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Donovan / Peet Seeger / John Lennon - Ivo Schwenkert Expressions of Revolutionary Ideas - Hannah Götzke
Comparison of Three Songs of the Sixties – Donovan / Peet Seeger / John Lennon
I´m dealing with following songs: \"The war drags on\" by Donovan, \"We shall overcome\" by Peet Seeger and John Lennon´s \"Imagine\".
\"The war drags on\" tells the story of Dan, a soldier fighting in the Vietnam war, actually thinking that he´s fighting for freedom, equality, hope and all. But soon he recognizes that this war has missed its aim and is just a cruel slaughter of innocent people. He´s having a dream in which he only sees misery and death but also the end of the war... ´cause there´s no world anymore.
In the song Donovan shows his opinion concerning the war in Vietnam. He, like many others, thinks the war is senseless and only worses the situation there. All the arguments, why the USA fights this war, like freedom, equality and peace, are listed but the song clearly mentions that the war is a failure, because in the end Vietnam wasn´t free, thousands of soldiers and even more innocent civilians died for no reason. Maybe the thougt of freeing Vietnam was a good idea but it didn´t work out this way, \"They\'re just there to try and make the people free,
But the way that they\'re doing it, it don\'t seem like that to me.\"
The song \"We shall overcome\" by Peet Seeger discribes the dream of every black, member of the underclass or anybody who feels or is discriminated against. The song is about the belief that the ones who sing the song (whoever it is) will overcome the situation they are in right now and one day they´ll live in peace and freedom, needn´t be afraid anymore. It also says \"we are not alone (some day)\" and \"the whole wide world around (some day)\" which means that they are all united and they won´t give up their dream until they are a respected part of society and not outsiders anymore. It has a very optimistic message because it is always \"we shall\" which means as much as \"we will\" and not something like \"we may\", so the song provides hope and courage. Maybe that´s why it became one of the most popular songs of the Civil Rights Movement in the Sixties.
\"Imagine\" by John Lennon is also a kind of dream, even an utopia of a world without religion, nationalism and possessions. The first verse deals with religion, saying you shall imagine there´s no heaven, no hell just the here and now and humans needn´t live as the bibel says because there is nothing worth struggling for and nothing to be afraid of, after death. Verse one also deals with the theme of countries. Saying if there were no countries or religion there would be nothing to fight and die for, meaning there would be no war anymore and all people could live together in peace. In the refrain Lennon speaks to an imaginary person or the audience, saying he may be judged as a dreamer because of his thoughts, but he´s not the only one. He invites us to \"join\" his point of view hoping for a better world. The second verse is about possessions, greed and hunger and imagining this all wouldn´t exist, only brotherhood and people sharing the world. In contrast to the first verse where he says to imagine all this is easy, in the second verse he has a few doubts and says, \"I wonder if you can\" because religion and this kind of nationalism are often criticised but things like greed and the need of possession is something \"human\" and it will be hard to get rid of these concepts. Because of the propagated values it has become kind of a hymn of the Peace Movement.
My personal favourite:
My favourite of these songs is \"Imagine\" by John Lennon. First of all, I really like the whole sound of the song, the melody and the way it´s sung. But of course also the propagated message in the song is so true and well thought-out and really made me think. I mean when you look back, most of the wars were fought because of religious conflicts or because of nationalism. And also that the song criticizes the human need of possession and greed shows me, that Lennon really thought about what he is singing. The song fits in every period of time, like nowadays you could also write a song like \"Imagine\" and the message would fit too. And I think this song gives a good overview about the topics The Sixties dealt with, like love, peace and harmony. All these point make \"Imagine\" my favourite song (of these three of course).
Ivo Schwenkert
Comparison of Three Songs of the Sixties – Expressions of Revolutionary Ideas
The Sixties – a time of opposition, peaceful demonstrations and revolutionary ideas.
