Imagine (song)

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"Imagine" is a utopian song written and performed by John Lennon, which appears on his 1971 album Imagine. While numerous versions have since come to light, the original's haunting piano and solemn vocal continue to receive strong airplay. In the UK, the song is regularly voted at or near the top of polls to find the greatest song or single of all time, as in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Singles (number two being Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and three being The Beatles' Hey Jude). Rolling Stone magazine voted "Imagine" the third greatest song of all time.

Lennon described the song as "an anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalistic song, but because it's sugar-coated, it's accepted." Cited in the book Lennon in America by Geoffrey Giuliano.

In the song, Lennon asks us to imagine his view of a utopia where there are "no countries", "no religion", "no possessions", no heaven or hell, and "nothing to kill or die for". There are only people "living for today", "living life in peace", and "sharing all the world".

The lyrics were thought to be inspired solely by Lennon's hopes for a more peaceful world. In reality, the song's refrain was coined by Yoko Ono, in reaction to her childhood in Japan during World War II. According to The Sunday Times, the song's refrain can be found in several of her poems written in the early 1960s, before she met Lennon, and in her 1965 book Grapefruit. Lennon admitted that Ono should have been jointly credited for the song. In an interview two days before his death, he said that he had been too macho to reveal her role.

Lennon's claims against property and religion, as well as his repeated use of "the people," have led some to posit the song as being advocative of humanism, communism, and anarchism.

Acknowledgements

The Strawberry Fields Memorial in Central Park, New York

• A mosaic was constructed as a part of the Strawberry Fields Memorial in Central Park, Manhattan, near Lennon's final home, in memory of the singer. In the centre of the mosaic is the word "Imagine".
• When the Liverpool airport was named after Lennon, a phrase from the song, "above us only sky", was painted on the ceiling of the terminal. When commenting on this, the panel of Have I Got News for You joked that the baggage handlers' motto was taken from the same song: "Imagine no possessions".
• The song was used in the last sequence of the 1984 film The Killing Fields and was performed during a show commemorating the 30th anniversary of Star Trek.
• "Imagine" is the official song of the human rights organization Amnesty International.
• Joan Baez has recorded and performed the song numerous times throughout her career. She first included it on her 1972 album Come from the Shadows, and often includes it in her concert set lists.
• In 1983 David Bowie covered the song live during a concert in Hong Kong on the Anniversary to Lennon's Death as a tribute to him
• American R&B/soul singer, Tracie Spencer, remade the song for her 1988 self-titled debut album. The song did moderately well in the USA, hitting #31 on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts. She was only 12 years old when the album was released.
• In 1995, the band Oasis used a piano section from "Imagine" at the start of "Don't Look Back in Anger", from their second album (What's the Story) Morning Glory?.
• In 1999, BMI named "Imagine" as one of the 100 most performed songs of the 20th century.
• Lennon's original recording of "Imagine" appears 23rd in the list of best-selling singles in the UK issued in 2002.
• In 2004, the band A Perfect Circle covered the song as a single on the eMOTIVe album.
• In 1990, the song was featured in the Quantum Leap episode "The Leap Home" and is also on the soundtrack of the series.
• On 1 January 2005, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation named "Imagine" the greatest song in the past 100 years, as voted by listeners.
• On 15 January 2005, Madonna performed a live cover-version of John Lennon's "Imagine" (which was also part of her "The Re-Invention Tour" in 2004) at the NBC Benefit Telethon "Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope".
• In 2005, post-hardcore band Thrice released a b-side from their album Vheissu called "Lullaby". The song is a response to "Imagine". Though Thrice lyricist Dustin Kensrue is an admitted fan of Lennon, he has stated that he disagrees with the message of the song because it doesn't offer any realistic solutions to world problems.
• The song ranked #30 on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of the 365 Songs of the Century bearing the most historical significance.
• George Galloway quoted the line I'm Not the Only One for the title of his autobiography.
• In the Iranian left movement, the song usually relates to Mansoor Hekmat and his party, the Worker-Communist Party of Iran. The WPI plays the song in all of its meetings and demonstrations, and in its TV channel. Within Iran, the song is sometimes sung in protests and symbolizes the left movement, especially the WPI.
• The song "Tasavor Kon" (in Persian: Imagine), written by Yaghma Golroyi and sung by Siavash Ghomeishi, is a free translation of this song.
• Virgin Radio conducted a survey of UK favorite song in December 2005, Imagine was number one beating out former songs by The Beatles "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be".
• Dolly Parton recently released a cover of the song (2006), in a duet with David Foster. The video for Parton's cover of the song featured vintage footage of Lennon and Yoko Ono.
• On January 30, 2003, the song "Imagine" was played to wake up the astronauts on the Space Shuttle Columbia during its final mission
• In 2006, David Cassidy covered the "Imagine" with his son, Beau, and the University School Chorus, conducted by Thomas Gress, in Davie, Florida.
• On February 10, 2006 Peter Gabriel performed "Imagine" at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics.
• On April 3rd, 2005, Tori Amos performed "Imagine" in Orlando, Florida on her Original Sinsuality tour. It was part of Tori's Piano Bar, where she covered different songs that the fans requested.

Interviews

The following is a quote by John Lennon on the message of "Imagine", interviewed by David Sheff, September 8-28, 1980.

PLAYBOY: On a new album, you close with "Hard Times Are Over (For a While)." Why?

LENNON: 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.

Satire

• Elvis Costello commented satirically on the song in "The Other Side of Summer," wherein he asks the question, "Was it a millionaire who said, 'Imagine no possessions'?"

Trivia

• A humorous telling of this song's origin appears in Forrest Gump.

• The song was WABC-AM 's final song before switching to its current NewsTalkRadio format

• A partial remix/remake of the song was made in 2005 by disc jockey Tom Compagononi and consists of a speech about peace made by George W.Bush.

See also

• List of best-selling singles (UK)

External links

• [Lyrics007.com: Imagine] - song lyrics
• [Imagine] - John Song and Yoko's Influence
• [Imagine] - covered on "Tribute to Heroes" (9/11/2001) by Neil Young
• [Imagine traducción en español]
• [}}}] at YouTube

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