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"Chicago" (often listed as "Chicago / We Can Change the World") is the debut solo single by English singer-songwriter
Graham Nash
Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...
, released in 1971 from his debut solo album ''
Songs for Beginners
''Songs for Beginners'' is the debut solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. Released in May 1971, it was one of four high-profile albums (all charting within the top fifteen) released by each member of Crosby, Stills, Nash ...
''. The song reached number 35 on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and number 29 on the
''Cash Box'' Top 100.
It is his highest-charting single. In Canada, "Chicago" peaked at number 19.
The song also made the Dutch charts in 1971, peaking at number 5.
Background
The title and lyrics of the song refer to the
anti-Vietnam War protests
Protests against the Vietnam War took place in the 1960s and 1970s. The protests were part of a movement in opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War. The majority of the protests were in the United States, but some took place ar ...
that
took place during the
1968 Democratic National Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus maki ...
in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
and the subsequent
trial of the Chicago Eight, where protest leaders were charged with conspiracy to incite a riot. The first line of the song, "So your brother's bound and gagged, and they've chained him to a chair", refers to
Black Panther leader
Bobby Seale
Robert George Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an American political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with fellow activist Huey P. Newton. Founded as the "Black Panther Party for Self-Defense", ...
, the sole
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
defendant, who was gagged and chained to a chair in the courtroom following repeated outbursts in protest of rulings by Judge
Julius Hoffman.
The line "Won't you please come to Chicago just to sing?" refers to Nash pleading with bandmates
Stephen Stills and
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...
to come to Chicago to play a benefit concert for the Chicago 8
defense fund. The chorus contains the lines, "We can change the world / Rearrange the World".
On the
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member ...
live album, ''
4 Way Street
''4 Way Street'' is the third album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, their second as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and their first live album. It was originally released as Atlantic Records SD-2-902, shipping as a gold record and peaking at No. 1 on the ...
'' (1971), Nash dedicates the song to "Mayor Daley", a sardonic reference to Chicago mayor
Richard J. Daley
Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been cal ...
, who was notoriously antagonistic towards anti-war protesters. CSN and CSNY played the song live throughout their career.
In June 2008, in Denver, Colorado, CSN played a slightly rewritten version of the song called "Denver", in anticipation of the
2008 Democratic National Convention
The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for president and vice president. The convent ...
.
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Personnel
*
Graham Nash
Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...
–vocals, guitar, piano, organ, tambourine
*
Chris Ethridge
John Christopher Ethridge (February 10, 1947 – April 23, 2012) was an American country rock bass guitarist. He was a member of the International Submarine Band (ISB) and The Flying Burrito Brothers,
and co-wrote several songs with Gram Pars ...
–bass
*
Johnny Barbata
John Barbata (born April 1, 1945) is an American drummer who was active especially in pop and rock bands in the 1960s and 1970s, both as a band member and as a session drummer. Barbata has served as the drummer for The Turtles, Crosby, Stills ...
–drums, tambourine
*
Venetta Fields
Venetta Lee Fields (born 1941) is an American-born singer, musical theater actress and vocal coach. She was a backing vocalist for American and British rock and pop acts of the 1960s and 1970s, including Ike & Tina Turner, Pink Floyd, Humble Pi ...
,
Sherlie Matthews,
Clydie King
Clydie Mae King (August 21, 1943 – January 7, 2019) was an American singer, best known for her session work as a backing vocalist. King also recorded solo under her name. In the 1970s, she recorded as Brown Sugar, and her single "Loneliness ( ...
, Dorothy Morrison,
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on ''Billboard'' magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and the ...
–backing vocals
Sherbet cover
In 1973, Australian band
Sherbet recorded an extended version of Chicago for their album ''
On with the Show'', which went for over 10 minutes. Sherbet also performed a live version of the song on Australian TV show
GTK
GTK (formerly GIMP ToolKit and GTK+) is a free and open-source cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs). It is licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License, allowing both free and propriet ...
.
David Gilmour cover
In August 2009,
Pink Floyd's
David Gilmour released an online version, titled "Chicago - Change the World", on which he sang and played guitar, bass and keyboards, to promote awareness of the plight of
Gary McKinnon
Gary McKinnon (born 10 February 1966) is a Scottish systems administrator and hacker who was accused in 2002 of perpetrating the "biggest military computer hack of all time", although McKinnon himself states that he was merely looking for evi ...
. It featured
Chrissie Hynde and
Bob Geldof, plus McKinnon himself, and was made with Nash's support.
Hip hop samples
In 1999, the rappers
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
and
Beanie Sigel sampled Chicago on the single
"The Truth"; in 2003,
Westside Connection
Westside Connection was an American hip-hop supergroup formed by Mack 10, WC and Ice Cube. The group's debut album, '' Bow Down'', reached the number 2 position on the ''Billboard'' 200 in 1996, going platinum that year.
Biography
Westside ...
used the same sample for their single "
Gangsta Nation
"Gangsta Nation" is a single by Westside Connection featuring Nate Dogg
Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (August 19, 1969 – March 15, 2011), known professionally as Nate Dogg, was an American singer and rapper. He gained recognition for providing guest ...
".
References
{{authority control
1971 songs
1971 debut singles
Atlantic Records singles
Graham Nash songs
Songs about Chicago
Protest songs
Songs written by Graham Nash