♫ Imagine ♫

Posted on by under Environmental Issues, Global Issues, music, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Now, I know that I played this song three times during 2018, once during 2019, and twice last year.  And, I know that a couple of my beloved friends/readers do not care much for John Lennon.  But tonight, after the second mass shooting here in the U.S. in just over a week … well, I felt no song in my heart except this one … this one that let’s us dream of a better world.  I have never felt more hopeless than I do tonight … if there is hope for us in this world, it is to live life as John Lennon sings … a world with “nothing to kill or die for”.

And so, I ask you, dear friends, to listen to this song … really listen … even if you don’t like Lennon, or you’re tired of me playing it … just listen.  Let the words of hope wash over you.  If we can’t make a difference, if you truly think we are just doomed … then why do you love the ‘good people’ posts so much?  You love them for the same reasons I do … because they give us hope for the future … for humanity.  Now, don those headphones, sit back and close your eyes, and just absorb the music, okay?  Love ‘n hugs!

Imagine
John Lennon

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky

Imagine all the people
Living for today (ah ah ah)

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

Songwriters: John Winston Lennon
Imagine lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management

42 thoughts on “♫ Imagine ♫”

  2. One of my all-time favorite songs. A great moment of its use came after Trump’s election. There was a massive women’s march here in Ashland on January 21, 2017. A cold, cloudy day, I was with my wife and others, participating in the march, with a pink hat on my head. The crowd was huge. I-5’s exits and the roads to Ashland became parking lots as people drove in to our small town to participate. Music played from the PA system as we waited for the official beginning. One song that stood out is “Imagine”, because we all sang it together, raising our voices against the election of that mango fool and the reactionary racist that he represents.

    It was beautiful.

    Hugs and cheers, Michael

    Liked by 1 person

    • Mine too, Michael! Oh how I would have loved to have been there for that march … if nothing else, to see you marching with a pink hat on your head! I loved the solidarity of so many protesting what we knew would be a horrible four years to follow. My friend Gronda attended the march in D.C. that year! This is such a beautiful song, brings to mind such a beautiful world we could live in, were it not for greed. Sigh. Hugs ‘n cheers, my friend!

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Be quite sure, Jill, people hate John Lennon because the reporters one day badgered him so much about how famous the Beatles were that he uttered the sentence that destroyed what the Beatles were creating: We’re more popular than Jesus now. It was a spur of the moment thing, not meant to be taken seriously, but Evangelists around the world used it to depopularize the Beatles, to make people hate John Lennon.
    The entire thing he said follows:
    Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I know I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now. I don’t know which will go first – rock & roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.”
    He said nothing bad about Jesus, but he did condemn those who wrote the New Testament, and those who interpreted things that were said or done in it, and that meant it was the human part of religion he disliked.
    But that was ignored. The words were, as usual, taken out of context, and used to light a fire that is still burning today.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I vaguely remember hearing that he said that, but … WHY is that a reason to hate him years later, especially posthumously??? it was an arrogant thing to say, for sure, but not reason for ongoing, eternal hatred! Sheesh … people need to get a life.

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      • it wasn’t even arrogant. The media wanted him to screw up, or say something utterly brilliant. He was still reasonably young, and on tour, no time for real reflection. But once said, it could not be taken back. He was the subject of demon sermons for years.
        Millions of Beatles records were burned all over the world because of John’s words. And you know Republicans, it does not have to make sense. Once an Anti-Chrisr, always an Anti-Christ.

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  4. I suspect that during the evolution of the human species there was a period where suspicion of those outside our family/tribal group was necessary for survival. And the magical maximum group size appears to be less than 200. That suspicion survives even today, although it’s patently obvious it no longer serves a useful purpose.

    I don’t know what the answer is, but it’s evident that some societies get along amongst themselves (and with other societies) better than others. And almost by the day the US proves it’s not one of those societies. What I do observe is that nations where welfarism is strongest (not socialism as those on the right claim) are the most peaceful. You can look at scandinavian nations and Aotearoa New Zealand as examples. As Lennon says: Imagine all the people sharing all the world. Perhaps we’ll never quite get there, but I think the fair sharing of resources would get us closer..

    Liked by 2 people

    • I hadn’t thought of it like that, but … it makes sense. We have evolved, and yet in some ways we haven’t and it seems unlikely that we will anytime soon.

      A few years back, I did a piece about the World Happiness Index and the Scandinavian Countries were all at the top of the list. I love the world Lennon paints in this song, but I’ve given up the hope of ever seeing it.

      Liked by 2 people

    • I am so sorry, dear Soul Sister … I am so far behind … I did get both your emails, and just finished responding! Again, please accept my apology … rough week.

