♫ What the World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham, Martin and John ♫

Posted on by under Global Issues, music, Racism & Bigotry

I played this song in December 2018.  It seems this song gains meaning with each passing year, for it is more apropos today than ever.  Listening to the song tonight, in preparation for this post, I had to stop the music and catch my breath, with tears rolling down my cheeks.  Sadly, there are no Abrahams, Martins or Johns today, at least not that I can see.  Oh how we need them!

I started looking for the right song for tonight … for once there was none stuck in my head … and happened across Jackie Deshannon’s 1965 hit, What the World Needs Now is Love.  I thought perhaps, in these times of troubles all over the world, in the Middle-East, the UK, the United States, and many more places, this might be an appropriate song to play.

As I looked for a bit of information, a bit of trivia about the song, I was led to another song and it is this that I play for you tonight.  I don’t intend these music posts to be in the least bit political, and my apologies, for this one is, in a sense.  But it is also … it speaks to us today, I think, just as it did in 1971.  Today, some of the issues are different … Vietnam has ended, but Syria and Yemen have not.  And some of the issues are yet the same … racism, prejudice, bigotry.

This is a remix of two songs, the aforementioned What the World Needs Now is Love combined with Abraham, Martin and John, first recorded by Dion in 1968 as a response to the assassinations of both Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy earlier that year.

Tom-Clay.jpgTom Clay was a disc jockey in 1971, working for radio station KGBS in Los Angeles, California when he created this remix.  The narrative includes sound bites from speeches of John and Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., and makes a heartfelt social/political comment.

Again, I apologize for bringing a socio-political statement into my music posts, but when I heard this song … it just … did something to me and I wanted to share it.  I promise a more uplifting music selection tomorrow, but I do hope you will take just a few minutes to listen to this one.  I have included the lyrics to both of the original songs.

What the World Needs Now
Jackie DeShannon

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone.

Lord, we don’t need another mountain,
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross,
Enough to last till the end of time.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.

Lord, we don’t need another meadow
There are cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow
There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine
Oh listen, lord, if you want to know.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.
No, not just for some, oh, but just for everyone.

Songwriters: Burt F. Bacharach / Hal David
What the World Needs Now lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc

Abraham, Martin And John
Dion DiMucci

Has anybody here seen my old friend Abraham,
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lotta people, but it seems the good die young
But I just looked around and he’s gone.
Has anybody here seen my old friend John,
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lotta people, but it seems the good die young
But I just looked around and he’s gone.
Has anybody here seen my old friend Martin,
Can you tell me where he’s gone?

He freed a lotta people, but it seems the good die young
But I just looked around and he’s gone.
Didn’t you love the things they stood for?
Didn’t they try to find some good for you and me?
And we’ll be free,
Someday soon it’s gonna be one day.
Has anybody here seen my old friend Bobby,
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
I thought I saw him walkin’ up over the hill
With Abraham, Martin and John.

Songwriters: Richard Holler
Abraham, Martin And John lyrics © Stonehenge Music

27 thoughts on “♫ What the World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham, Martin and John ♫”

        • I’m surprised this one wasn’t popular over here during the Vietnam War, but I had never heard it. I also discovered that Havens wrote it with actor Lou Gosset, Jr., and sang it at Woodstock! Cool. Thanks!

          Liked by 1 person

          • Best thing in the Woodstock film! Still gives me goose bumps.
            Havens said the song was not anti-war but pro-peace. When you check the lyrics you can see the honour to those who went off to the struggle. I guess that’s what conflicted some folk during that era.
            It’s been going through my head for a few days increscent in a good way added my own verses:

            ‘Hey look a yonder tell me what’s that you see
            Marching through the street of the cities?
            Looks like Handsome Johnny stopped and taking to his knee,
            Marching to the Justice War, yeh marching to the Justice war.

            Hey look a yonder tell me what’s that you see
            Marching to the Supreme Court War?
            Looks like Pretty Jenny with a rainbow scarf tied ’round her waist,
            Marching to the Supreme Court War, yeh Marching to the Supreme Court War.

            And hey look a yonder tell me what’s you see
            Marching to the Whitehouse War?
            Looks like Stalwart Mary, with a book raised in her hand,
            Marching to the Whitehouse War, hey marching to the Whitehouse War’

            Liked by 1 person

              • Thanks Jill 😃! (Y’know, I nearly did back in the day, but it never took off…ah well…)
                Now here’s a idea. ‘Handsome Johnny’ is an inspiring song with an easy tune to work with. Just a thought, put up one of Ritchie Haven’s performances up on your blog and ask everyone to add their own verse, I bet most of your contributors to put one together, no problem. I bet it would look pretty impressive when they are all put together.
                Get everyone working together and all inspired up for the long hard road to November.

                Liked by 1 person

  6. A good choice. A few weeks ago people in theUKseemed unified by Covid after the Brexit years but suddenly people are reduced to being divided over statues and how careful we should be about the pandemic.

    Liked by 2 people

    • I get the impression a lot of folk are starting to twitch at the confinement and are looking for reasons to let off steam and frustration but not in a good or constructive way. Statues? They are not thinking- Gladstone for instance- maybe not in line with our political conventions he being 19th Century but as a politician he spoke up against one of Turkey’s regular genocidal purges in Armenia and also in nascent Bulgaria.
      I was more impressed by one of my grandsons and his friends using a Black Lives Matter logo as a avatar, the quiet way of protesting.
      (and of the EDL etc crawl out of the sewers- not enough heads cracked by the police- it wouldn’t do the EDL any harm, they’d not notice).

      Liked by 2 people

    • Thanks! It takes so much to unite people, and so little to divide them. The people of the United Kingdom have gone through so much in the past few years … it’s not surprising that tensions are running high right now, and from what I can see, Boris is not much more of a uniter or a leader than Trump. Sigh.

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  7. Jill, no need to apologize. The truth (what the world needs now is love) applies to every aspect of our existence. Abraham, Martin, and John are here with us now and it’s up to us to keep them and their dreams alive. Their words and actions are apropos in all things.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks Larry. I wish Abraham, Martin and John were here in more than spirit … we need people to lead, and as I look around, all I see are greedy politicians concerned with their own self-interests, and angry people everywhere I look. Or, those who are tuning everything out, going around saying “La la la la la … I can’t hear you”. I have some friends like that, and they frustrate me to no end. Sigh.

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