With a Little Honey

The Political Songs of the Beatles

It’s nearly impossible to think of the Beatles in the context of their times without thinking of their politics: their positions on the Establishment, the counterculture, the Vietnam War, the Feminist Movement, the class struggle – we remember at all.

During their eight years recording together as a band, they delivered 14 songs that had political content. In the first few years after that, they did many more.

John was the pacesetter, before and after; no surprise, he was always the most politically outspoken with the press. George came in second, Paul a largely apolitical third.

Within the group canon, the songs themselves fall into three classes: openly political (“Taxman”, “Revolution”); veiled political (“Blackbird”, “Girl”); and possibly political (depending on interpretation – “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”, “A Day in the Life”).

All these songs are deeply rooted in their moments, but they are moments that remain worthy of scrutiny and remembrance – snapshots of turbulent times that shaped a generation, chronicled by the most gifted cultural influencers of the 20th century.