Imagine (song)

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"Imagine"

Single by John Lennon
from the album Imagine
B-side(s)	It's So Hard
Released	October 11, 1971
Format	7" vinyl
Recorded	1971
Genre	Rock/Pop
Length	03:04
Label	Parlophone
Writer(s)	John Lennon
Producer(s)	Phil Spector, John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Chart positions
#6 (UK Oct. 1975);#1 (UK Dec. 1980) #3 (U.S. Oct. 1971) #1 (Australia)
John Lennon singles chronology
"Power to the People"/"Open Your Box" (1971)	"Imagine"/"It's So Hard" (1971)	"Happy Xmas (War is Over)"/"Listen, the Snow is Falling" (1971)

"Imagine" is a utopian song performed by John Lennon, which appears on his 1971 album, Imagine. Although originally credited solely to Lennon, in recent years Yoko Ono's contribution to the song has become more widely acknowledged. The song was produced by Phil Spector.

"Imagine" is widely considered as one of the greatest songs of all time. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine voted "Imagine" the third greatest song of all time.^[1] Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter said, "In many countries around the world — my wife and I have visited about 125 countries — you hear John Lennon's song 'Imagine' used almost equally with national anthems."^[2]

In the book Lennon in America, written by Geoffrey Giuliano, Lennon commented that the song was "an anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalistic song, but because it's sugar-coated, it's accepted."^[3]

The lyrics were thought to be inspired by Lennon's hopes for a more peaceful world, though their origins are not known for certain. In 1963 Lennon penned the lyrics to "I'll Get You" with an opening verse of, "Imagine I'm in love with you, it's easy cause I know." The first verse of "Imagine" would seem to be a reworking of this. But the song's refrain may have been partly inspired by Yoko Ono's poetry, in reaction to her childhood in Japan during World War II. According to The Guardian, primordial versions of the song's refrain can be found in her 1965 book Grapefruit, where she penned lines such as, "imagine a raindrop" and "imagine the clouds dripping."^[4]

1 Composition and lyrical intent/Lyrics
2 Nutopia
3 Criticism
4 Legacy
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Composition and lyrical intent/Lyrics

The following is a quote by John Lennon on the message of "Imagine", interviewed by David Sheff for Playboy magazine in 1980:

Sheff: 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.^[5]

Yoko Ono said that the lyrical content of "Imagine" was " just what John believed — that we are all one country, one world, one people. He wanted to get that idea out."^[6]

[edit] Nutopia

Nutopia is a conceptual country created by John Lennon and Yoko Ono on April Fool's Day 1973. This country (or nation) was supposed to live up to the standards set by the song "Imagine".

In the official declaration of Nutopia, it is stated that it

"has no land, no boundaries, no passports, only people. Nutopia has no laws other than cosmic. All people of Nutopia are ambassadors of the country. Citizenship of the country can be obtained by declaration of your awareness of Nutopia."

The flag of Nutopia has only one colour: white. The seal of Nutopia is a picture of the marine animal of the same name. The "Nutopian International Anthem" was included on John Lennon's album Mind Games, and consisted of a few seconds of silence.

A plaque engraved with the words "NUTOPIAN EMBASSY" was duly installed at their home at the Dakota. It is believed that the whole affair was a jibe at Lennon's ongoing immigration troubles, as he and Ono (who already had a Resident Alien "green card", which Lennon had been denied, through her previous husband) tried to move permanently to America.

In 2006 a Nutopia website ^[7] was created by Lions Gate Entertainment, ^[8] the producers of the documentary "The U.S. Versus John Lennon."

[edit] Criticism

The song has also received a number of criticisms due to what some have seen as practised hypocrisy.

Journalist and broadcaster Robert Elms said "Imagine" was written by a "multi-millionaire with one temperature-controlled room in his Manhattan mansion just to store his fur coats."^[9] 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'?"

[edit] Legacy

The Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park, New York

[edit] Accolades

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 November 2004, ranked 3rd on Rolling Stone's list of the RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
On 1 January 2005, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation named "Imagine" the greatest song in the past 100 years, as voted by listeners.
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.
Virgin Radio conducted a UK favorite song survey in December 2005, and Imagine was voted into top spot, beating Beatles songs "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be".
The song was voted the greatest song of all time by the Nine Network's 20 to 1 countdown show in Australia on September 12, 2006.

