I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing

Album: We'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (1971)
Charted: 1 7
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  • I'd like to build the world a home
    And furnish it with love
    Grow apple trees and honey bees
    And snow white turtle doves

    I'd like to teach the world to sing
    In perfect harmony
    I'd like to hold it in my arms
    And keep it company

    I'd like to see the world for once
    All standing hand in hand
    And hear them echo through the hills
    For peace through out the land
    (That's the song I hear)

    I'd like to teach the world to sing
    In perfect harmony

    I'd like to teach the world to sing
    In perfect harmony

    I'd like to build the world a home
    And furnish it with love
    Grow apple trees and honey bees
    And snow white turtle doves

    I'd like to teach the world to sing
    In perfect harmony
    I'd like to hold it in my arms
    And keep it company

    I'd like to see the world for once
    All standing hand in hand
    And hear them echo through the hills
    For peace through out the land
    (That's the song I hear)

    I'd like to teach the world to sing
    In perfect harmony

    I'd like to teach the world to sing
    In perfect harmony

    I'd like to teach the world to sing
    In perfect harmony, that's the song I hear


    [Commercial Version]

    I'd like to buy the world a home
    And furnish it with love
    Grow apple trees and honey bees
    And snow white turtle doves

    I'd like to teach the world to sing
    In perfect harmony
    I'd like to buy the world a Coke
    And keep it company
    That's the real thing

    I'd like to teach the world to sing
    In perfect harmony
    I'd like to buy the world a Coke
    And keep it company
    That's the real thing

    What the world wants today
    Is the real thing Writer/s: Roger F. Cook, Roger Greenaway, Roquel Davis, William M Backer
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 20

  • HappyCute old tune. BTW, Tanya from Louisiana is a QAnon flake.
  • Barry from Gagetown Nb CanadaThere was a COKE promotion .... I got a copy of the "Coke 45rpm" vinyl record .... Don't know what ever happened to it ..... Likely worth a small fortune today !!!
  • Tanya Romero from LouisianaApple trees honeybees snow white turtle doves- garden of Eden, sex, original sin & forgiveness. Predictive Apple tech conditioning. The rest is new world order. The loose guru style clothing, the eastern Hindu vibe is predictive programming for the guru peacemaker- the antichrist. Sing in perfect harmony- genetically modified humans, cloning and zenobots Plus it's Coca-Cola. That's really bad..tastes really good- love it but sneaky messages and a messed up future adgenda is their sin. Not so sure it'll be washed clean and white as snow as they repeat buy buy buy. But the worst? Biden copied it- ew. He just ruined any shred of. innocence with his corruption. He took any kind of genuineness from this classic and tainted it with artificial. In the future we will be repulsed by the flawless. Because we'll know what they are. It won't work. It's an aversion that's encoded in our DNA.we want the real thing, people, I mean. I suggest you capatilize on that in future ad campaigns & never change your flavor formula
  • Dean from Birmingham, AlA favorite of mine from childhood. The Coke commercial was awesome! Easy to listen to and sing along with!
  • Kawa from Tokyo, JapanHi Music lovers.

    I think that the idea of this song came from the song 'Teach Your Children', sung and played by the group 'CSN&Y, form the album 'Dajave' in 1970. The song was very famous and was also featured by a British film 'Melody' in 1971, too. What does that mean ? I think that the songwriters of the song 'I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing' liked the song,'Teach Your Children', when they heard this song and tried to write a song like this ! Let's take a look at the title of the both songs ! It was very similar. So were key words, too ! Also, the melodies were almost the same, too. The trace remains ! Always !

    P.S. I think that the original title 'True Love and Apple pie' came from a big hit song 'American Pie' in 1971. It was released in May that year and
    became a big hit when it was released. Very similar, too !
  • Steve from Wakefield West YorkshireAs stated above the original title was 'True Love and Apple Pie', the artist was little known Susan Shirley.
  • Randy from Houghton Lake, MiI thought Don Draper wrote this??? Just kidding but this was the perfect song for the Mad Men finale. When they started singing the memories just began flowing I was 16 when this song was originally released.
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn January 22nd 1972, the Hilltop Singers performed "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing" on the ABC-TV program 'American Bandstand' (See below post concerning Top 100 info)...
    And on the same 'Bandstand' episode they sang their only other Top 100 hit, "We're Together", it stayed on the chart for one week, right at position #100 (and it was also from a TV commercial; McDonalds' "You Deserve A Break Today" jingle).
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn January 9th 1972, "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing" by the New Seekers peaked at #7 (for 2 weeks) on the Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; it had entered the chart on November 28th, 1971 and spent 11 weeks on the Top 100...
    And on January 8th, 1972 it reached #1 (for 4 weeks) on the United Kingdom's Singles chart; and across the Irish Sea in Ireland it also peaked at #1...
    Interestingly, the week the New Seekers peaked at #7, the Hilltop Singers' version also reached its highest position on the Top 100 at #13 (also for two weeks), but they did stay on the chart one week longer at 12 weeks.
  • Esskayess from Dallas, TxOther than 'No Matter What Shape Your Stomach's In' (a 60s instrumental), this is the only commercial jingle I can think of that made it out (slightly altered) as a single.
  • Carolyn from Knoville, TnEvery time I drink a Coke I think of this song...to me, it's the best ad Coke has ever used. The polar bears are okay, but this one is the one I like best.
  • Ken from Pittsburgh, PaFirst of all, do people read the Songfacts before they comment? There are two versions of the song, one by The New Seekers and one by The Hillside Singers. Both versions were on the charts at the same time, as stated above. I am only 42 and I remember this song, mostly because of the commercial. I seem to remember this being played semi regularly around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays in the years after the initial release. It was just a catchy, feel-good type song.
  • Camille from Toronto, OhI don't care what anyone else says, I agree with the statement "considered one of the most effective ads of all time". Those of my generation (I'm in my 50s) can still sing this tune at the drop of a hat. The harmonies are one reason for its popularity. The average person listening to it can just jump in and sing along at any time. Another reason it became a hit is the visual: a bunch of teens from every country singing about peace and harmony. It's as if the whole world was agreeing to interrupt the conflict of the 60s to say, hey, we really do want peace in the land. And of course, it's the teenagers leading the way.
  • Karen Ferrero from Alta Loma, CaThis song reminds me of when I was between the age of 8-10. I wanted to run through a field of dasies! I still do and I am 46 :) Karen CA,
  • Caitlin from Upper Township, Nji sang this song for a choir concert one year. i liked it at first but it got annoying the 5 hundreth time we practiced it
  • Bob from Ridgefield, CtI remember this song, but I don't think it's by the New Seekers. I believe it's by the Hillside Singers.
  • Patrick from Tallapoosa, GaI remember KidSongs from 20 years ago! They tried to revive it back in the mid- to late-90s, but not with as much success.
  • Rob from Vancouver, CanadaSmash Mouth takes a poke at this song with 'walking on the sun'. This became a typical corporate scam, attaching a product to a grass-roots cultural movement. Scumbags.
  • Howard from St. Louis Park, MnOne of TV's greatest commercial jingles of all time. I remember the scene with all the children singing. I also remember The Hillside Singers version. The song was their ony hit and released on the long defunct Metromedia label, the same label Bobby Sherman for.
  • Lee from Alpine, NjWhat I hate about this song is that it was also used on a Kidsongs video with the same name.
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