Guest Post by John W. Whitehead
“Count me out if it’s for violence. Don’t expect me at barricades unless it is with flowers…. What’s the point of bombing Wall Street? If you want to change the system, it’s no good shooting people.”—John Lennon
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
America is still wrestling with many of the same problems today—endless wars, civil unrest, campus riots, racial tensions, police brutality, divisive politics, overreaching government agencies and threats to freedom—that it struggled with 50 years ago when the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on June 1, 1967.
In retrospect, perhaps the Sixties Generation and “1960s rock didn’t save the world—maybe didn’t even change the world enough,” but it was still a transformative time for those coming of age and trying to find their place in the world, and the Beatles played a large part in shaping that conversation.
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No album was more influential than the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Indeed, when Rolling Stone announced its top 500 pop music albums of all time several years ago, perched at the top of the heap was Sgt. Pepper, which Rolling Stone heralded as “the most important rock & roll album ever made, an unsurpassed adventure in concept, sound, sanguinity, cover art and studio technology by the greatest rock & roll group of all time.”
More than mere music, however, Sgt. Pepper’s “formally ushered in an unforgettable season of hope, upheaval and achievement: the late 1960s and, in particular, 1967’s Summer of Love.”
The events leading up to 1967 laid the groundwork for a social revolution powered by young people. With the young ripe for rebellion, drugs invading the country and altering people’s consciousness, and the drums of war providing a constant backbeat, it was only a matter of time before flower power and peace became the mantra of the Sixties’ generation.
University students and academics began believing that the Vietnam War was a direct result of the greed and lies of old men in suits and uniforms. The government—the “Establishment” that John Lennon would later refer to as “the monster”—had withheld the real story in order to do its dirty work. “I think we’re being run by maniacs for maniacal ends,” Lennon recognized.
All of these cultural streams converged in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was hailed as a major cultural event upon its release, simultaneously mirroring the angst of its age while offering a solution to the social and political upheavals of the day. The solution offered by the Beatles was a return to spirituality and love for our fellow human beings.
Sgt. Pepper’s was a declaration of change, both culturally and personally for a generation coming of age and for the Beatles, in particular.
Retreating into Abbey Road studios, the Beatles focused their efforts on creating a concept album that would showcase their artistry and vision, while allowing them to embark on a virtual tour with the album as the medium. Seven hundred recording hours later, Sgt. Pepper’s was born in all its psychedelic glory, the Beatles’ most audacious and inspired leap into the avant-garde: their self-presentation as fictional characters.
Sgt. Pepper transformed rock music from a musical diversion into an art form. At heart, Sgt. Pepper was a spiritual experience for an increasingly materialistic world. George Harrison’s “Within You, Without You,” the centerpiece of the album, is a warning not to get lost in materialism or we will lose our souls. The album’s final song, John Lennon’s “A Day in the Life,” points to the horrors of existence if humanity does not abstain from its destructive tendencies.
The Summer of Love followed in the wake of Sgt. Pepper’s release. Optimism filled the air, the almost tangible hope that peace would eventually prevail and the destructiveness of humanity would end. Armed with “flower power,” young people took to the streets and demonstrated en masse against the Vietnam War.
By 1968, however, the radiance of that golden age had already started to fade. Student rebels around the world adopted more militant tactics. Flower power was replaced by raised fists. Cultural heroes such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were brutally assassinated. The Beatles too were disbanding.
By the end of 1968, it was clear that the Beatles were not going to save the world.
Yet the music of the Beatles remains with us as a poignant reminder that we all have a part to play in bringing about a world dedicated to peace and love. And the greater lesson of their music—that evil does not have to triumph and that good can prevail if only we can step beyond our self-interest—is one that we each must learn in our own time and in our own way.
First, as John Lennon cautioned, we have to stop playing the government’s games.
As I point out in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, all of the many complaints we have about government today—surveillance, militarism, corruption, harassment, SWAT team raids, political persecution, spying, overcriminalization, etc.—were present in Lennon’s day and formed the basis of his call for social justice, peace and a populist revolution.
The answer to oppression, injustice and tyranny is the same today as it was 50 years ago: if you want freedom, you have to begin by freeing your mind. That will mean rejecting violence, politics and anything that divides.
“You gotta remember, establishment, it’s just a name for evil. The monster doesn’t care whether it kills all the students or whether there’s a revolution. It’s not thinking logically, it’s out of control,” warned John Lennon. “When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system’s game. The establishment will irritate you – pull your beard, flick your face – to make you fight. Because once they’ve got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humor.”
Flowers can’t stop Evil like TPTB or muslims but Power can.
Really? JC brought down the Roman Empire (according to Edward Gibbons at least).
Hot air cools to ambient, souffles & empires fall.
true, but that does not change the fact that external factors play different roles in said collapse.
Mercy…External factors are correlations. Inherent contradiction deflates the soufflempire. Then inherently contradicted bakers throw another one into the oven.
again, granted, but do you combat injustice with martyrdom or violent resistance? The movie “The Mission” sets out the dichotomy well: Jeremy Irons (martyrdom) or Robert DiNero (violent resistance)? Or is it your position that it does not matter?
I think injustice isn’t owed any favors, or marquess of queensberry rules. Kick it’s ass any way you can. If you can. If you can’t, as will be the case in any of these big picture contexts, arms length & avoidance at all costs of pitched battles has become my strategy…which I learned the hard way. Violence *is* martyrdom in the big picture.
