We Got to Have Peace

Annotation

Mayfield released the song "We Got to Have Peace" (Curtom Records # CR 1968) on his own record label Curtom, which he founded with Eddie Thomas in 1967. It reached # 32 in the Billboard R&B chart on 4 March 1972.1 Like the The Impressions song "Don't Cry My Love", this also contained several possible references to civil rights, such as "meet and shake the other's hand...give us all an equal chance". As suggested in the title, the main theme centred on bringing the war to an end, with the narrator noting the dead soldiers, and wishing that "we could bring back one" of them. The song also emphasized the importance of peace. Sources1Billboard, 4 March 1972↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Civil Rights Songs

Mayfield released the song "We Got to Have Peace" (Curtom Records # CR 1968) on his own record label Curtom, which he founded with Eddie Thomas in 1967. It reached # 32 in the Billboard R&B chart on 4 March 1972.1 Like the The Impressions song "Don't Cry My Love", this also contained several possible references to Civil Rights, such as "meet and shake the other's hand...give us all an equal chance". As suggested in the title, the main theme centred on bringing the war to an end, with the narrator noting the dead soldiers, and wishing that "we could bring back one" of them. The song also emphasized the importance of peace. Sources1Billboard, 4 March 1972↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs

Mayfield released the song "We Got to Have Peace" (Curtom Records # CR 1968) on his own record label Curtom, which he founded with Eddie Thomas in 1967. It reached # 32 in the Billboard R&B chart on 4 March 1972.1 Like the The Impressions song "Don't Cry My Love", this also contained several possible references to civil rights, such as "meet and shake the other's hand...give us all an equal chance". As suggested in the title, the main theme centred on bringing the war to an end, with the narrator noting the dead soldiers, and wishing that "we could bring back one" of them. The song also emphasized the importance of peace.Sources1Billboard, 4 March 1972↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: We got to have peace to keep the world alive and war to cease / We got to have joy, true in our hearts with strength we can't destroy / People hear us, through our voice / The world knows there's no choice / We're begging save the children, the little ones who just don't understand / The people in our neighbourhood they would if they only could meet and shake the other's hand / Work together for the good of the land / Give us all an equal chance, it could be such a sweet romance / The soldiers who are dead and gone, if only we could bring back one

Notes

Curtom CR 1968 (CR 1968 A), yellow "We're a Winner" label; "We Got to Have Peace" (Curtis Mayfield), 3:33, Curtom Pub., BMI, from the LP "Roots" CRS 8009; produced by Curtis Mayfield; exclusively distributed by Buddah Records, 1650 Broadway, N.Y.C. [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

American soul singer-songwriter, born 3 June 1942 in Chicago, Illinois; died 26 December 1999 in Roswell, Georgia. [Source: Wikipedia] Curtis Mayfield, a hugely influential soul and funk artist, who helped revolutionise R&B through his band The Impressions. He sits amongst the first African-American to introduce social commentary into his music, dealing with civil rights, Vietnam, and drugs, becoming an inspiration to later generations of hip-hop artists. Born on 3 June 1942, in the Cabrini-Green housing project on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, he started out singing gospel as a child…

Themes

Anti-War · Civil Rights

In collections

Civil Rights Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years] · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs