♫ Ebony and Ivory ♫

Posted on by under music, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

I am in a mood to end all moods tonight.  Not having slept much for the past three nights, and then being slapped in the face with the horrors that are happening all over this nation that I’m forced to remain in, I really want to bash some heads in.  I even yelled at the kitties!  In this mood, there are only a few songs that will soothe the savage beast within me, and this is my top pick.

piano-keysPaul McCartney wrote this song, saying that the message was “that people of all types could live together.”  He liked the piano analogy, since you can play using just the white keys or just the black keys, but to make great music, you have to combine them.  So true.

McCartney started recording this as a solo effort, but then got the idea to do it as a duet with Stevie Wonder. A demo made its way to Wonder, and he agreed to record it, standing wholeheartedly behind the message in the song. It was issued as a single and appeared on McCartney’s 1982 album Tug Of War.

This was Stevie Wonder’s first #1 single in the UK. His only other was I Just Called To Say I Love You in 1984.

Listen to the words, feel the camaraderie between these two men, feel the love … share the love, spread the love.  Love knows no colour boundaries, and neither should we.

Ebony & Ivory
Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder

Ebony and ivory
Live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard
Oh Lord, why don’t we?

We all know
That people are the same wherever you go
There is good and bad in everyone
When we learn to live, we learn to give each other
What we need to survive
Together alive

Ebony and ivory
Live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard
Oh Lord, why don’t we?

We all know
That people are the same wherever you go
There is good and bad, mmm, in everyone
We learn to live when we learn to give each other
What we need to survive
Together alive

Ebony and ivory
Live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard
Oh Lord, why don’t we?

Side by side on my piano keyboard
Oh Lord, why don’t we?

Songwriters: Mccartney Paul James
Ebony & Ivory lyrics © MPL COMMUNICATIONS INC

16 thoughts on “♫ Ebony and Ivory ♫”

  2. Usually I think least said, soonest mended.but this time I can’t help it. I hate this record. I love Stevie Wonder, I love the sentiment but I think Paul McCartney sometimes forgets himself and thinks he can write symphonies, look at the Frog Chorus. When he remembers who he is again it’s fine. There have been some great records with this theme like I’d like to teach the world to sing, a lot of Michael Jackson’s work.The world is black I’ll stick to those thanks
    Cwtch

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  5. Jill, good collaboration on a good message song. I must confess, when I hear this song, I think of the spoof on Saturday Night Live with Eddie Murphy doing a great impersonation of Wonder and Joe Piscopo doing a Frank Sinatra impersonation for McCartney’s part. It is priceless. Keith

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