[agrarianlady]

I remember as a senior in High School sitting out of this one when we were supposed to sing it for a choir concert. I figured it out on my own at the time that I could not sing these words in good conscience.

[FeliciaCat]

Sometimes a song is just a song.

[firebrand]

This is no doubt the song he was murdered over. Imagine no religion? Nothing to kill or die for? In your dreams, John.

Amazing what beauty a simple tune, sung by a talented musician with a good voice, to the accompaniment of a few chords on a well-tuned concert grand, can achieve. "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" was the same basic formula but somehow managed to avoid being communist propaganda.

[Maceman]

Imagine no posessions.

It's easy if you have $200 million.

[.cnI redruM]

Imagine there's no brain cells
Easy if you try
Just sit around your apartment
And get massively high

Imagine living off royalties
and slacking every day OOH!

Imagine there's no Yoko
Send that skank back to Japan
Make her work in clothes factory
And thwart her gold-digging plan

Imagine Paul McCartney
laughing at Lennon now OOH!

CHORUS
You may say John is brain-dead
and your not the only one
He hoped one day you'd join him
until YOUR stash was done

Imagine there's free health care
For every junkie in the USA
Imagine public methadone
and the taxes you'd pay

Imagine all the workers
taxed to buy free drugs OOH!!

Imagine there's no Army
Just a Dept of Peace
and no jails or policemen
the buggery would never cease

Imagine our whole country
with the GDP of Sudan OOH!!

Chorus.

[ZULU]

"TODAY MARKS the 23rd anniversary of John Lennon's murder by a deranged fan.."
I think ALL Beetles fans are a bit deranged.

[BSunday]

Imagine there's no countries . . . Nothing to kill or die for / No religion too / Imagine all the people / living life in peace

This would take an exremely iron fisted totalitarian state who's power and reach would be so great that there would be no hope of ever being freed from it, outside of death. Imagine Hilter or Hussein as King of the World.

[HamiltonJay]

I'll never forget walking through "Strawberry Fields" our our way to the Zoo one sunny saturday morning in New Yorks Central Park, my 6 year old son asked me who John Lennon was.... the inlaid mosaic was covered in flower petals and the usual suspects mulled around and sat on the benches as we walked through....

And I calmly replied, "He was just a nutball leftist musician".... man if looks could have killed I would have been gunned down stone cold by those mulling around.

Certainly a bit tactless of me, without a doubt, but that's what he was.

[Paved Paradise]

Love It. As described by another poster, insipid is a rather accurate description.

[Jim Cane]

Unfortunately, the arguments against Lennon's insipidy were a series of indsipid wet-blanketisms, not unlike when nerdlings sit behind you in the movie theater, babbling away about how the dragons of the Nazgul can't REALLY fly because they lack a proper avian sternum.

It's a frickin' song.

[A Navy Vet]

Other than the rest of his tripe, I could certainly do without billions of people claiming their organized religion is the one God prefers, and the countless lives and misery that's caused throughout the past and present. Disclaimer: I'm a deist.

[DannyTN]

"Imagine there's no heaven . . . No hell below us . . . Imagine all the people living for today ...No religion too "

Imagine all the people....Living life in vain...
You may think I'm a dreamer...No I think that you're insane.

[Paradox]

I have to admit that I like the song, but then again I like alot of songs that aren't really "my type". I realize the lyrics are pretty insipid (great word for it), but I dont think many really get THAT into the meaning of the song. They are content to think "well what a nice world this man is singing about" without really listening that carefully to the lyrics.

His vision of no heaven and hell is based on the eastern mysticism that he was into. There is a form of judgement for these people, its not quite how the author here has portrayed it. The rest of the song is just sappy, hippies-in-a-commune drivel.

[Skooz]

I cannot believe it's been 23 years.

I was relaxing after a hard day at work and decided to turn on the Monday Night Football game. Howard Cosell broke the news.

23 years. Dang.

[Gal.5:1]

This is a hymn of the new age, humanist, earth and man centered worldview/religion. I remember when it came out when I was a teen, and realizing this was another song intended to announce the replacement of God with utopian humanism. High school classes around here now pick this song as thier "class song".

[Rummyfan]

I have always thought IMAGINE was the dumbest d*mn song.... Lennon surely thought so too, as he was an unrepentant capitalist and also financially supported the IRA.

[dhs12345]

This song is an excellent example of liberal thinking. Idealistic versus realistic. This is the same utopia as in Star Trek (TNG).

Humans are territorial and possessive "animals." Some are less, others are more, much more. It is part of our nature and is/was necessary for our survival.

The liberals solution is the lay down and give in to others and the world will be a wonderful place. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. Wasn't Lennon a fan of Mao? How many Chinese died under Mao's rule?

[Revolting cat!]

John Lenin was a great lyricist? "And no religion too" What language is that in? Anyway, how many more posts informing the rest of us dumbies and the author too, as a way of excusing the idiotic lyrics, that Imagine is a song? Thanks, we didn't know!

Unfortunately, as songs go, this one has become a motivator for many people, not unlike the Communist anthems sung by Communist hero Pete Seeger.

[hosepipe]

"Imagine" that mankind is not as self centered as a Drag Queen and about half as dumb as Al Gore... generally..

[NittanyLion]

I suspect Lennon is asking you to imagine these things along with all the attendant changes necessary to mankind and human nature that would make them possible. I don't think even Lennon believes these things to be possible in the world we live in.

While the author is right in the literal sense, I think he comes off as a bit anal to actually deconstruct the lyrics. 99% of the people listening to the song probably like the tune/sound and never give a second thought to what the lyrics actually mean. Articles like these are the reason conservatives are viewed as so ill-humored. JMO.