Alvin Lee Is Electric In Ten Years After’s Visionary “I’d Love To Change The World”

“But I Don’t Know What To Do…”

When Ten Years After frontman Alvin Lee died in 2013, his was a loss felt throughout the music world. He’d pioneered with Ten Years After’s groundbreaking appearance at Woodstock in 1969, and two years later made a tremendous social commentary on the state of the world with the band’s only top 40 single, ‘I’d Love To Change The World’. Hailed as one of the best and most expressive guitar performances of Lee’s career, ‘I’d Love To Change The World’ had a note of despair wrapped in hope; the song’s narrator sees the world on a collision course with disaster, yet doesn’t know where to begin to help – or if he can help, leaving it up to the listener to decide the best way to help.

Fun Fact: Between 1968 and 1973, Ten Years After scored eight Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart.

With a folk inspired chord pattern that supports the song’s melody, ‘I’d Love To Change The World’ was a fantastic representation of the artistry Ten Years After were capable of, and it’s one that makes us miss the master musician that was Alvin Lee.

+ I’d Love To Change The World lyrics +

Everywhere is freaks and hairies
Dykes and fairies, tell me where is sanity
Tax the rich, feed the poor
‘Til there are no rich no more

I’d love to change the world
But I don’t know what to do
So I’ll leave it up to you

Population keeps on breeding
Nation bleeding, still more feeding economy
Life is funny, skies are sunny
Bees make honey, who needs money, No none for me

I’d love to change the world
But I don’t know what to do
So I’ll leave it up to you

Oh yeah!

World pollution, there’s no solution
Institution, electrocution
Just black and white, rich or poor
Senators stop the war

I’d love to change the world
But I don’t know what to do
So I’ll leave it up to you