24 Years ago Today...RIP

[koooky]

Hello all.

I just recently got the cd "John Lennon Acoustic" released last month and let me say, for those of you that really enjoy John's post-Beatle work, and really, really clean guitar played from the soul, this is the cd for you. As I listened through it today it made me think of what an incredible person we lost 24 years ago today.

After his Beatle years, John was much more than just a musician. He became one of the most influential peace activist of the 60's and 70's. "Gice Peace a Chance" became an anthem for those who stood up to our government in protest of the Vietnam war. He encouraged free-thinking and creative ideas in art as well as in music.

On this, the 24th anniversary of his death, I like wonder what John would be doing now in protest of the current war. Which I am against as well. I wonder how John would continue to advance the ideas of peace and harmony.
I think now more than ever his song "Imagine" is just as applicable as it was 30 years ago.

Peace.


Imagine

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say Im a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

 

[Shithead]

check out a perfect circle's cover of imagine, lots of people bitch and whine about how its impossible to cover lenon, or it should never be done, or crap like that. those people can shut the hell up and just enjoy the music.

 

[stillwantmore]

I think THEIR version is actually better than the original.

 

[Texan]

Imagine

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say Im a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

I agree Lennon was a great song writer and musician- no one can deny. But if you really think about the words of "Imagine," they don't really make that much sense toward what he is trying to say. Think about it... if you had no heaven or hell... people living just for today... that would be total chaos. I know if I had only one day to live and no beliefs in heaven and hell, I would have one helluva good time- and it is very likely it would not be conducive 'peace' if everybody did whatever the hell they wanted whenever they wanted. If you really want to live in total peace, then believe there is a heaven and get there, because that's the ONLY place we'll find it. This song is kind of like like communism (big surprise coming from Lennon)- it sounds good, but if you put what he says to practice, there is no way it would ever work right. You have to remember, peace doesn't come from a classification of human necessities or absence thereof; it comes from the the soul of man, and sadly, the soul of man is tainted and even when surrounded with the perfect environment, we will find a reason to hate and fight. It's like Joseph Fiennes says at the end of Enemy at the Gates, in re Communism, there will never be a truly equal (read peaceful) society; man will always covet. If it's not your neighbors car, it will be his wife.

Sorry, my wife says I over-analyze stuff too much, and I'm not trying rant or offend anyone. This song, although it sounds pretty, has always been oxymoronic to me.

Again, no slight to anyone; I truly admire Lennon for his passion and creativity. I truly wish he were still with us. No doubt he would be a very influential person.

 

[BDS]

I believe "Imagine" was John Lennon's perception of a perfect world. I think it was his dream, oxymoronic or not.