Reviews for Imagine Lyrics

People shouldn't take this so seriously. John Lennon was just trying to say, "hey what if?". i honestly might not like it if the world was like that but just IMAGINE it. It could be a wonderful thing having nothing to worry about. atleast thats my opinion...

There will always be things to die for. People die trying to climb Mount Everest- a.k.a. while struggling for something.

There will always be religion- and there are many religions that don't have a concept of Hell at all. So...yeah.

And I don't know about you, but I would like to keep my possessions. Sharing is one thing (or donating to my chosen charity)...giving all my money to someone who isn't willing to even TRY to work is something else (cough...this happens when government starts over taxing and over inflating, be it communist, fascist, or what have you- big government, historically, is bad).

I think there are songs that talk about love, and world peace, much more effectively- aka, without the blunt implications that the majority of people would have to change DRASTICALLY to fit into your world view. (I'm referring again to the "no religion" part- although the "nothing to kill or die for" part works too. That implies, of course, that there's nothing to live for either.)

Yeah. Plus I like Paul McCartney's songs better. :P

The native Americans believed in peace. Most of them did not fight when the Europeans came to take their land. They avoided conflict and had great respect for all living things, including the land we live in now. Imagine if the warriors from the religious colonists to those looking to expand their lands would have been like NatAmer

Look, John believed in socialism. Which, once all nations would go to socialism, then people could achieve real communism. Peace & prosperity. That was the point of communism. But, then there were people that wanted to be impatient & start controlling people & how they lived. Yes, he's promoting socialism. Who cares. What matters is that what he wants is what we all want. And that is peace!

if u dont like the wars and shti why dotn u just actully do something eh, im tired of all these hippy-dippy "loving everybody" people. and if "anarchys" are soo great u should maybe go to a war torn country in africa where ppl are killed cuz theres no proper military protecting the children and adults who have dont nothing wrong and see what u think after that.

"if u dont stand behind your troops, fell FREE to stand infront"

So what if he was promoting a communist ideology?

I bet the people who are typing that don't actually understand what communism promotes. Ever read the manifesto? Communism is an amazing IDEA. But humans just don't have the capabilities of seeing it to reality. We're not that selfless.

As a few have mentioned before, the music isn't mind-boggling. He's done some way better things, although it still is a beautiful song. The point is the message. Somebody (I forget the username) mentioned that Lennon was proposing that we take away everything that has meaning to people. At least for me, and I'm pretty sure that Lennon would agree, if there's love and harmony between all people, what more do we need?

I am sick and tired of people that call the army "peacekeeping"

Peace has become another logo that corporations can sell, and if you overuse it, water it down it becomes meaningless.

So if you TRULY believe in peace, dont just say to your friends"peace" when you leave, tell them "DONT JOIN THE MILITARY"

No Armies = NO Wars

No Wars = Peace

John as many said is my hero too
He was one in a million... he always said what he believed - many of us keep the mouth shut and dont say a think~ and the injustices in world keep happening because of it... Thats a shame! And when someone just like us do something to bring at least some consciousness then is killed! For Gods sake ! this beats repeating!! Why the human being kills the ones who wants a better for humankind?? remember: Jesus, Gandhi, Luther King, JFK, Chico Mendes (brazilian man who defended Amazon from being destroyed)!

Now 2009! can you see the rise of a new world?? I am not speaking about Obama.. I am speaking about whole world... Its a new one! What are going to do ? Do something! Stop caring about your own good!

"Those who live small, mate small, die small. It’s the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you’ll keep it under control.

If you don’t make any noise, the bogeyman won’t find you. But it’s all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe."~Sophie Scholl.

Great song! Just imagine. Thats all the guy is saying! Imagine these things he listed and your own desires. Dont think about the stuff they want us to. And let'em call you a dreamer! Its much deeper than that.

All that John Lenon ever wanted to say was... world peace....
hey is just asking everyone to give peace a chance....!!!
try to just live life peacefully and not bind it or divide it in small bits and pieces like religions and all....
Thats live life... there is no sin or good ...
there is only life...!!!!
live it to the fullest till you have it....
and so let others live it too....
enjoy living ur life...........!!!!!!

It is fascinating to see how quickly people's defense mechanisms and 'guards' so to speak come up when faced with the possibility that their beliefs are wrong. Suppose John was hinting at communism, does that make the message invalid? I don't really care one way or the other what his agenda was. I care that we can live in a more peaceful world if we dropped our beliefs that separate us from other people. It will take a long time, and we probably won't see it, but it will be the best thing to have happened to the world. Do you think Balbo thought he would see his message actually change humanity? Maybe. And Martin Luther? Did he figure he could single handedly change the church in one month/year/lifetime? They saw wrongs and called out the church on it. One was burnt at the stake as a heretic, the other escaped to England and lived. They were both trying to release the people from the tyranny that was the Catholic Church. Maybe they even understood that the whole 'god' thing was also just part of the tyranny, but though that message was too radical and unacceptable to their followers. I don't know.
What I do know is that it is hard to change the world. John had a shot at it, and then someone took a shot at him... I would not be surprised if the Church was behind it, but that is just a speculation.
What is brilliant about John is that he slowly leads you into it. Imagining no religion is easy to some people. It is easy to me for instance. I can even imagine no countries, although it would lead to a logistical nightmare, which we would have to find ways to overcome. Someone was saying before that 'Possessions' are a basis on which capitalism runs. That person is right, we can't just throw it away with not alternative. We need to work at that, but at least let's acknowledge that it would be a nice goal. John knows it is difficult, that is why he doesn't say; it is easy if you try... He says; I wonder if you can… Can you? I can't yet, but I know I want to... I myself for instance am quite wealthy, but I would be willing to give it all up to live in a harmonious world.
My greatest desire then, is to be part of a movement that starts moving towards these truths so that future generations can have a better existence. I am not saying it will be perfect. They will still need police and laws and prisons and shit. But if they can eliminate people doing bad things while claiming moral superiority, (in the name of god) then it will inevitably be a better world. Because you will be able to call someone out on their behavior. You can say, you are greedy or seeking power. And they may agree and say that is who I am or disagree and be unreasonable. But they won't be able to say, no, God told me to. And to me, that is a start for a more rational, fair world.
Please email me if you have any thoughts to share.
Thanks,
Norm

