to think the song Imagine is not only a dreadful dirge, but is also complete and unworkable twaddle

[MardyBra]

Just heard it on the radio. I don't know why so many people like this song, and go on and on about its sentiments. But there is no tune to speak of, and the lyrics are shite.

^"Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky"^

Well I don't need to imagine that. There's no evidence that there's a heaven above us and a hell lurking under our feet, as far as I'm concerned. Even a lot of Christians don't believe heaven and hell are literally and physically above and below us.

"Imagine all the people living for today"

So nobody bothers to work, save, make plans for the future, provisions for old age, build anything over the long term, even preserve food for the winter. Just get up and do whatever you fancy for the day?

"^Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace^"

OK, so if we're going to abolish countries, what are we going to replace them with. There needs to be some sort of political and administrative framework, otherwise we'll live in total anarchy with no taxes, no education, no welfare state, no police - a bit like that telly programme Survivors, where they're all running round the country brandishing guns and nicking stuff off each other. Religion, I know, has been "done to death" on MN. Personally I think everyone can believe what they like, and religion can be a comfort to many, as long as it doesn't impact on others. Anyway, how can you ban religion? You can't change the way people think. It's a bit 1984.

Yes, I can see that national identity and religions can cause wars, but abolishing them is not practical.

"^Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world^"

So how are we going to manage this no possessions business? Does that mean that anyone can just help themselves to anything they fancy. Someone can just help themselves to food I've grown in my garden, rip the clothes off my back and wear them because they don't "belong" to me or just decide to move into my house because they don't fancy their own place any more. If there are no rights of possession then everyone might end up squabbling over stuff and then we'll all go hungry.
Hopefully if he's talking about a "brotherhood of man", most of this won't apply to women.

"^You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one^"

Really? There are other people who actually think this.

[BestIsWest]

Waterloo Sunset is THE best song EVER. Yay for Ray Davies.

Agree with Mousefunk too. I loved John Lennon and adored the Beatles but always took the working class hero thing with a pinch of salt after I read he bought another apartment in the Dakota building to keep Yoko's fur coats at the right temperature.

[BelleDameSousMistletoe]

And everything mousefunk said about JL and the hugely talented Cat Stevens. Although if anyone told me they loved their dog as much as they loved me I might be a tad miffed.

[BelleDameSousMistletoe]

Lennon (assuming not Lenin) was a communist?!

At best a Champagne socialist...

[Pendeen]

heard

[Pendeen]

"Oh, I love Mitch Benn!"

"How can you never have heard of him?"

^"If you've not seen if you need to see this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=etYvtT7q5XA"^

Well, I hadn't hears, I did watch, and I sincerely wish I hadn't.

Sorry but, if that youtube clip is typical of his performance then to me he is awful, simply awful.

(And no, I'm not a Lennon fan either in case you wondered).

[musicalendorphins]

Lot's of lyrics are a bit silly when you analyze them.
But I don't mind. It doesn't offend me.

[shadylane]

Richard herring what a bellend - yoko was/is attractive and good on John for not going for the usual western model type that most musicians end up with. Theirs was a love story no matter how obnoxious a person is they are still capable of love! The videos of them are just so cute- woman and the imagine vid. And beautiful boy. Shame johns sons didn't turn out very well despite their musical legacy.

[Mousefunk]

I love The Beatles, they're literally spread all over my house- its like a frigging Beatles shrine.. Not all my fault, my dad knows we love them so whenever he sees anything remotely Beatles (and Audrey Hepburn) related he gets it..

John was/is? my favourite, I say this with a massive poster of him hung behind me. Imagine, however, was a big pile of hypocrisy. I love the idea of the song, but then I am a big idealist that sits with a pair of rose tinted spectacles glued to my face. However with John and Yoko sat in their multi million pound mansion ordering 'porpers' about (watched a v.interesting documentary where an ex worker told of how John was a true diva) its hardly fitting they should sing about a world without materialism. If they had given most of their millions away and just left enough to be comfortable and lived in some modest cottage or whatever and owned nothing of great wealth then ok.

Its a pretty song and would be rather nice if the world was that place but don't see it happening. My favourite is 'Where will the children play' by Cat Stevens, he was a very clever man ahead of the times and never has a song been as true.

[cory]

That song has always annoyed me because my generation was brought up to believe that there was some kind of deep thought in there. Lennon was a brilliant musician with an enormous ego: thought simply wasn't what he did best.

[SaskiaRembrandtVampireHunter]

VoiceofUnreason Completely agree about the Kinks! Waterloo Sunset, now that's a good song.

[VoiceofUnreason]

YANBU. I loathe it too. And I also find The Beatles overrated and always have. Never understood the fuss about The Rolling Stones either. The Kinks, however, underrated.

I'm 38, so I wasn't around at the time, you understand (except for Imagine), which I think has much to do with it. Nostalgia and all that.

[ethelb]

its smug sixth form common room politics. but in 2012 all the beatles look like smug, cliched gits don't they.

[expatinscotland]

It's a steaming pile of wank.

[TheOriginalSteamingNit]

As Richard herring once said: John Lennon was a man with an amazing imagination, he could imagine there was no countries: it was easy if he tried, he could just do it! And he could imagine there was no religion.,... And he could even imagine that yoko Ono was in some way talented or attractive.

[Freshbloodletticia]

It's banal crap, poptastic chart fodder like most of the Beatles stuff, boak. As for effin Paul effin Mcartney, he can eff right off.
Ok?

[NotGoodNotBad]

You're quite right OP, and I've always hated this song for the same reasons. That and Lennon is off-key .

[FreudiansSlipper]

i love Woman, Starting Over and Beautiful Boy makes me cry

Yoko Ono was very lucky to have such amazing songs written about her though she put up with some nasty behaviour from him :(

and yes i know Beautiful Boy was not about Yoko

[lovebunny]

aww! i think it's drivel, i think it's of limited merit as a composition, but it's sweet and dopey. it'll do. i like woman and the christmas one too. and working class hero. but i didn't like john lennon. he was so far up himself he couldn't see daylight.

[BalloonSlayer]

"Lenon was a communist."

Did you mistype Lenin or Lennon?

[BestIsWest]

There's far worse and *dizzy", It was no 1 in 1975, 5 years before Lennon died.

[FreudiansSlipper]

no it was not one of his best songs and it has been over played. i do love the the Beatles and JL. Life is what .... is a great line so true

i had to sit in a counselling class listening to Imagine while holding crystals our teacher wanted us to experience her programme of counselling thank fuck i have moved on to a more academic form of learning

i did love her though :)

[OldMumsy]

I like "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty, great tune and words, listening to it always takes me back to my youth living in London.

Winding your way down on Baker Street
Light in your head and dead on your feet
Well another crazy day, you'll drink the night away
And forget about everything

These words actually mean something. Much better than that Lennon stuff.

[NormanTheForeman]

Agree totally with your OP, Mardy. That's all.

Norm x