For this month’s version of The Original vs. The Cover, we are going to talk about the Brinsley Schwarz song “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding”. The song was written by Nick Lowe and was recorded by his band Brinsley Schwarz. It was released in 1974 album called ‘The New Favorites of…Brinsley Schwarz.
How Elvis Costello got a hold of it is the fact that Nick Lowe was the producer of his 1979 album ‘Armed Forces’. Nick introduced him to the song and the band recorded it for the B-Side of Nick Lowe’s single “American Squirm”. The song did so well, the slapped it on as the last track of the album for the North American release of the album.
Nick wrote the song in 1973 and it was supposed to be a joke song making fun of the hippie generation coming out of their dream like state and becoming a more cynical bunch. What he realized later was there actually is a bit of truth and wisdom in the song.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 