[edit] Cultural legacy

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.
In 1990, the song was featured in the Quantum Leap episode "The Leap Home" and is also on the soundtrack of the series.
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".
A mosaic was constructed as a part of the Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park, New York City, near Lennon's final home, in memory of the singer. In the centre of the mosaic is the word "Imagine".
"Imagine" is the official song of the human rights organization Amnesty International.
A humorous telling of this song's origin appears in Forrest Gump. The main character, Forrest, is a guest on The Dick Cavett Show alongside John Lennon. Forrest recounts his experiences playing ping pong in China; he claims that the Chinese do not have much stuff ("no possessions") and, unlike him, do not go to church every Sunday (which Lennon interprets as "no religion too"), to which Dick Cavett responds, "It's hard to imagine", and Lennon says, "Well it's easy if you try".
"Imagine" and other songs by John Lennon were used in the movie Mr. Holland's Opus. (1995)
On January 30, 2003, the song "Imagine" was played to wake up the astronauts on the Space Shuttle Columbia during its ill-fated mission.
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 was WABC-AM 's final song before switching to its current NewsTalkRadio format.
The song was included in the list of songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
In 2003, Bill Clinton joined Liel and 40 Jewish and 40 Arab children at the 80th birthday of Shimon Peres in Tel Aviv to sing "Imagine".^[10]
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.
George Galloway quoted the line I'm Not the Only One for the title of his autobiography.
On November 18, 2006, UFC fighter and known anarchist Jeff Monson used "Imagine" as his walk in/entrance song for his heavyweight title fight against Tim Sylvia at UFC 65: Bad Intentions in Sacramento, California.
On New Years Eve at the start of 2006 and of 2007, "Imagine" was played in Times Square, New York City in the minutes before the clock struck midnight.

[edit] Cover interpretations

Bassist Jeff Berlin covered the song on his 1997 album "Taking Notes". That album also featured Jeff's solo interpretation of Eric Clapton's song "Tears In Heaven", which has went on to become one of his most recognisable songs after gaining much praise from fans.
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.
Diana Ross covered the song on her 1973 album Touch Me in the Morning.
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 11 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 2004, A Perfect Circle covered the song on the eMOTIVe album. This song is significantly darker and gloomier than the original version.
Canadian rock musician Allison Crowe, who performs the song in concert, recorded "Imagine" for release on her 2005 double-album, Live at Wood Hall.
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.
The Venezuelan band Cachicamo con Caspa has a Latin-feel cover on their A Pulir la Hebilla album.
The instrumental hip hop duo, Blendcrafters, covers it on their first and, so far, only album, Blendcrafters.
A 2005 song by artist RX featured George W. Bush "singing" a mixture of Lennon's "Imagine" and Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side.

[edit] Live cover interpretations

The band Queen performed this song a few times in 1980 right after Lennon's death. On July 15, 2005, Queen + Paul Rodgers performed the song live in Hyde Park as a tribute to the victims of the London terrorist attacks.
In 1983 David Bowie covered the song live during a concert in Hong Kong on the Anniversary of Lennon's Death as a tribute to him.
Stevie Wonder performed "Imagine" on August 4, 1996 at the 1996 Summer Olympics closing ceremony. Almost ten years later on February 10, 2006 Peter Gabriel performed the song at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Neil Young covered the song at the America: A Tribute to Heroes concert ^[11] on September 21, 2001.^[12]
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".
Eva Cassidy recorded the song before her death at age 33; the album was entitled, "Imagine".

[edit] Censored versions

Radio stations in America allegedly have been known to edit the song to remove or obscure the line "and no religion too". One station even went as far as to change the line to "and one religion too".^[13]

[edit] References

^ The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
^ Carter helps monitor Nicaragua presidential election, Debbie Elliott. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
^ Lennon Lives Forever: John Lennon, Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
^ Age becomes her, The Guardian. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
^ Playboy Interview: John Lennon and Yoko Ono, David Sheff. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
^ Imagine, Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
^ Nutopia website
^ Perform a search for www.jointutopia.com here
^ The not-so Fab Four?, Robert Elms. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
^ Shimon Peres 80th birthday
^ All-star telethon raises $150m
^ 'Tribute to Heroes' Set for CD, Video
^ Dawkins, Richard: "The God Delusion", Random House, 2006.

[edit] External links

John Lennon and Neil Young: Jammin' with Neil - covered on "Tribute to Heroes" (9/11/2001) by Neil Young
Absolute Elsewhere: The Spirit of John Lennon
George Bush (Tom Compagnoni)/Wax Audio Imagine/Give Peace a Chance
DJ RX Imagine RX2008

Preceded by "There's No-one Quite Like Grandma" by St Winifred's School Choir	UK number one single January 4, 1981	Succeeded by "Woman" by John Lennon