Remembering The Chicago Eight with Graham Nash's "Chicago"

Artwork for Graham Nash's Songs for Beginners

   

    During the Democratic National Convention in 1971, the whole week was filled with anti-Vietnam War protests and violence. Multiple different groups had planned on protesting during this convention. The most prevalent of the groups included the National Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam (MOBE), the Youth International Party (YIPPEE), as well as the Black Panthers. After this convention, eight protesters, known as the Chicago Eight, were subsequently arrested and charged with conspiracy although they were later acquitted. Despite no one being convicted, the trial became a significant event at the time. In his solo debut album released in 1971, English-American singer-songwriter Graham Nash wrote a song referencing this trial and those arrested titled “Chicago”. 

The 1968 Civil Rights Act introduced new anti-riot laws declaring it illegal to “cross state lines to incite a riot” (Little). Directly after the protests occurred, the mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley, wanted the protesters to be prosecuted under this new law, but the attorneys at the time did not think there was enough evidence to hold a trial. It was not until a year later that Richard Nixon, the newly appointed president, decided to arrest eight of the protesters from that day. This arrest and the new anti-riot law was controversial as many people felt it was a violation of the First Amendment’s promise of free assembly. During the trial itself, the judge and the defendants were continuously at odds with one another. The major conflict of this trial occurred when the judge ordered for Bobby Seale, the single African-American defendant known for his work with the Black Panther Party, to be chained to his chair and gagged after Seale had declared the judge a racist for not allowing him to represent himself. What happened to Bobby Seale was a key inspiration for Graham Nash’s “Chicago”. The opening lines state “So your brother's bound and gagged / And they've chained him to a chair”.  Nash continues the verse by asking “Won’t you please come to Chicago”. Here, Nash is asking other musicians and figures to help stand up for the defendants in this trial, specifically Bobby Seale. This question becomes the focal point of the song as Nash continues to repeat it throughout each verse. 

Courtroom Drawing of Bobby Seale Drawn by Howard Brodie (1969)

    Despite the negative situation Nash was inspired by, the song itself proposes a hopeful outlook for the future. After asking for help in the verses, the chorus begins with “We can change the world / Rearrange the world”. Nash believes that it is possible for society to change and to emphasize this, he ends the first chorus by singing that the world is “dying to get better”. Nash, however, makes it clear that in order to see this change people must come together and help each other. The second and third choruses start with Nash stating that “Yes, we can change the world”, but he follows this declaration with “If you believe in justice / And if you believe in freedom”. Instead of repeating that sentiment that the world was dying to change, Nash selected to only repeat “It’s dying”, and he places this after he says “justice” and “freedom”. This modification indicates that Nash believes justice and freedom are dying. He changes from “we” to “you” to signify to the listener, whether that is one of his fellow artists he asked for help from or the general public merely listening to Nash’s album, that they themselves can help society progress from the dark era of the Vietnam War. In order for the world to change for the better, people must enact change on an individual level first. 

Briana Sambrooks

Little, Becky. “7 Reasons Why the Chicago 8 Trial Mattered.” History, 24 September 2019,    https://www.history.com/news/chicago-8-trial-importance