All We Are Saying

The Political Beatles

By: Scott Robinson

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

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 it all.

And yet… the fact is, they were constrained from sharing their political opinions either in songs or in interviews by their manager, Brian Epstein. He sharply discouraged them from speaking out, lest they alienate some of their fan base.

They mostly held true to that admonition, from 1962 to 1967; when their political views did creep into the music, they were generally veiled (George’s “Taxman” being the sole exception). But after Brian’s death in the summer of 1967, they loosened up, and their political views popped up their music more and more.

And more still, after their 1970 break-up. 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.

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.