I heard this Beatles’s song on the radio yesterday and it started me wondering what the actual story was. I understood the references to the “bed in”. But judging from the lyrics it appears John Lennon and Yoko Ono had trouble finding a place they could get married. Why? What was the problem?
The memory is dim, but as I recall, Lennon had a drug conviction under his belt at that time, which meant he couldn’t get tourist visas in a number of countries.
Why they didn’t just get married in England, I have no idea.
Complete lyrics at http://www.kappa.ro/music/lyrics/ptheballa.html
They “honeymooned” in Paris before they got married. They wanted to be married by the Archbishop of Canterbury, but they were both divorced and the church wouldn’t recognize their marriage, let alone perform it. They flew to Gibraltar and were married by a registrar at the British Consulate’s office. I have heard of other people getting married at Gibraltar, but I’m not sure why. It may be the Reno, Nevada, of the UK (no blood tests, no waiting period, or something like that). They stayed in Gibraltar only about an hour, and flew back to Paris.
Shortly afterward, they stayed in bed for a week at the Amsterdam Hilton and invited the press in. This “bed-in for peace” was intended as a protest against war but many people thought they had just gone crazy.
Work is the curse of the drinking classes. (Oscar Wilde)
With all the “free love”…why should they marry? I think the implication is reflecting the contrasting values between generations with the media clinging to the notion of marriage first…speculating what was going on.
Of course, I see a little hint of a paradox here. Sure, they’d like their privacy, but might this suggest they felt a little ashamed of their “free love” being shared by all via the press? Considering the attitude of the era, what did they feel they had to hide?
“They’re coming to take me away ha-ha, ho-ho, hee-hee, to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time… :)” - Napoleon IV
I guess my problem with Ballad is it always reminded me of Tony Hendra’s Lennon parody song Genius is Pain where Hendra took several of Lennon’s whineist quotes, set them to music, and sang them in an imitation Lennon voice.
You’re assuming Lennon bought into the free love philosophy. He didn’t; he loved Yoko and that was it. Sort of.
The bed-in was staged because Lennon and Ono knew that the press would be interested in their honeymoon. They took advantage of that interest to get some airtime for their anti-war beliefs.
John Lennon was a rock star and lived the life of a rock star to the fullest. I’m sure that he at the very least endorsed the concept of free love, as it would tend to lead directly to the ultimate goal of a generation - world Peace. 
In other words, rebirth and renewal.
-What’s right is only half of what’s wrong- George Harrison - Old Brown Shoe
One trivia side-note about the song- it is the only Beatles song which feature only John and Paul.
Don’t recall why Ringo and George weren’t available but Lennon and McCartney ovrerdubbed the other instruments -McCartney plays drums, bass and I think piano while Lennon is featured on guitars and maracas.