poem, which is to give peace a chance.
Michael I. 60
Hello Group,
I am Raphael and I am an architect major. Some quotes that really stood out in my mind were the ones from Laura and Taylor. Laura’s quote which was “people want to label anything to make them look or feel in control”. This quote is true in the sense that all people want some sort of power and will do anything to obtain that. Also that the repetitiveness of “Give Peace A Chance” is like giving the thesis. It makes the subject stand out more. This is something I didn’t think about when writing my post entry. Secondly, Taylor’s quote which was about the fact that John Lennon sang the song. He being a famous singer at the time was a perfect candidate for the song. If he could not influence the society at the time who else would. These both were things that I did not think about when writing my post entry.
103 Raphael 21
Hey Group,
My Name is Kyle White and I'm a business major at USC Upstate. I think that John Lennon's in his song "Give peace a Change" is trying to say that there is many things wrong in the world not just war. John Lennon was I think trying to say that there a many bad things going on in the world at that time. The fact was that many people were to focused on the war that they didn't notice anything else that was going on. John also talks about all the people that were important to the changing times of the 60's and that had a great effect on the time period.
Hey Group,
A lot of your responses and opinions bring up some good points about the song. I like how Raphael emphasizes that John Lennon being a famous musical artist at the time made him a perfect person to make a song like this. When some one famous says something it is always heard by many. Laura W. makes some very good points about how we all seem to notice the how the words do not make since when put together and some are just not actual words. It allows the song to rhyme and it sends a strong message with the way the words are delivered. I believe I go along with everything that Laura says because her points are valid. I found an image of a badge to promote a march for those who want the war to be over. This image is relevant because it has the same aspect as the song peace from the war. No one really wants war but everyone wants peace, so why not give it a chance. Here is a link to the image if you want to check it out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leonarloforbes/64075265/
Martise' G. 33
Hello group,
I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. After thinking about the John Lennon song and it’s theme I found another song that has a very similar theme. Buffalo Springfield’s song “For What its Worth” tries to convey the same message as Lennon song. In Springfield’s song he talks about a random man with a gun warning him but he doesn’t know what he is warning him about. Throughout the song Springfield is begging us to stop and find out what that sound is and know what is going on. These verses are comparable to Lennon’s verses with the made up words because both allude to a sense of confusion. Both songs argue for peace. Lennon does it by saying give peace a chance and Springfield does it by saying “nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.” During the 1960’s so much emphasis was placed on ending the Vietnam War that even pop culture was focuses on it. These two songs are examples of this.
Laura W. 33
For What It's Worth
Buffalo Springfield
There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away
We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Hello Group,
How is everyone getting along. While searching the web I found another song that goes well with the message that Lennon is trying to convey. Bob Dylan’s song “Blowin in the Wind” is a song that is questions how long does one have to go through something before he/she can be labeled something great. This goes along with Lennon’s song well because of all the situations that are being talked about in the song are and can be related to the Vietnam War. Such as when Dylan says “Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry, Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died”, this definitely can be related to the song by Lennon. This period of time was critical in trying to get the point across that the war was killing many and there were a lot of songs that were dedicated to the fact. This is why Bob Dylan’s song “Blowin in the Wind” and Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” convey the similar message that portray the Vietnam War.
You can find “Blowin in the Wind” by the link of: www.bobdylan.com.
103 Raphael 21
Hello Group,
How is everyone doing? Everytime peace and war comes up, there is always one thing that comes to mind. It is the moive "Forest Gump." Anyone can rent the movie or even see it on TV. I know that might seem kind of strange, but the peace and war theme occurs all throughout the movie. Of course Forest really does not know what is going on, but every one that has watched the movie does. There are many protests, including his speech with Abbie Hoffman, the co-founder of "Yippie." This was a youth oriented radical group that was a spin off of the "Hippies." All they wanted was to give peace a chance, just like the song by John Lennon. "Forrest Gump" does seem like an odd comparison, but there are may events that occur during the movie that relate to this love and war era.
Taylor W. 21
Hey Group,
I think everyone has a good understanding of what the confusing lyrics of this song could mean. If we give peace a chance, all the men who are fighting for us will have the oppurtunity to talk about what we talk about every day. I really like the songs "For what its worth," and "Blowin in the wind," they really are similar to some of the points that John Lennon is trying to get across here. Peace can be an alternative to everything, especially those involved in a war.
http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:33NwcQ3iby_MzM:http://blogsisters.blogspot.com/Yachats.jpg
This image is kind of representative of the lyrics of the song because it is an S.O.S. sign. When you put up S.O.S., you are in distress obviously, but people have to see the sign, see the problem to help you. Having a sign with a peace sign instead of a regular O shows this desire for peace. Making it like it is a distress sign shows that the people have been wanting peace for a long time.
Hello Group,
After reviewing everyone's posts, it seems that everyone has made very good points about the lyrics of the song. I agree with all of the thoughts that were brought up and I think that the meaning of the song goes a lot deeper than giving peace a chance. Lennon is trying to bring out words that jump out at you and don't make sense to catch the readers attention. This will make them think of how it could be related to the subject of the song. Although in the end, all of the words that are used all tie into the main point that is apparent and that is giving peace a chance.
Christen E.(35)
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