GIVE PEACE A CHANCE
From the very first moment John and I saw each other, we knew something was about to happen - something big. We just didn't know how big. When John and I sang "Give Peace A Chance" from our Bed- In in Montreal, we had no idea the song would become an anthem not only for our time but for generations to come. It went around the world, and made other songwriters realize that you can convey political messages with songs. Millions of people got together and joined in its chorus. Singing it together made us all realize that we were a power strong enough to change the world. Little did we know that that's when we, John and I, really made our beds for life.
Both of us experienced World War II from two opposite sides. We knew what it meant to be in the war. We knew how, suddenly, you could lose everything. We knew that people like us were the ones who really suffered, and the Generals and the politicians just kept dishing out lies to keep us pacified. That was an insult to kids like us. Two angry people. That's what we were. So when we met and hugged each other, our back bones literally relaxed. Let's change the world for the better together. YES! Never in a million years, did we think that promoting World Peace could be dangerous. Were we naive? Yes, on that account, we were. John sings on the CD: "Nobody told me there'd be days like these." That was his true confession. "Gimme Some Truth," another song in this collection, is a song only John could write and sing. It's a John Lennon Special born out of that unmistakable Liverpool attitude. Nobody would ever write a song like this and sing it the way John did.
The songs in this collection aren't just about peace; they also focus on issues of social injustice that were so important to us back then, like "Attica State." John was inspired to voice the injustice in the world he saw. He did it quickly just like the editorials of daily papers. What's fascinating to me is how these songs, taken from the original albums and used as score for the film, are given a whole new life. "I Don't Want To Be A Soldier Mama" and "Here We Go Again," tragically speak to life in our 21st Century. These songs have become relevant all over again. It's almost as if John wrote them for what we are going through now.
The filmmakers have chosen his best songs: powerful and insightful. There are the political slogans, "Give Peace a Chance" and "Power to the People" as well as the deep and tender songs like "Love," "Scared" and "Beautiful Boy" - songs from his heart that still touch us today.
Watching this film triggers in me memories of wonderful times, frightening moments, great victories and the final heartbreak - the moment the world stopped for me - and for so many people around the globe. At its heart is a story of a man who was driven to make a better world for all of us. I believe John would have loved this film. It's not tabloid, but rather it tells it like it was. "Gimme Some Truth," indeed.
I'll say no more. The songs speak for themselves. By listening to them, you will get the energy and power of a guy who believed in what he wrote, lived to sing them and died at the prime of his life as a singer/songwriter.
It is with great pride that along with my filmmaker friends at Authorized Pictures (David Leaf & John Scheinfeld), Lionsgate Films and EMI that I present the soundtrack to this important film, "The U.S. Vs. John Lennon."
War is Over (If You Want It)
Yoko Ono Lennon
Summer of 2006
