John Lennon Born in 1940 Grew up with his Aunt, in the 1940s and 1950s The Beatles first single “Love Me Do” released in 1962 The Beatles first number one, “From Me to You”, released in 1963

Love Me Do Released 1962 Look at the Lyrics. What is the song about>

She Loves You Released 1963 Look at the Lyrics. What is the song about?

Throughout the 1960s, many of the songs that The Beatles released were about Love, and Life. In 1969, the manager of The Beatles, Brian Epstein died. In the same year The Beatles stopped working together to make music. The individual members of The Beatles still worked alone.

What was John Lennon doing in the 1970s? What do you know about the 1970s Talk to a partner Watch Espresso link about 1970s

Imagine there's no Heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace You may say that I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world You may say that I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one

“Imagine” was released in 1971 John Lennon, and Yoko Ono had strong beliefs about a war that was happening at the time Have you heard about “The Vietnam War?”

You are going to learn a little bit about the background of “The Vietnam War”. It’s quite hard going, but stick with it!

Vietnam

Before and after WW2 (1939 – 1945), France controlled Vietnam. After WW2, there was conflict between France, and the Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Min Eventually, France left Vietnam, and the country split into 2 – north and South Vietnam North Vietnam wanted to get rid of the democratic Government that the South had – They wanted the whole country to be communist.

A war broke out between the North and South – The North wanted the whole country to be communist, the South wanted to keep their Government Lots of American soldiers were brought in to fight on behalf of the South. They brought lots of powerful guns and bombs. In America, at the time, teenage boys of the age of 17/18 had to join the armed forces by law and serve a fixed amount of time.

What different views do you think there were about the war in Vietnam and American soldiers being forced to fight? Discuss with your partner and be ready to tell us what your partner said.

Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace Now what do you think John Lennon was trying to say with these lyrics?

John Lennon and Yoko Ono stayed in bed for a whole week Why do you think they did this? Who do you think would have been interested in this?

Look closely at the photographs. Who do you see? What are the people wearing? What are they carrying? What are their hairstyles like?

YOUR Task: In groups of 4 or 5, recreate the scene of John Lennon and Yoko Ono during the “Bed In for Peace”

Do you know of any pop stars today who protest about political issues? Should pop stars protest about political issues? What are the advantages/disadvantages of them doing this?