The Worst Song of All Time: ‘Imagine’
by Kurt SchlichterIn a world of Starland Vocal Bands, Lady GaGas, Bon Jovis, Snoop Doggs and 1910 Fruitgum Companies, it takes real talent to write a song so unbelievably horrible that it transcends mere awfulness and crosses the frontier into a whole new realm of sheer crappiness. An artistic, musical and philosophical failure of staggering proportions, John Lennon’s “Imagine” is the worst song of all time.
Many feel this ballad is a touching hymn that gives voice to man’s yearning for a better world. They are wrong. “Imagine” is a cloying, boggy, sonic swamp of numb-skulled sentiments that sound like they were recycled from a bong-fueled, 2 a.m. bull session between a couple of pampered, credulous UC Berkeley lit majors. It’s the national anthem of the hopey/changey crowd — all at once pretentious, smug, tiresome and intellectually bankrupt.
“Imagine” should – no, must – be banned and all remaining copies of it destroyed. Its continued existence makes mankind a stupider, more boring race.
Some shortsighted people might consider this assessment a bit harsh. They are wrong. Sure, it was a hit in 1971 and still today Imagine remains a radio staple. It has sold millions of copies and inspired a legion of cover versions. Rolling Stone even ranked it third on its roster of the Greatest Songs of All Time.
But these are not testimony to the song’s transcendent quality. They are signs of the apocalypse.
The song begins with a dull piano chord progression that telegraphs to the listener that Something Waaay Profound is in-bound. Then Lennon’s atonal voice pipes up. Let’s leave aside the lyrics for a second – he sounds awful, like some over-earnest troubadour trying too hard to impress the four friends he guilted into coming out on a Wednesday to see him play his new tune over at the Common Grounds coffee house’s weekly open mike.
It’s so ponderous and booorrrinng, seeming to go on forever. It’s the musical equivalent of passing a kidney stone, only not as much fun.
What was Phil Spector, who produced this mess, thinking? Right now, he ought to be thinking that “Imagine” was the second biggest mistake of his life.
And the lyrics – give me a break. Never have so many fawned so shamelessly over such utter nonsense.
The first lines are: “Imagine there’s no heaven/it’s easy if you try.” No, it isn’t, because if there’s no heaven then there’s no hell, and we know that there’s a hell because when this song is playing we’re in it.
And how about “Imagine all the people/Living for today?” Yeah, he’s put his finger on our problem – too many people planning ahead and preparing for the future. This is the kind of powerful, incisive reasoning that led a guy who could take his pick of pretty much any woman in the world to shack up with Yoko Ono. Let me put it another way for emphasis – this guy chose to see Yoko Ono naked. Many times. The only response to someone with that kind of judgment is to listen carefully to what he says and then do the exact opposite.
There’s also the gratuitous commie babbling: “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.” To quote a better song by the infinitely more talented Frank Zappa, a man with an admirable lack of patience for such treacle, gag me with a spoon.
I’m not sure of the Lennon timeline, but didn’t he write this nonsense about the same time he ditched England because of the tax bite he was taking to help pay for its socialist welfare state? Sure, depriving a rapacious lefty government of revenue by moving to someplace with a more sensible tax rate is clearly the morally correct thing to do, but isn’t the transparent hypocrisy of this poser a bit much to stomach?
And if all that’s not insipid enough, we also get: “You may say that I’m a dreamer/But I’m not the only one.” Oh, please.
The most galling thing about “Imagine” is how it urges the listener to assume the mantle of that “dreamer,” thereby joining the ranks of the free spirits, bohemians and other assorted loafers, chislers and social parasites who are only too happy to belly up to the table that is our society but who are nowhere to be found when the check arrives:
“Sorry, I can’t be bothered to work to build something or to fight to defend anything – you see, I’m a dreamer, so you just let me know when you’ve gotten everything ready for me to enjoy. Until then, I’ll be here relaxing on my parents’ sofa, pretending to read Gravity’s Rainbow. ”
The only bright spot is that so few folks actually seem to pay attention to its inane lyrics. How else could one explain American Idol’s David Archuleta, the all-American Mormon kid, covering an ode to atheism that even Lennon conceded was pretty close to being the Communist Manifesto set to music? Simon Cowell should have slapped him. Several times.
