Revolution (Beatles song)
On the 17th of March, 25,000 demonstrators marched to the American embassy in London's Grosvenor Square and violently clashed with police. This event occurred during a period of intense global unrest that would soon influence John Lennon. Media coverage following the Tet Offensive spurred increased protests against the Vietnam War among university students across the United States. The upheaval reflected the increased politicisation of the 1960s youth movement and the rise of New Left ideology. For these students and activists, the Maoist idea of cultural revolution provided a model for social change. Lennon decided to write a song about this recent wave of social upheaval while the Beatles were in Rishikesh, India. He recalled thinking it was time they spoke about the Vietnamese war after years of silence.
The Beatles began recording sessions for their new album on the 30th of May at EMI Studios. Take 18 lasted 10:17 minutes and became the foundation for additional overdubs recorded over the next two sessions. During overdubs which brought the recording to take 20, Lennon performed his lead vocal while lying on the floor. Engineer Peter Bown announced the remix as RM1 of Take before forgetting the number. Lennon jokingly finished with "Take your knickers off and let's go!" The first half of the recording is almost identical to the released track Revolution 1 but lacks electric guitar and horn overdubs. It features two tape loops in the key of A that are faded in and out at various points. After the final chorus, the song launches into an extended coda similar to that in Hey Jude. Beyond where the album version fades out, the basic instrumental backing keeps repeating while vocals become increasingly chaotic. Harrison and McCartney repeatedly sing dada mama in a childlike register. Radio tuning noises appear alongside Lennon's multiple screams of right and alright.
The Hey Jude single was issued on the 26th of August 1968 in the US with UK release taking place on the 30th of August. Two days after the record's US release, violent scenes occurred at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Police and National Guardsmen were filmed clubbing Vietnam War protestors during these events. The single became the band's first release on Apple Records, their EMI-distributed record label. As part of their Apple Corps business enterprise, the label was run on counterculture principles intended to be a form of Western communism. The single was one of four records sent in gift-wrapped boxes marked Our First Four to Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the royal family. In the US, Revolution peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on Record Worlds chart. The latter peak was achieved while Hey Jude was at number 1. The single was listed as a double-sided number 1 in Australia while Revolution topped New Zealand's singles chart for one week following Hey Judes five-week run at number 1 there.
Until summer 1968, political activists and far left publications in the US distanced themselves from rock music and had no expectations of its relevance to their cause. According to historian Jon Wiener, Revolution inspired the first serious debate about the connection between politics and 1960s rock music. The countercultures reaction was especially informed by news footage of violent scenes outside the Democratic National Convention on the 28th of August. Soviet tanks invaded Czechoslovakia which marked the return of Soviet-style communism and the end of the Prague Spring. Ramparts branded the song a betrayal of the cause and the Berkeley Barb likened it to the hawk plank adopted this week in the Chicago convention of the Democratic Death Party. In Britain, the New Left Review derided the song as a lamentable petty bourgeois cry of fear. Black Dwarf said it showed the Beatles to be the consciousness of the enemies of the revolution. The far left contrasted Revolution with the Rolling Stones concurrent single Street Fighting Man which Mick Jagger had been inspired to write after attending the violent rally at Grosvenor Square in March.
Challenged on his political stance, Lennon exchanged open letters with John Hoyland, a student radical from Keele University, in the pages of Black Dwarf. Hoyland wrote the first letter in late October 1968 expecting that Lennons drugs bust would make him more sympathetic to a radical agenda. Hoyland said Revolution was no more revolutionary than the radio soap opera Mrs Dales Diary. He criticised Lennon for continuing to espouse an ideology expressed in All You Need Is Love when context demanded destruction. Before writing a reply, Lennon met with two other students from Keele University at his home in Surrey on the 3rd of December. Referring to Hoylands letter, he said that a destructive approach to societal change merely makes way for a destructive ruling power citing Russian and French revolutions. His letter published in Black Dwarf on the 10th of January 1969 countered that Hoyland was on a destruction kick. Lennon closed the letter with a postscript saying You smash it and Ill build around it. The exchange included a second letter from Hoyland and was syndicated internationally in the underground press.
In 1987, Revolution became the first Beatles recording to be licensed for use in a television commercial. Nike paid $500,000 for the right to use the song for one year split between recording owner Capitol-EMI and song publisher ATV Music Publishing owned by Michael Jackson. Commercials using the song started airing in March 1987. The three surviving Beatles through Apple Corps filed a lawsuit in July objecting to Nikes use of the song. The suit was aimed at Nike its advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy and Capitol-EMI Records. Capitol-EMI said the lawsuit was groundless because they had licensed the use of Revolution with the active support and encouragement of Yoko Ono Lennon. Fans were outraged at Nikes appropriation of the song and incensed at Jackson and Ono for allowing the Beatles work to be commercially exploited in this way. Harrison commented in an interview for Musician magazine that if allowed to happen every Beatles song ever recorded is going to be advertising womens underwear and sausages. They don't have any respect for the fact that we wrote and recorded those songs and it was our lives.
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Common questions
When did John Lennon write the song Revolution?
John Lennon wrote the song Revolution while the Beatles were in Rishikesh, India during 1968. He decided to compose the track after reflecting on recent social upheaval and the Vietnam War.
What date was the single Revolution released in the United States?
The Hey Jude single containing Revolution was issued in the US on the 26th of August 1968. The UK release followed four days later on the 30th of August 1968.
How many weeks did Revolution top New Zealand's singles chart?
Revolution topped New Zealand's singles chart for one week following the five-week run of Hey Jude at number 1 there. The song peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.
Who sued Nike over the use of Revolution in a television commercial?
The three surviving Beatles filed a lawsuit against Nike in July 1987 objecting to the use of the song. They also sued the advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy and Capitol-EMI Records regarding the licensing agreement.
Which publication called Revolution a lamentable petty bourgeois cry of fear?
The New Left Review derided the song as a lamentable petty bourgeois cry of fear during 1968. Black Dwarf described the track as showing the Beatles to be the consciousness of the enemies of the revolution.