It was the time of the generation born at the end or after the Second World War. The postwar era full of privation was over – it was the time of the economic miracle and the beginning of a movement against war and for a peaceful living together. The ideas were mostly expressed in the arts, and especially music was a good way to tell people about your ideas and feelings. Because of this there are a lot of songs with a sociocritical content, which were written in the Sixties.
In the Following I would like to compare three songs of this time which were protesting against social structures in our society.
I start with “San Francisco (Be Sure You Wear Flowers In Your Hair)”, written by Scott McKenzie in 1967. The song is about the social revolution in the Sixties in general. He is talking about “people [being] in motion” (l. 10) and a new generation with new values and revolutionary ideas (l. 11), which, as I mentioned before, refers to the new born generation after the privations of the Second World War. Although he is talking about revolution, he also points out that it is peaceful. Scott McKenzie is talking about “gentle people” (l. 4) who wear flowers in their hair (l. 2). He uses flowers as a symbol of life and health, which embody the ideals of world peace and the anti-war movement anchored in this revolutionary generation.
He also points out, that not only a small part of society is captured by the new ideas and ideals, but a whole generation and even more than a whole country. “All across the nation [there was] such a strange vibration” (l. 9) and the longer these ideals were in the heads of the twenty year olds, the more people joined the anti-war movement.
The song is called “San Francisco”, because it was written as the unofficial anthem for the Monterey Pop Festival, which took place near San Francisco. Scott McKenzie also wore flowers in his hair, when he first played the song and therefore became a symbol of the Hippie-movement in the Summer of Love in 1967. Many peace activists and Folkies started to wear flowers in their hair and clothes too.
He also refers to the Summer of Love directly in his song with the phrase “Summertime will be a love-in there” (l. 6).
The song is a ballad and therefore played slowly, but the keyboard is playing a happier melody to underline the ballad. In my opinion Scott McKenzie wants to show with this melodic structure, that there was a horrible time during the war, but now the people have to enjoy their lives and even the ones who lived and maybe even fought in the war, have to look forward and let the horrors of war behind them.
In the third verse the music becomes gloomier, which conveys a more serious impression of the revolution. I think Scott McKenzie wants to point out that, although it was a peaceful revolution mostly lead by twenty year olds, it was meant and should be taken seriously – especially because the social revolution wanted to point out important mistakes and social injustices in our society.
Now I would like to go on with “This Land Is Your Land” written by Woody Guthrie in 1940.
This song is more a song criticizing the social structures in the country before the social revolution and could be seen as one of the songs, which initiated it.
The lyrics express Guthrie's belief that the working class should have the same rights as the rich.
It was written in reaction to the great dissatisfaction when people couldn’t find work anymore and were quite literally starving. Woody Guthrie starts with painting an exaggerated picture of the United States of America as the land of opportunity with “an endless skyway” (l. 6) above his head and “a golden valley” (l. 7) beneath his feet, which shows on the one hand the total greatness of the land, but on the other hand he uses only objects which are visually beautiful, what points out at the same time, that America is only great on the surface. In the fifth verse he starts to question the greatness of America and starts talking about a divide between the rich and the poor. He, a member of the working class, is only allowed to stand on the one side of a sign (l. 18), which refers to the divide between the members of different social classes.
In the last verse he questions “If this land's still made for you and me” (l. 24), where he seems to be asking whether the government really cares about its citizens. He is also addressing the issue of ownership by pointing out that members of the working class are dealing with hunger while the land is so rich.
Woody Guthrie was born into a poor family and his parents died early, which left him with nothing to start his life with. Therefore he tramped as a Hobo through the country and played as a busker in order to earn some money. Because of these experiences he started to criticize the social system, where law-abiding, working people had to live in poverty and he expressed his criticism in his lyrics. The song is a critical commentary on capitalism, land ownership, and the way our society is set up in general.
The third song I want to talk about is “Imagine”, written by John Lennon in 1971.