      Love you!
      J.

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  6. I’m sorry but I see no reason not to love John. He never promoted hatred or discord, just encouragement to stand for what one believes without hatred or violence. And as long as their are groups with belief systems they feel they must defend, then there will always be discord. The real and damning influence in all of this is not about freedom of religion. It is about religious ideologies intermingling with politics. Humans have an inane desire to separate people into two groups-right and wrong. Sadly, saying we all just need to get along is like dust in the whirlwind of warring over religious beliefs since before Biblical times. The very roots of Western religions are embroiled in politics since Roman times. This separation goes so deep, not just because of religions but because of man’s idea of who is deserving of ‘more’. More money, more sympathy, more love, more food, more understanding; and this judgment is based in greed. If we could ever get over the fear of being without and realize that in the moment of having nothing to defend, protect or fight for, therein lies true salvation. 😞💕”Imagine all the people…living life in peace….”

    Liked by 3 people

    • I’m in agreement with you … I think John was a man with a social conscience. I’m never quite sure why some dislike him, but I think some just feel he was a better songwriter than singer. I don’t know.

      I think that religion is the greatest divider there is … it is the thing that keeps nations separated, starts wars, and encourages ALL forms of bigotry. It teaches moral superiority, which is a farce, but people fall for it. I Imagine the world John writes & sings of, but of late, I’ve discovered that such a world will never exist among humans. Greed, power and money will keep us divided forever. Sigh. Hugs, my friend.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Lennon was not a perfect person, but who among us is? This song is not about John Lennon, but about his vision, and for me it should not matter who sings it, including John Lennon. At least we can be sure when he recorded this song, he meant every word of it. I don’t think even he understood at the time the truth he was giving to the rest of us. It is so much bigger than the man. It is so much bigger than any individual person.

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  9. No need to apologise to me – you can play this one as often as you like. I fear that it will always be relevant: most of the wars and terrorism of the past 2000 years have had a root in countries or religion – or both – and I don’t see that changing any time soon, sadly. A truly beautiful song.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks, Clive. I knew you’d understand. No, my friend, I don’t see it changing, either, and it makes me wonder some days why we even bother to try to make things better. I’m not sure some days why I even exist. So, I listen to this, close my eyes, and Imagine a better world, a kinder world …

      Liked by 1 person

      • I can understand your frustration. All these centuries of human life and we still can’t get it right. I can recall those teenage years when we thought we were going to change the world – they seem so far away now.

        Liked by 1 person

  10. In my mind giving up religion, country, and possessions is not a practical way to fight hatred and killing in the world. The way to fight hatred and killing is to quit hating and try to embrace differences. That takes a lot more work.

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    • I know many who share your thoughts on that. But … what if those things had never existed? What if we all felt a sense of kinship, needed no other influences, but were content to share and live in peace with all others? To me, that is the world the way it should be. Sigh.

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    • It may not be practical for everyone, but those things, and more, divide people, give them a reason to be different–when there us no difference. We are all the same, we are all equal. We need to learn to live like we are equal. Look at what Trump did to the world, gave them permission to hate, because they want to be different. They want to feel superior. And yes, religions like Christianity with its Our God is the Only True God is a dividing line. You want to believe, go ahead, but do it silently, on your own time, in your own head, in your own heart.
      Nationality? The only borders that exist in this world are in our minds. There are no lines that separate one country from another but the ones we draw. We are all earthlings. But even that is divisive. There is only one true designation, and that is we all have life. We are all living beings, together with plants, insects, animals, etc. When the Bible tells us God gave humans dominion over all other living things, that created the biggest sin in the world. We do not have dominion over anything. All living things share this earth equally, all living things contribute to what we call nature. Every time a species is extincted, it affects other species! Oh, nature adapts, for sure. And some species go extinct on their own. But when it is humans who make species go extinct, however they do it, it hurts every living thing. And humans make other species go extinct. No other species does that. We are not good neighbours!
      Possessions? I prefer to call this one greed. You want to have things other people do not have, or cannot afford. What do you think is the basis of most, if not all crimes. Greed. Either you have something other people want to have too, or you are trying to stop other people from having what you have. So, they try to take it. And they have the right to take it. They have the right to live the same as everyone else. But only those who do not have things see it that way. Those who have things feel they need to protect what they have. Because they are somehow better! They are not better. No one is better than anyone else.
      That is the message of this song. That is the vision. A world where nothing divides people from other people, or other living beings. A world of peace. Anyone who cannot understand this message is still trapped in having dominion over others, and that is unnatural.

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