Imagine analyzed

Warning! Controversy ahead!

I'm going to start out by saying that I am a fan of John Lennon. I love the man. I love his music, and I love the music of the Beatles, and I think that Mr. Lennon was a very honest, sincere man. I don't think he ever knowingly lied to himself or to us in his music. That said...

Many, if not most people, will tell you that Imagine was his signature song, the best he ever wrote. I am telling you it is not. I can think of several that are more profound and better written: In My Life, Nowhere Man, Strawberry Fields, and The Word all come easily to mind - and yes, I know that The Word was a sly dig at Christianity. It was nevertheless better written than Imagine by leaps and bounds. If we examined his catalog, I am certain that we could find a dozen more songs that stand above Imagine.

In the three decades since he released this song, I have heard dozens of people singing it reverently as if it were a profound work of art. It is not. It is bullshit set to music.

Let's look at the lyrics, and pay attention to their actual meaning, rather than the image (image is the root word of imagine).

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

Seriously? Let's imagine there is no afterlife at all. We die and we become worm food. We cease to exist. When mom or dad passed away, they were gone for good, and we will never see them again. Same with our children. We all just... die. Do you really want this?

Even if there is no heaven, and those of us who believe in it are completely, tragically wrong - and I do not believe that we are wrong about that - what possible good does it do to dismiss that belief? Are we to imagine a world where we are to fear death, with no hope of anything on the other side? Please.

Imagine all the people
Living for today

I know lots of people who live for today, not bothering to plan for tomorrow. They are short-sighted fools, they are quickly impoverished and they become burdens to their families and to society. They live a sad, ignorant existence. Not that we should only live for tomorrow, mind you. Wise people live for today and for tomorrow, planning for both, and holding on to memories of the past. But to "live for today" -as advised by this song - is a huge mistake. Please, my friends, enjoy today, but live for both today and tomorrow.

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for...

No countries? OK, let's imagine that. It's what we started out with. The whole point of a country, or nation, or tribe, is that we can pool our resources and talents and cooperate for the common good and for defense. No countries? I have imagined it, and I don't like it. Now, lots and lots of countries, all with governments that are sharply limited in their power, restricted to preventing fraud or theft... that I can happily imagine. Yes, most of our dying is because of governments, kings and presidents and religious leaders... if and when they gain too much power. But if you have no countries at all, no governments at all, somebody will form one, and it will not be for the benefit of all. We are cursed with the power mad among us, and that is human nature, and so the more countries the better, all small and limited. So... let's go with Imagine no kings or powerful governments.

Now the next line:

...and no religion too

is accidentally correct. What he meant was no belief systems asking us to kill each other to advance the cause, but since most of us don't realize that "religion" - at least when organized - is not at all the same thing as spirituality, or relationship with the Creator, I still question his lyric. Religion does usually get in the way of the connection between God and his created beings on earth, and it is often a powerful tool when used to manipulate, as was done by the religious leaders who crucified Christ (and I don't mean the Jews themselves), and today by those who mislead in the world of Islam (and I don't mean the deceived in that religion, but the deceivers), and by popes and crusaders bent on commanding armies in the name of God.

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

OK. Peace would be great. But try going unarmed to achieve it. See where you get.

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

My friend, even if we all somehow agreed in the principles of this song, we would still be enslaved by our very nature. Get a roomful of people to agree that they don't need a leader. See how long they can go without one appearing anyway. I don't care how sincere they are in cooperating without one. Someone should try this for college credit.

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

We don't have to imagine this. It's been tried over and over. It's called communism (or its less forceful cousin socialism), and it always results in the same thing: dependence and poverty. If you own nothing, and neither do your neighbors, then there is no point in hoping somebody will share - which they won't, because they will be fighting for every scrap of bread they can get for their hungry children. You want to see greed and hunger, man, just eliminate the concept of private property. You will have it in abundance. See Cuba. See North Korea. See Russia immediately after the revolution. See any country anywhere that abolishes property rights. You cannot have freedom without independence, and you cannot be independent without the right to own property.

Now the music is beautiful, I agree. Mr. Lennon was and is a legend. But this song is crap.

I find more sense in I Am the Walrus. Seriously. But he got that one backwards, too.