The lyrics are against war as well, but John Lennon goes further. He criticizes the reasons leading to wars – the human behavior and the society he is living in. It is human nature to fight over differences between them. In his songs Lennon is talking about a world without all the different beliefs and attitudes dividing the people and therefore without a need to fight over them. He is talking about a world without religions, which would end the fight which of them is the true one and it would stop persecutions of religious minorities. Lennon points out in his lyrics, that a world without countries would stop the humans’ strive to spread the own culture and to expand their territory. He is also asking his audience to “imagine no possessions” (l. 17) which would create a world without a “need for greed and hunger” (l. 19).
In John Lennon’s opinion without these factors people would live a “life in peace” (l. 12) and share the whole world with each other (l. 22).
But he is aware of the fact that he is a dreamer (l. 9) and that the world will probably never look the way he is imagining it, because humans will never overcome their differences.
In his song Lennon also refers to the anti-war movement in the Sixties. He is pointing out that he is not the only one convinced of these ideals (l. 14) and that there will be a time, when people are joining the movement against war (l. 15). It is also showing that Lennon does not think that his idea of an ideal world is a completely hopeless case. The anti-war movement, the ideas of a peaceful world and the incipient social revolution show, that there are many people willing to create a world without divided social groups – and therefore without war – work.
John Lennon’s song “Imagine” expresses his hope and the hope of many other people to live one day in a better world without humans fighting each other.
This song has a strong political message, probably referring to the Vietnam War that is underplayed with a catchy melody. Lennon realized that a softer approach would bring the song to a wider audience, who hopefully would listen to his message.
The three songs I have discussed in the preceding text have all a sociocritical content, but they point out different aspects of the social revolution in the Sixties and of mistakes in our society.
While “Imagine” and “San Francisco” refer directly to the peace movement “This Land Is Your Land” is more concerned with the reasons for the dissatisfaction which led to the social revolution. The poverty of the working class and the social injustices predominating the time during the Second World War were also reasons for the rise of the social revolution.
John Lennon grasps the aspect of the divide between the rich and the poor in his song as well, even though he does not refer to it directly. He indirectly points it out, when he is talking about the differences polarizing people and leading to wars – the divide between the rich and the poor can be seen as one of them.
Although “Imagine” and “San Francisco” were written in the same period of time and discuss the same issues, there are also some differences. While “San Francisco” is talking about the people being responsible for the social revolution, “Imagine” is more concerned with the reasons and the social injustices in our society. Both of them propagate a world without war and both of them refer to the Vietnamese War, but they convey totally different impressions. While “San Francisco” emphasizes the positive aspects of the anti-war movement, “Imagine” concentrates on the negative aspects, which initiated it.
Also “San Francisco” and “This Land Is Your Land” do not content a direct message and they don’t address a direct request to their audience – in contrast to “Imagine”. The lyrics point out a direct request – to imagine a better world without the differences between the people. “San Francisco” points out indirectly that Scott McKenzie is supporting the social revolution, because he is talking positively about the peace movement. In the lyrics of “This Land Is Your Land” there is never said directly that America isn’t as great as it is depicted, but Woody Guthrie indirectly conveys the impression that there are mistakes in the structure of our society.
Altogether “This Land Is Your Land” has to be seen in a different light than the other two songs, because it was written in a completely different time – during the Second World War. This is why these lyrics are more concerned with the domestic policy of the USA while the other songs were written in a similar period of time and therefore were influenced by the anti-war movement. Because of this the lyrics are also about foreign policy and especially the mistakes which were made, for example in the Vietnamese War. Also the focus is more set on a peaceful world, while “This Land Is Your Land” is more about how your own country can do more for the citizen and how people can improve their living conditions.
“Imagine” by John Lennon is the song I like the most, because he exactly describes the human nature and the social injustices in our society – what they are like in real life. He tried to draw people’s attention to the mistakes and to make a difference with his song. It is also a song full of hope to experience a better world one day and it gives Lennon’s hope to his audience and to the world.
Hannah Götzke
W-Seminar project of Deutschhaus Gymnasium, Würzburg &
Maria-Theresia-Gymnasium, Augsburg
Complaints, questions, comments?
Contact richard@richardhwinter.de