Fortunately, there’s plenty of music out there that rejects this kind of hippie crap. Sadly, for every one kid whose mind is opened by, say, The Clash or Husker Du, dozens more will sit slack-jawed and nodding vacantly at the moron-bait songs like “Imagine” dangle in front of them.
For me, I smile when I imagine a world without “Imagine.” I guess that would make me a dreamer, except I have a job.
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469 Comments
OK…now tell us what you REALLY think.
Slashing a sacred cow? Go for broke, I guess. Take on one of the biggest. Steer right into the skid. I sort of understand your assessment in the cold light of day, but I'm too much of a Beatles fan to fully get on board.
I was 12 or 13 when this song first came out and I didn't understand it then (and I liked the Beatles, still do). I've had plenty of time to ponder it since then….still nothing makes real sense. I actually like the music but the lyrics are ridiculous and, frankly, illogical. This was not one of John's finer works.
I agree tis song has always annoyed me ,I'm so sick of Sad morbid multimillionaires who aren't happy.
FINALLY! There is someone else who hates that song too. The lyrics are completely ignorant!
I have long long felt that this was the worst song ever written. Kudos.
Thank you,sir!!! I have HATED this my whole life song. I see commies hugging and touching each other while its playing… SUCKS! After John met Yoko he was poisoned. And to "imagine" this is the same guy that sang "I Feel Fine" and "Twist and Shout". Man, what a waste.
I thought I was the only one who hated this song.
I never want to hear it again.
The problem is it is appealing, people love ballads, and the fact that Lennon wrote it. For some people Lennon is like scripture. I have told others my thoughts and they treat me like an untouchable.
Can we get this song removed from radio playlists and future movie soundtracks?
We may be a minority but movements need to start somewhere.
That was nice. You worked really hard trying to derail the cosmic retard train but, alas, all your works in vain. The train weighs trillions of morons and you're a gnat splatted on the windshield.
Armageddon, here we are.
DING
I get the point and agree with the sentiment of the article, but I would argue, just for giggles (if you want to pick a Beatles or Beatles associated song) that All You Need Is Love is a far worse song simply because I can't hear it without seeing in my head the video of John smacking away on his gum like a cow in the field with cud.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzJ2NKp23WU
Nightmares I tell ya! Nightmares!
This? Is the most relevant commentary to be mustered for this site? Why still so much disdain for Yoko? They loved each other dearly, and that sort of devotion should be celebrated, not mocked because one person doesn't meet your beauty standard. On the one hand you mock the lyrics for being shallow, then you mock a woman's looks. Who's worse? And tell me, my friend, what have _you _ ever done that people will be bitching about/praising 40 years down the road? I wrote more meaningful pieces for my pretentious college arts magazine.
If only Forrest Gump had not gone on the Dick Cavett show….
wat to contribute there Tim.
I remember listening to this piece in a junior high class. I was bored even then, and I had no problem writing a nice paper about the stupidity of "Imagine"/communism.
Everyone who thinks "Imagine" is profound should be forced to read "The Giver" immediately. Even if it worked perfectly because all risky elements of human nature were removed, communism would suck.
Great post. I disagree about the song musically, but yeah…the lyrics are pretty profoundly stupid. The best part was the description of the dreamer lounging on his parent's couch. That is unquestionably the symbol of the hippie movement. This column goes perfectly with the "Me Generation" one.
Finally…someone else who is willing to state for the record that IMAGINE is one of the biggest LOSERS of all time. I DETEST that song with every fiber of my being. Combine "Imagine" and Minnie Ripperton's "Lovin' You", and you have a lethal critical mass of crappy songwriting that could bring down empires.
Thank you…At least I know there is one other person out there that hates that song….
I always hated this song, and stayed away from solo Lenon ever after. I LIKE my things!
I can't stand this song, never could. It's like whenever it comes on the radio you're obligated to bow to the ghost of Lennon for imparting his golden wisdom upon us…
barf….
I've always thought this song was complete trash. Just think, if Bob Dylan had never introduced the Beatles to the joys of drugs, we might have been able to ignore them after the whole "British invasion" thing died out.
I laugh to myself whenever that song comes on – then I turn the channel. I worked for many years writing grants for a non-profit that worked w/ abused children. This organization had an established file for Yoko Ono's Spirit Foundation which I would pull out now and again and apply for funds. In the file was an article about Yoko deciding to sell off a number of her and Lennon's 18 mansions……18 mansions…….including one on their privately owned island off of Ireland. She didn't think she would use them all anymore. Heh. A couple of capitalists singing the Communist Manifesto all the way to the bank. Imagine. No possessions. I keep trying to imagine owning 18 mansions.
