Imagine

Written by

Robert Richardson

in

John Lennon releases Imagine in the U.K.
NW-MIT-IMAGINE-1007
Cover of John Lennon’s Imagine, released in 1971. MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES
John Lennon wasn’t trying to write a timeless global peace anthem when he penned Imagine, the title track of his second post-Beatles studio album, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year: He only wanted to make a pop song that would, as he later explained, “last longer than a couple of years.” A deceptively simple, singalong-ready lullaby that Lennon conceived as “a song for children,” the tune packs a revolutionary message, urging people to imagine a world with no religion, no countries, no possessions. It was inspired, in part, by a book about “positive prayer” given to Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, by the comedian and activist Dick Gregory. “If you can imagine a world of peace,” Lennon said, “if you can imagine the possibility, then it can be true.” But like many such once-radical expressions whose rough edges have been sanded down by time and corporate co-opting and repetition – hundreds of bands have recorded cover versions over the past half-century – Lennon’s song became both universally embraced and neutered of its initial power, a banal call for generic unity. But hey, it lasted longer than a couple of years. Simon Houpt

More posts

Discover more from RG Richardson

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading