Comments on: THE BEATLES - “All You Need Is Love”

By: The Intl

The Intl — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:41:48 +0000

Fact: this was a crap song. Flip it over, & you have the much better choice, replete with faux-funky beat. Poor Beatles were losing out to Airplane, Doors, soul, etc. Very out of touch. I still loved ‘em, though, kinda like you love an uncle who was once cool but now kinda pathetic and still in the “pull my finger” mode after you’ve hit puberty and become clothes conscious.

By: Sharon Rose Goldberg Mercado

Sharon Rose Goldberg Mercado — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 05:03:58 +0000

I don’t understand why all the negative comments on this song. Is the world afraid of love. This was a worldwide event and the message was love. Love is all good as versus all evil. Upright homosapien has a higher brain. War is for beast. Human mammals have their higher brain and should be aware they have the organ, a heart that is the seat of emotions. War is one of the most irrational ideologies in existence. Violence is negative, evil, not productive. The world does need love and their simple, melodic song is what the world needs for all time. Our planet is in great trouble and if most humans had a better education, they would realize that simple fact. By 2024 and possibly sooner most of the fish will be gone!!!!! Read more, get more educated. There are amazing books out now writen by intelectuals, it is time to have heart and I think it is sad to criticize the Beatles song. Power, greed, and sexual irrationalities, and the irrational greed for money are what is destroying our planet. It is hard to realize that most of our population is not suffiently educated, and who is to blame for that here in America.

Has the whole Country gone mad, has anyone demanded that all our bridges be fixed instead of all our money being robbed by robber barons. A small percentage of humans own most of the money and resources on this planet and they are destroying our Planet. We scientist who are not being paid off to be part of the governing of our planet and intellectuals who are not paid off, should be part of governing our planet. University professors who are not being paid off, should be part of the governing body that can prevent our blue planet earth from imploding from so much toxics as an end result from a few man who are polluting our planet with no regard for their own children and grandchildren. Money and power and greed will not insulate any man. thanx I love the Beattle song and we need more groups like the Beattles singing again via Satelite world wide and we need to have all negative governments use this song and begin saving the earth with respect and love for their planet. Love Sharon Rose

I do hope no one hates me for speaking up like what happen to the sweet Dixie Chicks, An American Icon singing our heritage of Country Western music to the world. New Orleans was our historical heritage and is gone forever. What is going on out there. Has the whole world gone mad!!!! No one should ever be persecuted for speaking the truth. Mother Teresa was the most beautiful living human mammal on the earth. And thankfully there have been Human mammals like her and there are some now and hopefully in our future. Education and love for all humanity is where it is. No one wins if they do not work together for the good of everyone.

By: Lena

Lena — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 23:58:29 +0000

And its being used for the last few moments of The Prisoner…

By: Southall

Southall — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 15:36:09 +0000

The best thing about this tune is its b-side.

By: koganbot

koganbot — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 22:29:38 +0000

what makes it work for people who were around at the time

I love statements like this. I was around at the time, I was a Beatles fan to boot, and I found this song’s stupidity totally offensive.

By: Mark Gamon

Mark Gamon — Wed, 31 May 2006 09:04:00 +0000

In another life, John Lennon would have done rather well as an advertising copywriter. All You Need Is Love. Give Peace a Chance. War is Over, if You Want It. The point about all three songs is they don’t need any further elaboration: he was trying to stick a catchphrase into the collective consciousness - and in the case of All You Need is Love, he chose just about the most direct delivery method anyone could imagine at the time (the global broadcast).

Waddaya know? It worked. Doesn’t matter that the songs were sometimes over-simplistic - it’s the straplines that are Lennon’s legacy.

(Mind you, he wrote a few good songs too…)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 30 May 2006 14:53:00 +0000

LOL

give Peace a CHANCE ! :-)

B in C

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 30 May 2006 14:52:00 +0000

As for content and directness of the message, John was probably thinking along the same lines when he wrote ” Give Peace A Change”.

