Imagine there's no simplistic religious imagery… Cee Lo Green Changes Lyrics of Lennon's Iconic Hit

The Guardian ^ | 01/08/2012 | Paul Handley

[SeekAndFind]

Something big, round and heavy fell with a clang in Times Square on New Year's Eve, and it wasn't the ball on the flagpole. Cee Lo Green sang a version of Imagine in which he changed John Lennon's lyric "and no religion, too" to "and all religion is true".

Outraged Lennon fans didn't need to use 132 of their Twitter characters to tell Cee Lo what they thought of him. On the other hand, perhaps they were just reminding him of his most infamous song title.

Among the New Year's Day tweets, I imagine there were one or two that said, in effect, don't you think you're taking postmodernism a bit far? To which Cee Lo responded: "Yo I meant no disrespect by changing the lyric guys! I was trying to say a world were u could believe what u wanted that's all."

Things really started to get bizarre when the fans accused him of blasphemy and sacrilege. "We do not take kindly to blasphemers like Mr Green. He must be boiled in oil for his apostasy!" Woah! First of all, the punishment for apostasy is, of course, stoning. Second, aren't we taking things a bit too seriously here? Is Imagine a sacred text?

This is yet another sign of what happens when people abandon formal religion. GK Chesterton gets quoted more than he gets read these days, but he anticipated the present age: "It is often supposed that when people stop believing in God, they believe in nothing. Alas, it is worse than that. When they stop believing in God, they believe in anything."

It is a natural human tendency to seek after meaning. The danger comes when people invest more meaning in objects, concepts, heroes, than those things can bear.

[LetMarch]

The General Epistle of James says this:

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and keep himself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27)

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neithe shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hyprocisy.” (James 3:17)

[expatguy]

Chesterton and Toynbee also believed that it would only be religion that would reverse the so-called "progression" of today.

An American Expat in Southeast Asia

[montag813]

I love what this guy did, and think this should start a new trend of pro-Christian singers altering it with explicit Christian dogma, just to piss off the athiestic commies. FUN!

[Rummyfan]

Personally, I think that Imagine is the dumbest damn song. John Lennon supported the IRA financially for gosh' sake.

[Rummyfan]

Personally, I think that Imagine is the dumbest damn song. John Lennon supported the IRA financially for gosh' sake.

[Psycho_Bunny]

“Imagine being able to sing in tune”

[2banana]

I always like “War is not the answer!”

What was the question???

[2banana]

I always like “War is not the answer!”

What was the question???

[Dilbert San Diego]

And my follow up question would be: what would have been the appropriate response to Sept. 11th? What other response would have been appropriate after Pearl Harbor?

I would like to ask those who have the “Co-Exist” bumper stickers on their cars: Which of the major faiths represented on the bumber sticker has problems in co-existing with those of other faiths?????

[FreedomPoster]

I do better than wish. I leave them this in their windshield wipers:

[narses]

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