[Mb-civic] CBC Arts - BACK-OF-ENVELOPE LYRICS FOR 'GIVE PEACE A CHANCE' ON AUCTION

Tue Oct 25 05:53:17 PDT 2005

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BACK-OF-ENVELOPE LYRICS FOR 'GIVE PEACE A CHANCE' ON AUCTION
WebPosted Mon Oct 24 18:17:17 2005

---The original lyrics of John Lennon's song, Give Peace A Chance , are
going up for sale.

The lyrics were written on an envelope from Montreal's Queen Elizabeth
Hotel in 1969 during his famous "bed-in" with Yoko Ono.

They will be auctioned at Bonham's in London on Nov. 16.

Bonhams auction house re-enacted the bed-in by Lennon and Ono on Monday
at the same Montreal hotel room.

Michael Evans, who portrayed the pyjama-clad Lennon during the re-
enactment, held the original envelope delicately between very
clean fingers.

"A lot of it is pretty illegible," he said in an interview with Canadian
Press. "Some of the words you can make out — revolution, evolution." His
girlfriend, Tian Yu, portrayed the nightie-clad Ono.

The original words to the song are on both sides of the envelope, which
is creased, but otherwise is in good shape. The envelope has the name of
the hotel written in English and French.

Lennon and Ono had held a bed-in for peace in Amsterdam and attempted in
May of 1969 to resume it in the United States but were prevented from
entering the U.S. due to their previous arrest on drug charges.

They continued the bed-in in June 1969 in Montreal. The corner suite they
took at the hotel is still known as the John Lennon suite and is in
demand by hotel customers.

Bonhams estimates it will get 175,000-200,000 British pounds ($368,400-
$421,000) for the lyrics, written at the height of the Vietnam War and
only weeks after Lennon and Ono married.

Demand is strong for Beatles memorabilia. Lennon "was one of the most
influential political artists, the greatest 20th-century songwriter and
singer," Michelle Gonsalves of Bonhams said.

It's the first time these lyrics have been seen or auctioned.

"We believe it was written in between media events when people were
coming into this room. You can see it's a spontaneous piece of work,"
Gonsalves said, noting "corrections" to the lyrics by Lennon. "It shows
his passions."

"These lyrics are as relevant now as they were in 1969," she added. "It
parallels what is going on in the world today."