"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. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine voted "Imagine" the third greatest song of all time.
| "Imagine" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "It's So Hard" |
In the book Lennon in America, written by Geoffrey Giuliano, Lennon commented the song was "an anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalistic song, but because it's sugar-coated, it's accepted."
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'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.
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 called a seal. 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 was created to promote the documentary "The U.S. Versus John Lennon"
Acknowledgements
- 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 1990, the song was featured in the Quantum Leap episode "The Leap Home" and is also on the soundtrack of the series.
- 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" [1]
- 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 UK favorite song survey in December 2005, and Imagine was voted into top spot, beating Beatles songs "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.
- Neil Young covered the song at the America: A Tribute to Heroes concert on September 21, 2001.
- In 2004, A Perfect Circle covered the song on the eMOTIVe album.
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 Compagnoni and consists of a speech about peace made by George W.Bush.
- The song was included in the list of songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
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
- Absolute Elsewhere: The Spirit of John Lennon