Writing anthems.

Brian in Canada

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 30 May 2006 08:09:00 +0000

John - who wasn’t exactly in his most creative period - was entrusted with the bulk of the writing. He only had one message he wanted to get across and arguably this he did albeit without too much finesse. Love, love, love was all he needed and therefore that’s what we all needed and who can argue ? It was designed to represent the moment and I believe it achieved at least that. Ok - it doesn’t stand up too well in hindsight because we know ultimately their heady optimism would fail - but for one fleeting moment everything was possible. This isn’t a song that makes any real sense in any time other than it s own.

ITF

By: Pete

Pete — Sun, 28 May 2006 11:09:00 +0000

OK, it’s not great as a song but what makes it work for people who were around at the time is the circumstances in which it was recorded.

In June 1967 there were enough communication satellites orbitting to allow a world wide live TV programme to be broadcast for the first time. This was some achievement in itself, of course. Most of the countries which took part copped out on the content and, in their segments, just broadcast really boring stuff such as national dances featuring folks in funny costumes. I seem to recall that Australia showed a street corner in a city (Sydney?) from a fixed camera (hey, shades of web cams!) while Mexico had a military band playing on a roof top. Dead boring stuff only relieved by being zapped by the realisation that it was possible at all. The UK had other ideas though and broadcast The Beatles sitting around with a large bunch of stoned hippies and others recording All You Need Is Love. What better message to send to a world where the Vietnam war was at its height? So far as I’m aware the record is the recording of that event and should be heard in that context.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sun, 28 May 2006 01:13:00 +0000

The “but there is a DARK SIDE to (insert happy pop song here)” trope is probably one of the most overused and boring ones ever, but still I do feel inclined to ask - “there’s nothibng you can do that can’t be done”? And the solution is “you can learn how to play the game - it’s easy!” I mean, sure, you could just interpret this as carpe diem common sense, but still it’s always struck me as weird that, in an era where everyone was going on about expanding your senses, finding new worlds, realising dreams, etc. the Beatle’s supposedly most blatant hippie tune seems to be all about limits, about what you can’t accomplish. And love doesn’t change that, it just makes you feel better about not being able to do anything.

By: Doctor Mod

Doctor Mod — Sat, 27 May 2006 02:39:00 +0000

Come to think about it, the party in the Yellow Submarine was a lot more fun . . . .

By: Doctor Mod

Doctor Mod — Fri, 26 May 2006 23:33:00 +0000

What’s so funny about peace love and understanding?

Following fast on the heels of “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” we come to yet another party where all the participants seem to be stoned, minus the “bad trip” aspect this time around.

I remember seeing this on television, part of some sort of celebration of global live broadcasting via satellite, I think. Even then, it had an impromptu feeling about it. I recall the cue cards (with the lyrics translated into various languages) exhorting everyone in the world to sing along, and someone on the broadcast said that the Beatles wrote this song with ultra-simple lyrics so that they would be accessible to everyone in the universe, or something to that effect. Still, even a sixteen-year-old could sense that there was something not quite right here.

All the news about the Beatles suggested that all was not well–drugs, Yoko, and a variety of other factors seemed to be tearing them apart. In retrospect, it’s amazing they held together for another two years and then some. But after their announcement that they’d never perform live again, this broadcast suggested they might reconsider. And I think the success of the record was not so much the song itself as a gesture of relief that we (the fans) hadn’t lost them after all.

The song does, of course, lack the complexity of the best late Beatles work, and it seems like something rapidly tossed off in retrospect. Not brilliant, but fun. And the sentiments, though naive, told us something we wanted to hear then.

Too bad they’re not listening now.

By: Mark Gamon

Mark Gamon — Fri, 26 May 2006 12:11:00 +0000

Tell you what, Tom: we knew at the time that this was schlock by Beatles standards. Think of it as half a yard over the peak of their career - and looking downhill from then on, give or take the odd hillock.

Nice costumes, though. And it WAS exciting staying up to watch it on the black and white telly.