No arguing: Peace Song of the Day 9/17/2011

(This is a catch-up post. It is being written on Sunday morning, to announce Saturday’s song…)

Sometimes, peace starts with reflecting on our own shortcomings, and acknowledging them to ourselves. I have found that this process can be aided with music and art that portrays the part of us we want to improve. It is a way to study ourselves, and, hopefully, to laugh at our shortcomings.

“We Can Work It Out” is/was the Royal Peace Song of the Day for Saturday, September 17, 2011. The song was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. You can find the lyrics, and sing this favorite Beatles song with friends, by going to page 105 in the Rise Up Singing songbook.

More about this song and NVC/Nonviolent Communication…

The words of “We Can Work It Out” proclaim: “Try to see it my way…Do I have to keep on talking til I can’t go on?”. The entire song is a somewhat humorous (or at least ironic) rant, asking for reason, by stubbornly demanding for the listener to agree that the singer is correct.

Going on and on, and stubbornly demanding compliance with the listener, are bad habits that some people fall into, while trying to teach peace and social justice. Of course, this method is not actually the best way to create peace. “We Can Work It Out” portrays self-righteousness and manipulation in discussions. The song shows the flip side of NVC/Nonviolent Communication. With NVC, you try to communicate better by being a better listener, and also, by respectfully clarifying your own needs, thoughts and feelings.

The Duke and Duchess of Peace strive to achieve NVC/Nonviolent Communication in their own relationship, and in their relationship to the world. To that end, they have studied the book Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg. You can see the Duke’s review of the book at a previous post: here. You can purchase the book through PeaceCouple, at Powell’s Books: here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.