Uhhh, I don't think this was a Beatles song! Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't this a John Lennon solo production?
I, too, think it is utterly vapid and so revealing of the anti-war mindset. My nephew once asked me how to explain war to his girlfriend, who just didn't "get" war. I told him to slap her in the face and wait for her reaction. When she backed away, saying, "Why did you hit me?," slap her again. Keep doing it until she hauls off and slugs you back. Then tell her, "That's why there is war." A little simplistic and she probably wouldn't still be his girlfriend, but then maybe she'd understand why some wars are started. He showed her my email and she sent me a note, saying, yeah, maybe she needed more history lessons!
"Imagine no leftist commie scumbag liberal ashwholes in the white house, it's easy if you VOTE THE BASTARD OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Truly a cathartic experience for me. This sums up the reason that I hate the Beatles and the reason I despise the 1960's. Greatest article ever written on Big Hollywood.
Oh! My God! You have just written everything I've ever said about that piece of crap song and then some.
Did you ever notice that people who actually like that garbage get a blank look on their face as if they're going to go all Manchurian Candidate.
I was thinking the same thing, I hate that song and finally, someone else admits to it too! I might get Rock Band Beatles but I cringe at being required to play that song. Oh well, at least it will have Let It Be.
To whom is this addressed, little man tim? And why are you using that particular term of endearment? Not nice, tim.
Gee, I wonder why it is that John Lennon inspired millions and millions of people, and Kurt Schlichter (is that a real name?) has inspired no one?
i'm not sure about this. most of the one hit wonders, have the stupidest lyrics you have ever heard. so as a song, it's ok, but like most rock music, i don't pay attention to the lyrics. think about the troggs, or the trashmen, they had some bad lyrics, but catchy tunes. or the knack, or how about chic, remember freak out? just like with hollywierd, most great movies, or music, i like for its look, and feel, but i never turn to song lyrics, or movie stars for my theories, or leadership, except possibly for reagan, but he was a b actor, but a great politician.
Mr. Schlichter, I respectfully disagree. Imagine happens to be one of my favorite songs.
Remember, this is not a speech before both houses of Congress. This is not a treaty before the UN. This not a proposition before the European Union.
Its only a pop song. It's not meant to be a lost Beethoven symphony. Its not a direct competitor to Ava Maria. It's not in the running for the national anthem.
It's a pop song. Let me make this perfectly clear – IT'S A POP SONG.
Granted its an ode to a Utopia that has never existed, and never will. But its still a lovely thought, imagine if every one in the world just agreed. Of course we won't. Never have, never will. But again, brings me back to my point. It's just a pop tune.
I understand the snarkiness, the satire. But I do not think its appropriate for anyone, anywhere, to advocate them ban freedom of speech. Because that inevitably leads to one end, the banning of all speech considered not appropriate for the health of the People's Nation.
It's a song. Get over it.
And if any one shows up at my doors with orders from the government to confiscate and destroy my record and CD collection, which contains Imagine, you will see exactly my view of my Second Amendment right.
I agree that it is an horrible syrup-laced deplorable mindfuck. But it's still a pop song. To be the worst you must
escape that sugar and get into proper sonic defecation.
As a matter of fact I happen to have found the worst song ever. You can't hear the lyrics, and it verges on
amusicality yet it all fits in. It is clearly penned by Lucifer and claims souls upon listen. Imagine does suck,
but not your soul like this does.
http://tinyurl.com/yzu4a7u
Cheers.
I agree that the lyrics are too commy, but to say the singing is bad and the tune itself is horrible is pretty stupid. Sorta reminds me of the mother sitting in the stands at a football game watching the halftime show and saying "oh look, the rest of the band is out of sync with my Johnnie". I mean…there is a reason so many people like the song…..duh.
What is the next brilliant article going to be? Let me guess: "Pizza is the worst tasting food in the history of the universe".
I always liked this song – until I got old enough to actually understand the lyrics and their meaning. Still, musically I think it is a pretty song. Please don't hate me, I've asked for the remastered Beatles CDs for Christmas. Btw, I thought it odd that David Archuleta chose this song to sing on AI a few years back. But it is interesting to note that he sang a different verse and not the one about "no religion." Even Randy Jackson asked him why he didn't sing the lyric. I think it goes back to it just being a pretty song – just imagine different lyrics!