I lived on Merseyside from 1962 through to 1979. I first met John at a gig at the Orrell Ballrooms. I (we, me and 3 mates) followed the Beatles all over Merseyside. We saw them on The Royal Iris as The Silver Beatles, Hulme Hall (Port Sunlight), The Majestic (Birkenhead), The Tower Ballroom (New Brighton), The Iron Door and every time they were on at The Cavern. John was the only Beatle that acknowledged us (he recognised us from the times we saw them). At the interval or breaks he would have a drink with us. I love John and Imagine stands for everything that he believed in. John was the best. Mike Lees Bath

John was trying convey to everyone, if there wasn't any religions or different countries, there wouldn't be any hatred or killing. He felt that if we lived all together as one country, united together as one people, we would be living in harmony. Helping one another because it's the right thing to do. Feed the hungry, clothe the poor, provide medicine for anyone that needs it. I know many of you think it sounds like fantasy, but if more and more people tried to help. We could eliminate more and more of the of the problems in our world. I can only hope one day, we will be able to live in such a place. If not in my generation, then in my sons. That is what I believe John was trying to convey to us.

May you rest in peace John...you will always be remembered.

Imagination is the most powerful function of the finite and thus limited human mind.

John Lennon was on his inner journey, his inner path to spiritual enlightenment. The message is that everyone is enlightened, just they have forgotten it, and imagination is one way to jump-start the remembrance. Another way is meditation techniques. John Lennon found a guru who taught him techniques of meditation that can help one to transcend the mind and go beyond the mind to the highest state of consciousness, a/k/a, spiritual enlightenment.

The ultimate truth of the Upanishadic sages is that One is All, and All is One, i.e, nondual oneness. The only divisions and thus diviseness is in the human mind, which is a mechanism that necessarily operates by inventing polar opposites, dichotomies or other dualities. There are no divisions in truth, in reality. They exist only in the mind's projection on the screen of the world.

Consider the lyrics in the light of this framework.

Imagine no heaven and no hell. The concepts of sin, guilt, and fear are stock-in-trade of the profession of ordained clerics of organized religion who use these constructs to control, manipulate, and exploit their adherents in the name of God. So Lennon is saying: Imagine no organized religion, which divides humanity into faiths, sects, and cults.

Imagine no countries, no nations, and no flags. The concept of the nation-state or other political jurisdiction with citizen-residents on the inside and aliens on the outside is the stock-in-trade of politicians who use this construct to control, manipulate, and exploit their constituents in the name of nationality, patriotism, and the national flag. So Lennon is saying: Imagine no nation-states, which divide humanity into factions and parties.

Imagine no possessions and no private property. The concept of private property is the stock-in-trade of intellectuals, pundits, and economists who use this construct along with free markets and democracy to control, manipulate, and exploit the people in the name of the market, utility, productivity, and conformity to societal laws. So Lesson is saying: Imagine no ownership of private property, not even possession of children by their biological parents, and thus no greed for material wealth of any kind.

Humanity is divided by hate-mongering religionists, moralists, politicians, and intellectuals who seek to advance only their own selfish interests. They pose as do-gooders who wish to unilaterally, tyrannically impose their ideas of a better world on everyone else.

John Lennon is not a dreamer; he is the ultimate realist. He is a peace-maker. The world, the universe, existence is One. It cannot be otherwise, but only a spiritually enlightened soul has the depth of direct, immediate, existential experience to realize this eternal truth.

John Lennon was a poet, not a mystic. He seemed to be on the verge of a breakthrough in his own spiritual development. He was not a socially conditioned robot that acted and talked like the mass of humanity, a/k/a "we the sheeple".

Wherever you are, may the Sun shine upon you. May the Sun illuminate your understanding and bring you peace.

You forget Utopia, unified government or global peace will never exist for the simple fact that resources will never be able to be shared evenly amongst people so therefore there will always be strife and competition for goods, services, and consumables such as energy. The only way for a state of living as Lennon describes it to exists is to be part of/the "insert you afterlife of choice, when you pass away, here" because that's the only time that there would ever be the ability to have mandatory resources(Food, water, energy) distributed on an on demand basis to maintain a true communistic utopia. So therefore our best adaptation is a localy managed government that handles a region and generates compitition as a way to effectively manage distribution of goods, services, and consumables, hence capitalism. Not perfect, but the most effective way to deal with the amount of distance and transactions things have to cover to satisfy everyone, whether they worked for them or not.