My observation, rather than position, is that it does indeed not matter: inherent contradiction does the work & then, not close observers give credit to the correlational straw that finally breaks the camel’s overloaded back instead of the correlational biologically insane mechanismen who compulsively pile it on – & about whom\which nothing can be done (so let it be, beatles sang).
Said another way, as found in Darwin’s personal notebooks: nobody deserves credit for anything. Said another way by Bill Hicks: it’s just a ride (even if it is a figure-8 track demolition derby). Said another way, apparent cause\effect is Newtonian (which can & does pull ballistic rabbits out of barrels & onto targets) but underneath that sleight of hand is the quantum, where the living is so easy it can’t be measured, caused, effected. (Only thing Heisenberg could be certain of was that it was gonna’ break bad, sooner or later.)
Here’s what I would emphasize re “The Mission”: De Niro one-dimensionally personified violence (he killed his own brother over a woman), & all that varied was the target he was aimed at. His violence was as counterproductive, & futile, as Irons passive aggressiveness was.
Remember the line from Platoon? Only Barnes can kill Barnes (only superficially did the Charlie Sheen straw do it). Human nature’s way bigger than city hall’s way bigger than windmill’s way bigger than dykes’s way bigger than thumbhole leak’s. & flies are smaller than spiders…birds…cats…dogs…goats…cows…horses – but people swallow ‘em all. & die. Of course. But preferably en masse. “Secure” passage.
OK, Power with Justice and Mercy? Gospel Christianity has the answers to mankind’s problems and Jesus is Lord of Lords but did Gibbons mention the Barbarian Invasions, government corruption, liberalism, Diversity and bad money? When Jesus returns, he won’t be handing out joints at gay parties.
I doubt he will have a gun either. In fact he already showed us how to behave in the face of injustice. It has something to do with a cross.
The prophecies indicate otherwise, with his return coming at the most violent and destructive final battle in human history ending a period when around 2/3 of humanity will have been killed.
The prophecies indicate that Jesus is going to do the killing (which would contradict the example he has already set)? Or is he going to come back in the midst of humans killing each other (which we have been doing since Adam consumed that voluptuous juicy snack in the garden)? This distinction makes somewhat of a difference.
My understanding is that Jesus will lead the force that defeats the Satanic forces (and those forces will consist of people as well as supernatural beings). It will not be something symbolic, it will be a real and extraordinarily violent military confrontation with one side, the side of Jesus, totally destroying the other down to the last man and demon.
Reference Joel 3:2,12,14,15 among others, it is Jesus that gathers the nations for this final battle.
You can find a lot of information on the internet regarding the prophecies, but I would recommend a local Bible study group and personal study of the scriptures before wading into the internet since you will find a lot of misunderstanding there as well as true knowledge.
“Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations. And he Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” Revelation 19:15
1st step is always admission of problem. Of all addictions, hopium is the most resistant to that admission. Hopium’s the soma that’s been so thoroughly somatotyped it is almost completely taken for granted as being good, nay, ideal. The body bears the burden…then projects it. projectiles of hope, Russian roulette x 3:
Step beyond self-interest? C’mon. Divides are good. Good fences make good neighbors. And an undivided house containing all – the monster – cannot stand. But every wo\man is an island. That platitude platterers almost universally disdain island life is a hint. And a tell.
Bruce Springsteen’s albums “Darkness on the Edge of Town” and “Magic” play a similar more recent role. If you can get past his political ignorance, Springsteen is a profound protest artist.
Beatles were OK, but they’re no Rush.
Isaac Newton was OK but he was no James Maxwell. That’s because Maxwell was standing on Newton’s shoulders.
I love Rush but I love the Beatles more.
The album “Sgt. Peppers” was about William Campbell Shears (Billy Shears) and a death, and as George Harrison always said, (Faul).
Faux Paul
Wasn’t John Lennon also a deeply devoted Marxist?
Outlaw personal possessions, ban not only freedom of faith but all faiths –and on and on…. A unified world under a central, controlled governing body. The problem with Lennon and his ilk, it always sounds great to have a world with equality ( brotherhood of man)–except they always place themselves ( along with the other elite professors/politicos/artists) as the “we know what’s good for you” rulers.
John Lennon was a capitalist and he (and Yoko) profited from the capitalist system.
According to a biography, Lennon was complaining about the taxes he had to pay, one of his assistants said, “But remember, imagine no possessions,” and Lennon said, “It’s just a f**king song.”
He did dabble in the idea of Socialism (due to Yoko) but it’s evident it was a just phase. He died a rich capitalist.
Lennon was murdered by Nixon over the war on drugs as Lennon was very influential and pushing hard for legal weed. The manchurian candidate type hit man served in Hawaii at the base where they do mind control experiments and despite being unemployed flew around the world paying cash before the murder. etc. Read that a while back in a magazine and would not be shocked if it were true.
I’ve read the same thing. The stories I read indicate, because Lennon was coming out of retirement and still had a huge following, he was too influential for the politicians, so he was taken care of before he became a problem.
During the Nixon administration, Strom Thurmond decided Lennon’s protests and marches for peace and against the Vietnam War could lead to a defeat for Nixon in the next election. He sent in the FBI who surveilled him unmercifully. Lennon was quoted as saying they were “driving him mad. You look behind you and there they are.” (I’ve also read that an actress, can’t remember her name, committed suicide because of the FBI’s targeting of her during that time.) The surveillance stopped after Lennon won his court battle and became a citizen and retired from music for a while.