Imagine

One song that has really influenced my life is the song “Imagine” by John Lennon. John Lennon is famous as the “Walrus” of the Beatles and after the Beatles split he became famous in his solo act. In the song, John Lennon describes his idea of a “perfect world” and how if everyone lived like the ideas he preaches, the World would be perfect. The song is three minutes and one second, but in that time, Lennon spits out enough information to give anti-war groups enough to make it their anthem. Although John Lennon wrote this song when he was not in the right state of mind, this song has become one of the most influential songs to people around the World.

John Lennon was the lead singer of the Beatles until the time of their breakup. At that time, Lennon went solo and began to make more of a living going solo. He used his fame that he had produced from The Beatles and was able to become even more famous. Lennon lived his solo life to its fullest until his death but received the most heat in his solo work. “Imagine” is one of the most popular songs ever, however, it gets a lot of criticism.

Throughout the entire song, John Lennon is thinking of ways to make the World a better place. In the first verse, Lennon says “Imagine there’s no heaven…no hell below us, and above us is only sky” to describe to those who use God in everyday life. Although when he says, “imagine there is no heaven”, he is thinking in an atheist point of view, he is using this as an idea so all people can live together. In retrospect he has a point. In today’s society, so would argue, that Americans are fighting overseas because of a difference in religion. We cannot get along with the middle easterners because of a difference in religion.

The next part of the song Lennon begins to talk about how if there were no countries, there would be no war. In the song, he says, “Imagine there’s no countries…nothing to kill or die for.” The song was put on his 1971 album, Imagine, which happened to be at the end of the Vietnam War. Although the British were not fighting with the Americans in the Vietnam War, war was the major news of the world. Lennon obviously was aware of what was going around him and being only thirty years from the end of World War II, Lennon and England were still recovering from the damages of war.

Lennon continues, and in the next verse begins to talk about another thing wrong with man and the world, greed. He says, “Imagine no possessions…no need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man.” Lennon is talking about how if people were not greedy or jealous of each other, people in no way could fight. Lennon uses a Bible reference because greed happens to be one of the seven deadly sins. This is ironic because in the first verse, Lennon talks about how if there was no god, there could be no religion and no wars. I believe Lennon is playing mind games with his listeners to try and get listeners from both stand points.

After the album was put on the shelves in 1971, the song became an important anthem to anti-war and religion movements. However it received much criticism too. In Elvis Costello’s song, “The Other Side of Summer”, Costello criticizes Lennon by saying, “Was it a millionaire who said 'Imagine no possessions?" But not everyone can criticize him and the song. In an interview with David Sheff of Playboy in 1980, Sheff asks, “On a new album, you close with "Hard Times Are Over (For a While)". Why?” Lennon responds by saying, “It's not a new message: "Give Peace a Chance" — we're not being unreasonable, just saying, "Give it a chance." With "Imagine," we're saying, "Can you imagine a world without countries or religions?" It's the same message over and over. And it's positive.” Since the song has been published, “Imagine” has been the anthem for many peace gatherings such as the human rights organization who use it as their anthem. Imagine has received a lot of heat but it still remains one of the most popular songs of all time. “Imagine” remains one of the most popular songs on the piano; it was one of the first songs I learned, ironically. According to www.wikipidea.com, “Imagine” is one of the most popular songs performed and Lennon’s version is in the top one hundred greatest songs. “Imagine” remains one of the most popular songs ever, despite its criticism, and to this day people use it as an anthem for peace.

When “Imagine” was published, Lennon received many death threats and some could argue that the reason he was murdered was because of “Imagine.” Lennon is not afraid to speak his mind in the song which offends many people. I believe Lennon’s song can be portrayed in a good way. Since the song was published, the song has received more credit than criticism. Lennon uses this work to speak his mind of the world, and despite what some may think, “Imagine” is one of the best songs ever written.