Cool story, bro.
This song sums up everything wrong with liberlism. Imagine the world if Lennon got his way. Nothing to fight or die for no God, so in Lennon's paradise we have nothing ot believe, what exactly would there be to live for? Sounds like no one has to work because that is such a drag man. So exactly who is going to do anything for anyone? Why even care. Lennon's world would last a very short time as people did their drugs and sex and starved to death.
I think the song sucks too.
Fortunately, if you need a way to cleanse the palette after listening to that horrid song, there's Dethklok: Burn The Earth to the rescue.
As an added bonus, you could annoy Enviromentalists with it.
After all, they do sing "POUR THE GAS LIGHT THE MATCH BURN!"
He inspired me to finally speak out against the liberal dogma about how wonderful Lennon is. So your statement is false.
Wow, you're a dickweed.
Imagine is just a pop song and the lyrics are the daydream of every leftist utopian fantasy. The problems start when people start actually believing the daydream is possible.
If you really understood the Beatles then you can relate to the sound effect in the song.."Come Together"
I grew up in farm country (Kansas) and when a cow drops a deuce…. It matches that sound in the song exactly !!
The runnier the deuce, the closer the match……….
Now you tell me what the Beatles was all about…… the money or the message !!!!
I too despise this song. I did hear a semi-redeemable cover for it by Perfect Circle some years ago. They did in the tone of a funeral dirge (what this song is actually marching it's adherents to)–which fit it only too well.
If only there weren't so many mind-numbing and drug-induced coma songs that have been spewed out by this morally bankrupt culture, I imagine the world would be a better place.
Here's my take: http://brandywinebooks.net/?post_id=2750
Not half the failure you are, you nobody. Who will remember your name ten or anything you wrote ten seconds from now?
It was easy to play on the piano but I never liked the sip-sappy lyrics. Yes, this song is as misguided as other hippie anthems like 10 Years After's lyrics "tax the rich…feed the poor…'til there are….rich no more".
Dear Kurt (The Curt and Icky) Schlichter,
You clearly lack IMAGINATION. (But then "schlicht" in German DOES mean "artless, simple, plain.") Go take a leap.
"Imagine" is definitely a 4×4 song…a 4-year old could write it in 4 minutes. Kudo's to Kurt for succinctly filleting this bottom-dweller of a song. The comment about Yoko Ono was lol funny…definitely rated a 'Cat & Coffee' warning.
And as an added bonus, Kurt never mentions 'MacArthur Park', the melody and lyrics of which you will now unfortunately review in your head, followed by debilitating nausea, disorientation and, in some instances, projectile vomiting. Or maybe that was caused by "Imagine"….
Also gag-inducing:
Happy Xmas (War is Over)
Power to the People
Give a Peace a Chance
I like Jealous Guy & Watching the Wheels though
Because lots of people are thoughtless assface sheep. Gee, I wonder why the Cultural Revolution happened? I mean lots of people were "inspired;" literally "millions and millions of people." Assface.
The best use of this song is its appropriate use at the end of The Killing Fields. It is Pol Pot's manifesto set to music.
Yay! I'm not alone. I always think of that lame-o balladeer in Animal House singing about chicken with no bones, and I find myself picturing John Belushi turning Lennon's baby grand to kindling with a sledgehammer. Very therapeutic.
"You may say I'm a dreamer," crooned Lennon. And the dopes of the day all sang along thinking the girls would see them as 'deep' and 'committed' to…. to… well, to something.
I remember (I was 17 at the time, and had just landed my driving permit) singing the refrain as, "You may say I'm a S**t-Head…" and the girl next to me slapping my arm. How could I be so insensitive?
Hey, I was 17 and I was dumb… but I wasn 't a idiot!
LMAO! I absolutely agree!!
Bravo, Lennon was the most talentless of the three song writters in the Beatles. He was a failure as a father, Husband and teammate. Oh yea, he was also a junkie. Boy that is a lot to look up to. Imagine the 60s and 70s without this loser.
II can't help but notice that you maxed out your vocabulary and powers of reasoning when you crafted that response.
Spot on brother, spot on! (I swear I thought I was the only one). And to name-check Husker Du. Beautiful.
