Nick Lowe told American Songwriter, “I wrote the song in 1973, and the hippie thing was going out, and everyone was starting to take harder drugs and rediscover drink… this song was supposed to be an old hippie, laughed at by the new thinking, saying to these new smarty-pants types, ‘Look, you think you got it all going on. You can laugh at me, but all I’m saying is ‘What’s so funny about peace, love, and understanding?’”
What started as a joke became a kind of personal anthem. His initial version did not gain much traction. Then Elvis Costello released a version and that brought more attention to the song. Nick Lowe has never given up and now it has become a standard of his.
In a day when rage or surrender seems to be sweeping the nation, maybe we can pause and ask the same question Lowe raised fifty years ago.
As I walk through
This wicked world
Searchin’ for light in the darkness of insanity
I ask myself
Is all hope gone?
Is there only pain, hatred, and misery?
And each time I feel like this inside
There’s one thing I wanna know
What’s so funny ’bout peace love and understanding?
Oh
What’s so funny ’bout peace love and understanding?
#Songoftheday #nicklowe #love
YouTube: https://youtu.be/XYVShm1MCvQ?si=NhFxeCCmH-DwmaTl
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/78wylaNMkMRbO6uobnmAFi?si=3d33ff2eb018466c