View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Trinity College Trinity College Trinity College Digital Repository Faculty Scholarship Spring 2005 John Lennon, “Revolution,” and the Politics of Musical Reception John Platoff Trinity College,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/facpub Part of the Music Commons JOM.Platoff_pp241-267 6/2/05 9:20 AM Page 241 John Lennon, “Revolution,” and the Politics of Musical Reception JOHN PLATOFF A lmost everything about the 1968 Beatles song “Revolution” is complicated. The most controversial and overtly political song the Beatles had produced so far, it was created by John Lennon at a time of profound turmoil in his personal life, and in a year that was the turning point in the social and political upheavals of the 1960s. Lennon’s own ambivalence about his message, and conflicts about the song within the group, resulted in the release of two quite 241 different versions of the song. And public response to “Revolution” was highly politicized, which is not surprising considering its message and the timing of its release. In fact, an argument can be made that the re- ception of this song permanently changed the relationship between the band and much of its public. As we will see, the reception of “Revolution” reflected a tendency to focus on the words alone, without sufficient attention to their musical setting. Moreover, response to “Revolution” had much to do not just with the song itself but with public perceptions of the Beatles.