Imagine there's no hippies, it's easy if you try.
I am also not a fan of Beatles music. At all. I like Paul's music later in the 70s though.
John was suffereing from a disease. Yoko-ono-itis! There was no cure.
The lyrics sound as though they were written by a border-line retarded 12 year old girl.
idiot
only in stupid America people could say that.
Hey zippy little info for you by the time Lennon was shot he was pretty much a relic that no cared about, it was Paul that was the most successful ex-Beatle still producing hit music solo and with Wings. Lennon was in New York stuck in the 60s. The only reason Lennon is remembered is because some kook shot him and that made automically made everything that every fell out his mouth a work of genius. So you worship dead hippie who spouted stupid commie drivel that doesn't make you a failure.
My mother was a huge Beatles fan and raised me on their music, but still hated this tune. She was a christian and the first line appalled her. I got a 30 minute speech very similar the above screed, and I totally understand where she was coming from now.
great comment
It's a song. Get over it.
It's not just a song, which is why nobody should "get over it"
This song conveys ideas and ideas have consequences.
Aim high Kurt.
I think that you could picked a number of worse songs, but unfortunately Mr Lennon embodies so much of that bad stuff that it becomes pretty obvious. His preening political persona really was quite a drag. His conceptual artiste voyage brought way too much exposure and bad poetry. His spin at being Harry Potter in the movies,well….
But he was a junkie, abandoned by his father and later his mother, so he does fit some of the qualifying boxes of victimhood. Too bad he made so much fookin money, eh ?
Now, for his companions, "you put de lime in de coconut….." What really is bad ? Excuse me, while I kiss the sky
Most people don't understand the humor of destroying this song for eternity. Probably they're a little gun shy living in an Obamanation where free speech is about to go the way of the Conservative Democrat.
I'm a melody guy. I have trouble paying attention to lyrics, let alone remembering them. Thus, for many years, I thought Imagine was an OK song, long after I'd outgrown its ossified adolescent premise. Then one day, I say along with the song and heard my own voice singing this commie, let's all be brothers (except you and you and you), sewage.
John Lennon, you were better than this. So much so, that methings you wrote this drivel just for the perpetually pubescent crowd.
Hear, Hear! I do hate this song. It nearly ruined the movie "The Killing Fields" that showed communist retraining camps preaching against religion and property rights to cut to a song that was preaching the very same sermon. Sadly, the film makers were not being ironic.
No, this wasn't mere nonsense lyrics ala "Wild Thing", this was brain washing pure and simple. That's giving Lennon the credit that he wasn't so far gone that he could still push his intent, rather than just mindlessly droning this crap.
No way this is the worst song…the absolute worst song EVER is Macy Grey and Old Dirty Bastard covering "Dont Go Breaking My Heart".
This is the only song we need to play to captured Al Queda…go listen to it…you wont even believe its a real song…but they were paid money to sing and perform this.
Hands down…this song wins.
At the very end of "The Killing Fields," right as Dith Pran is reunited with his journalist friend Sidney Schanberg, we hear Joh Nelennon's "Imagine." This is SUPPOSED to be a joyous moment, as Dith Pran has escaped from the Khmer Rouge and lived to tell the tale.
But really… isn't a world with "no possessions… and no religion, too" EXACTLY what Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge were trying to create????
But never mind the Marxist message. Listen to that wimpy, saccharine melody. If Paul McCartney had written this same melody, I guarantee that John Lennon would have laughed at it.
How profound.
Let's see…LTC Schlichter inspired many that were under his command in the military. Twenty years service as an officer INSTANTLY MAKES HIM A SUCCESS. Unlike bottom feeders such as yourself who are not fit to polish the man's shoes. I would love to see your educational achievements placed next to his. You cannot be an officer without a college degree or two. I for one am proud that I was blessed to have a MAN like him wearing the uniform. What a pinhead you are.
John Lennon was the quintessential example of his generation…an emotionally damaged, confused, talented, and uninformed individual with an ego the size of a planet. This song is the international anthem of his generation. I wish it was just a song. Unfortunately, it is not. So, what do we do? Well, we create other ones. I do think your article is useful in reminding people of the power of media and entertainment culture to shape public perception.
I agree that the lyrics are too commy, but to say the singing is bad and the tune itself is horrible is pretty stupid.
The tune is catchy but the lyrics are a steaming pile unloaded into the human mind.
