Beatles and Violence?

As I am currently unemployed I have lots of time to watch meaningless shows, read, and go through my entire music collection and make playlists for every occasion. I love the Beatles and I often go through days of listening to nothing else. Yesterday was one of those days and then this song started to play:

The music is catchy and upbeat but when I actually started listening to the lyrics I was shocked (of course, the title should have given it away):

Well I'd rather see you dead, little girl
Than to be with another man
You better keep your head, little girl
Or I won't know where I am

You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand little girl
Catch you with another man
That's the end little girl

Well you know that I'm a wicked guy
And I was born with a jealous mind
And I can't spend my whole life
Trying just to make you toe the line

You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand little girl
Catch you with another man
That's the end little girl

Let this be a sermon
I mean everything I've said
Baby, I'm determined
And I'd rather see you dead

You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand little girl
Catch you with another man
That's the end little girl

I'd rather see you dead, little girl
Than to be with another man
You better keep your head, little girl
Or you won't know where I am

You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand little girl
Catch you with another man
That's the end little girl

.....

Not really sure where to start with this song. I don't believe that everyone who listens to this song or the Beatles supports jealous boyfriends killing their girlfriends for talking to another guy. I'm sure lots of people listen to this song without really hearing or thinking about the lyrics. I don't believe that a guy will listen to this song and then believe he can go out and kill his girlfriend. It's a problem though that a song like this can be accepted by society. It's not the only one of its kind and this isn't a trend of a few decades ago that has gone away. There's still plenty of music that justifies hitting or abusing a girl. Not everyone who listens to such music believes that violence is justified but very few people question why this music continues. It's one of those things that people believe if they don't do it, it's fine. This violence and the idea that a girlfriend is property to control continues to exist.

Trying to see the good in the Beatles, I can come up with one explanation. And I do not mean this to justify songs promoting violence, but rather an attempt to make sense of why the Beatles would perform such a song and to hope that this was meant to interrupt such beliefs. Bertolt Brecht believed that theatre and the arts should make the audience begin to think critically rather than letting it listen or watch complacently. One of his most famous techniques was to create a sense of distance, making it obvious that there is a performance going on, and making it difficult to complacently identify with the drama occurring on stage. These techniques included harsh lighting, interrupting dialogue, and shouting cues loud enough for the audience to hear. In music this technique is used when the music and words do not match up. For instance, the lyrics could be about a murderer and death but the music would be upbeat and happy. One of the best examples of this is the song, "Mack the Knife."

Another example would be the Beatles' "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"


So MAYBE, just maybe, this is what the Beatles are going for with "Run for your Life," hoping that the listener is paying attention and notices the difference between the lyrics and the music. I'm not sure though how many people are "woken" up by this song and begin thinking about the reality of domestic violence. So then does it matter what the artist's intent is? Or does it really only depend on how the audience reacts? I don't ever think violence is justified, and even if the Beatles' intent was to create a discussion about domestic violence I don't believe their technique was the best one.