"Light One Candle" is a song by the folk group

Peter, Paul and Mary Peter, Paul and Mary were an American Contemporary folk music, folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival. The trio consisted of Peter Yarrow (guitar, tenor vocals), Paul Stookey (guitar, baritone vocals), ...

. The trio performed the song in concerts starting in 1982, before recording it for their 1986 studio album ''

No Easy Walk to Freedom ''No Easy Walk to Freedom'' is a studio album by the American folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary, released in 1986 by Gold Castle Records. Its release coincided with the group's 25th anniversary. Produced by John McClure and Peter Yarrow, the ...

''. A popular Hanukkah song, "Light One Candle" features lyrics commemorating the

war of national liberation Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

fought by the

Maccabees The Maccabees (), also spelled Machabees (, or , ; or ; , ), were a group of Jews, Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire. Its leaders, the Hasmoneans, founded the Hasmonean dynasty ...

against the Seleucid Greek empire from 167 to 141 BCE. The war, and Maccabee victory, is described in the

Books of the Maccabees The Books of the Maccabees or the Sefer HaMakabim (the ''Book of the Maccabees'') recount the history of the Maccabees, the leaders of the Jewish rebellion against the Seleucid dynasty. List of books The Books of the Maccabees refers to canonical ...

and celebrated during the Jewish holiday of

Hanukkah Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd ce ...

History

"Light One Candle," written in 1982 by

Peter Yarrow Peter Yarrow (May 31, 1938 – January 7, 2025) was an American singer and songwriter who found fame as a member of the 1960s folk music, folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary along with Paul Stookey and Mary Travers. Yarrow co-wrote (with Lenny Lipton ...

and first performed at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, was a pacifist response to the

1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization ...

as reflected in the lyrics: "Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice justice and freedom demand, "Light one candle for the wisdom to know when the peacemaker's time is at hand." In 1983, when

performed the song in Jerusalem - in a country torn over the Lebanon War - they added lyrics to address the political complexities faced by their audience: "Light one candle for the strength that we need to never become our own foe. "Light one candle for those who are suffering, pain we learned so long ago. "Light one candle for all we believe in, let anger not tear us apart. "Light one candle to bind us together with peace as the song in our heart..." When they repeated the chorus, "Don't let the light go out, it's lasted for so many years, Don't let the light go out, let it shine through our love and our tears," the politically mixed audience cheered.

References

Hanukkah music Peter, Paul and Mary songs 1982 songs Protest songs Songs written by Peter Yarrow Israeli–Lebanese conflict songs {{1980s-pop-song-stub