Putting the idiotic and destructive philosophy of this drug addled a-hole into a catchy tune is like baking cyanide into almond cookies (i.e. liquid cyanide smells like almonds) it may taste good but the effects are destructive and have caused death and misery everywhere they've been implemented.
I prefer Five For Fighting's "World" over that.
Way to stay on point.
Ahhh, it takes me back to the night I told my burned out ex-hippie in-laws that the Beatles are the most over rated band of all times….Good times…..Good timessss.
Oh and "Yellow Submarine" blows too!
"As we live a life of ease(life of ease)
Every one of us(every one of us) has all we need,(has all we need)"
It's hardly the worst song ever. (Whitney Huston's "I Will Always Love you" is the one that always sends me screaming for the mute button)The lyrics may be a bit banal, but I've always liked the melody. And seriously–knocking Yoko's looks is something I expect from Defamer. I don't see that the woman ever did anything wrong except love her husband dearly; there's no need to be so snarky.
And I really am tempted to ask what immortal tunes Mr. Schlichter has written that we'll be talking about 40 years hence..?
And by Kurt I mean the meatbag "Kurt_Is_A_Bitch"
I checked who you are. Conservative, supporter of Republicans. No wonder you go after Lennon. Pathetic
I'm so glad I'm not alone. When I first heard this song, oh so long ago, I hated it. It's so stupid. And insipid. When I was a teenager, the local radio station trashed the 45 of Afternoon Delight because a huge percentage ( say 99.99%) of listeners voted to have it trashed. I would like to see the same thing happen to this POS. Imagine this: sending this stupid song to the middle east for all the terrorists to give a listen. Riddle me this: how loud do you think the guffawing would be? Yeah, imagine the fanatical muslims sharing the world. There's a real dream, John.
Sister Angela Joseph, a sister of St. Joseph, played this song for us when it came out and she helped us to realize that it talks of a utopia that couldn't be as long as we had free will…unless a Big Brother scenario crushed all non-acceptable behavior and dissent. I always remember her when this song comes on before I turn it off.
Have to disagree with you. Billy Vera & the Beaters "At this Moment" has every ingredient for a bad song:
1) Syrup
2) Schmaltz
3) Barry Manilow type lyrics
4) Rips off "Desparado" by the Eagles.
Sample Lyric:
I'd fall down on my knees
I'd kiss the ground that you walk on baby
If I could just hold you
My response: Get the Gun babe, shoot this lovesick horse and move on.
Thought the song was at best a ballad for all the 60's idiots running around at the time – with the notion that communism was so cool. Sad part is these same people had children who are in power now. My parents bought into it during this time period – I on the other hand was a rebel. Song did nothing for me…….kudos.
Yellow Submarine is a song. Does that convey the idea that we should all live in yellow submarines?
Get Back is a song. Does that convey the idea we should all get back, and if so, to exactly where?
Back in the USSR is a song. Does that convey the idea we should all go to the USSR, because it ain't there any more?
I was under the impression conservatism stood for personal freedom and liberty. Does that only extend as far as what conservatives agree with?
I used to live in Vermont, and the old timers had a saying. Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins.
If you don't like it, change the damn station, don't by the CD.
I hate rap music, there's no melody. But under no circumstances would I ever condone banning it. Freedom is freedom.
Thank you, Kurt! To paraphrase the almighty Chainsaw, this had to be said.
psst….me too. I thought I would be murdered for saying that I didn't like the Beatles.
Also the 1960's was nearly the nadir of American culture.
Nothing better than a millionaire commie crooning about the joys of poverty.The video for the song was shot in one of his many mansions.Rich commies are by far my favorite.There's no better at twisting logic as to justify why their wealth is good but for the rest of the proles it's evil
Me thinks you are looking in the mirror. Feeling a little left out at the playground, gos? Only stupid people like you go through a whole list of comments and insult every poster that doesn't agree with your vision of Utopia and bowing down to your pantywaist president.
Like lecturing people much? Get over yourself, a–hole.
I too dislike this song. I heard the lyrics and wondered 'does anything happen in this guy's mind' . We can't just loaf around. IF he had loafed around he wouldn't be a musician. We haven't had hospitals, automobiles, or Jolly Rancher candies. THe song is about nothing.
Phthalo
that makes me laugh. maybe they should play it over and over at Gitmo–the bad guys would beg for water-boarding instead.
