Bee brings us another song for peace; the video is not available in some areas, but she’s transcribed the lyrics in her post below. I think you’ll appreciate her entire post.
For my selection: this is not the usual rock or folk that I’ve been posting; it’s very beautiful, all the same. I’ve been curious about it since Bee began the Peace Song Challenge, so today’s the day! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
I’ve loved this song since I was a kid; we actually learned it in Sunday School! I still think it’s a fine peace song. Enjoy Peter, Paul, and Mary, with their Hammer!
I’d been thinking of this song over this past week; today I was pleased to see it on another blog, so this one from the Isley Brothers is my choice. There are other covers, maybe almost equal to this one, which you can see at the page linked “another blog.” Enjoy! It’s smooth.
Bee brings us the Black Pumas, and a bit of commentary that begins, “One aspect of a peaceful existence is to consider our fellow humans as our family not our enemies.” Precisely!
My selection is this story, with The BeeGees performing Bob Dylan and then their own peace music. It’s an excellent story, and very good performances! Their own song is equal, at least, to Bob Dylan’s, but Barry Gibb discusses Bob Dylan’s influence on his music.
In 1962, the Australian Army began its formal military commitment to the U.S war in Vietnam. Two years later, young men were required to register for the National Service scheme and forced to fight in a bloody war that would enlist over 80,000 Australians. Over the next 11 years, 523 Australians died in battle and nearly 2400 were wounded before the country withdrew.
The fear of being sent to Vietnam to kill or be killed for the government struck fear into the hearts of many young Australians in 1963. That’s why three teenage boys, Barry (17), Robin (14), and Maurice (14) Gibb, The Bee Gees, took their big moment on Australian TV to speak truth to power by singing Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.” The Bee Gees were relative unknowns that night on Bandstand, but by the end of the decade, they would be among the biggest acts in the world.
The Bee Gees sang ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ on Australian TV in 1963
“Blowin’ in the Wind,” released earlier that year, asks fundamental questions about war, racial justice, and whether humanity will ever live in peace and equality. The song would become one of the most important anthems in the Civil Rights and peace movements of the ‘60s and beyond.
Barry Gibb, now 79, says that even as a teenager, he completely understood why Dylan’s song needed to be heard. “I was rapidly approaching the time when I would have to register for the draft,” he told Upworthy in an exclusive interview. “It’s hard to explain that period, except that everyone was very worried, very worried, and Bob Dylan was our hero.”
“The Vietnam War was such chaos to the Australian people that it shadowed everything. I wrote a song called ‘And the Children Laughing’ because of what Bob Dylan had written. It’s about life and dying, and the idea that you would die for your country or go and kill people you don’t know. And I don’t want to go kill people. It was not on the table for me. So everything he wrote touched me deeply,” Gibb continued.
Why don’t you get on your feet
It’s about time you got to think
Whatever happened to peace?
Well, open your eyes and you’ll see children laughing
Voices singin’, hearts a-beatin’ ah…
Barry Gibb has always believed in peace
(snip-there MORE; it’s not too long, but this is a long post with the music)
“On Tuesday, I commented on Scottie’s Playtime that I believe we create what we focus on. I believe focusing so much on those who want to divide us the people to gain from the division we give them the power they think they deserve.
That’s why I feel that music, poetry & stories with a vision for a better world are so important.” (snip-go listen to Bob Marley, and read the provenance of “One Love”!)
The above song was-maybe Dixie Chicked?-in my area, as I heard it for the first time last night on Bee’s blog. It’s good, and it should have been on the radio, but somehow, it just wasn’t. Interesting, no?
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Here is my own choice for this post. Peace & love! ✌ 🫶
I thought you needed this. by Jenny Lawson (thebloggess)
It might be my compulsive thoughts talking, but here goes. Read on Substack
Dear friend,
This is the last week of October and so I drew you a Halloweeny sketch but then Sunday I had this really weird thought that someone out there needed to hear something specific and so I drew it up and thought I’d share it next week but my very compulsive mind is telling me that I need to post it now. This might just be my OCD winning but I also believe in following your gut, so next week you’ll get my Halloween drawing WAY AFTER HALLOWEEN and I’m so sorry I’m like this.
But…maybe you’re the person who needs to hear this today…
it’s going to be okay. I love you. You are doing amazing.
The world is hard at times and we’re all fighting so many battles, but you’re doing so much better than you think. You are making differences in the lives of people in ways you’ll probably never see. It’s easy to let the darkness around us overshadow the light, but your shine is integral. It may be impossible for your own eyes to recognize the glow you bring, but it is so gorgeously obvious to so many others.
“I can’t always keep the rain away. But I’ll always share my umbrella.”