I've always viewed with suspicion (as a lifelong Beatles fan) the constant critical assertion that Lennon was the great genius behind the band, and that McCartney was no great shakes. How much of that assertion was a political one, I wonder?
We don't have to imagine. Rush used to play a parody that made it a tribute to the Gipper.
What if Ronald Reagan
Could have had four terms?
Yoo-hoo-hoo
You may say I'm a dreamer
Etc.
I think that musically, it's a pretty song. Lyrically, it's atrocious.
I have maintained for years, no decades, that John Lennon is the most over-rated musician of the rock era -and- KC of KC and the Sunshine Band is the most under-rated.
Shake. Shake. Shake. Shake. Shake your booty. Shake your booty.
No pretense of self-importance.
Stuff like this helps separate the statists from the people who believe in limited government, and folks shouldn't forget that statists exist on both the Left and the Right.
Banning political songs you disagree with is something Stalin or Mao would do. I like to "imagine" a world where the government just leaves me the hell alone.
Take THAT, forty year old song!! Take THAT long since dead musician!
Lame.
Not many lyrics make sense, but somehow the music can tie it all in and make it pallateable. Of all The Beatles (and Beatle-spinoff bands) Imagine is bad, but certainly not worse than Yellow Submarine.
The answer to your first two questions are:
No, unless your Yellow Submarine has ICMBs or cruse missles.
and
No, unless you are named JoJo.
If you don't like the song, change the damn station, don't buy the CD, and leave people who happen to like it the hell alone.
I think Sergeant Hulka said it best when he said, "Lighten up, Francis."
Nobody….but nobody, has ever said anything should be done to the people that like this song or that it should be confiscated.
For f*ck's sake man, anyone can go out and buy a copy of Mein Kampf, The Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital, etc. but that doesn't mean they should be considered anything but poisonous crap.
I could not agree more … I have detested this song every time it is played and have even left a room when it was played. I had my kids analyze the lyrics so they could understand how idiotic and socialist this song was … so few people ever listen to the actual words.
"Imagine no posessions…." I don't see any evidence that Lennon ever tried.
The imaginary Lennon world can be seen onscreen any time the Star Trek spinoffs are being aired (makes sense–they share the same philosophy): the Vulcans came, and everyone on earth gave up their religion, which led to no more fighting. Replicators rendered money obsolete, so there was no poverty or hunger. Technology conquered disease. As to why anyone would work, why, for personal fulfillment! If somebody has a leaky roof, I'm going to get up there in 100 degree weather to fix it up because I'm a nice guy. I'm going to wade through the muck if somebody's septic system is backed up. Of course, why I will even know how to do these things is beyond me. Why do some people get to fly on a cool starship when I am stuck learning how to plumb? If we're all equal, why does Admiral Kirk get that apartment with the killer view of the Golden Gate? We can't all have that.
That's the great thing about fiction. The real world problems of a communist system can either be solved with made up technology or ignored altogether.
Full disclosure: I own almost all of Star Trek on DVD! Fun stuff if you slap yourself in the forehead every now and again.
Shakin' in my shoes there, Sheep-gos. I don't have to check to see who you are. C*m sucking Obamatron that you are.
Kurt was never funny as a stand up. He's even less funny writing ranty noise on the internet.
Apparently we're reading two different posts. Because the one I read had this:
"“Imagine” should – no, must – be banned and all remaining copies of it destroyed."
When watching Armageddon, I always root for the comet.
for better or worse- Lennon was a true believer…
And 'Imagine', while undoubtedly a secularist anthem is benign in it's hippie like innocence. Like 'Instant Karma', whom the dispeptic Mr Schlichter no doubt loathes as well- they are true representations of John Lennon's pysche- and soul.
Disagree if you like, and slam if you must. But John Lennon's life and career was a revelation even to jaded arch conservatives like us…
While I agree that McCartney was probably the main talent behind the songwriting in the Beatles, the guy hasn't written a song that's even halfway decent in nearly 30 years, but he still regularly puts out music. He washed up ages ago, so, coming from a post-Beatles generation, I don't quite understand the reverence people show for any of them.
As long as we can take pictures, too!
Brilliant detective work, Sherlock!
Jesus was a liberal
Spoken like a true republican
Octopus's Garden is dire, too.
Dig A Pony's better. Lyrics, guitars….all of it.
And damn I hate Yoko Ono.
That is all.
Carry on
Hear Hear! Agree 100%. I think the author has so much distaste for anything and everything Liberal/Communist/Marxist etc that he tints his voice of the most basic of things – music.
Lennon never claimed he was a prophet or a politician – he was simply a musician. A Utopian idealistic dreamer with no real grasp of how the world works. Bed-Ins, Campaigns for Peace, Bag Ins,etc. He bought into the rantings of the Black PantherParty, Jerry Rubin etc. – seeing only their "humanitarian" or "intellectual" sides. He blinded himself to their radical, often violent activities. He gave them support and money – until he realized they were using him and his celebrity to further themselves and not the movement. Once he realized he'd be "had" by these guys, he jumped off the Radical peace movement and retired from music.
Lennon was really the first outspoken Liberally socialist celebrity. But he was an admitted socialist back in '65 – this is nothing new.
To trash the song on its musical or vocal merits is just childish and off center. Its simplistic in its tone and approach on purpose – to not muddy the message. However misguided that message may be.
Who can honestly say they wouldn't love the world living in peace? Wouldn't love to see the day where we eliminated hunger and greed? Its a wonderful dream – and then there's the reality of man. Lennon chose to ignore the bad realities of people and only sought the good in them. Honorable but misguided. He held a kindergarten level view of the world. But he was still a fantastic musician and songwriter.
When I was 15yrs old I loved "Imagine" and thought it very inspiring – but as I grew up an learned what the world was really like – the song took on a different meaning. I realized, while Lennon WAS "just a dreamer", he had a sadly impotent, child like view of the world around him. A shame.
I met John Lennon in March 1980 on West 72nd St. about 100 yards from where he'd be murdered 9 months later. I still consider it the greatest day of my life.
Imagine the possibilities, and none of the consequences.
Yes, lame if you haven't got a sense of humor
Death cured him.
Not only that, but it doesn't have a good beat and you can't dance to it. I give it a 63.
Not sure if it's the worst song of all time (I believe the title belongs to "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks) but a schmaltzy bongload of delusional hippie bullshit all the same. Arguably the worst song by a member of the Beatles, though some might cite "Ebony and Ivory."
Lennon earns some redemption with an earlier "message" song:
Let me tell you how it will be
It's one for you, nineteen for me
'Cause I'm the Taxman
Oooh yeah, I'm the Taxman
Let's see… "must – be banned and all remaining copies of it destroyed." And with a mocking … "Yeah, he’s put his finger on our problem – too many people planning ahead and preparing for the future."
So are you saying that we either have to choose between leftist socialism or rightist socialism?
Stole my thunder, HMM.
Clicks on conservative site.
Shocked to find conservatives contribute.
I'm speechless
Easy for me to do. Never liked the Beatles in the first place.
think they will hold hands or hold their ears?
Nah. "I Feel Fine" "If I Fell" "Day Tripper" "We Can Work It Out" "Ticket To Ride" are excellent pop songs. IMO, the Beatles were an awesome rock n' roll band before they became hippies, like so many other bands. Imagine has that liberal, condescending, social justice preachiness. Blllllleeeeeeeeeccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhh. You want 1971? Listen to "No Matter What" by Badfinger.
From what I have read about Lennon, the poor dumb guy was clearly aware he was a hypocrite living on the upper West Side amongst all his non-imagined posessions. This realization only added to his misery. (That and being married to Yuko.)
What?! The Emperor has no new clothes?? That's ridiculous; how can you say such a thing?…But, hey, wait a minute…Yeah…That song…it actually stinks. In every way… But, how is that possible, when it's been followed down the yellow brick road all these years by all the fluff-headed dreamer-followers, paying to have their heads fluffed anew? But, there is a good side; surely Yoko will distribute the royalties for that song randomly to everyone she sees, in keeping with its sentiments.
Everything post Beatles that Lennon did sucked, all the Plastic Ono Band, sucked — Double Fantasy, okay, not much Yoko cackling in the background. Imagine, boring.
Wow! That makes me want to put on my Boogie Shoes instead of my babushka!
'Imagine' is obamas and the rest of the socialists theme song.
Nah, the Troggs wrote some great stuff. "With a Girl Like You" and "Love is All Around" are excellent, non-preachy pop goodness.
I still don't understand what "Strawberry Fields" is all about…
"And how about “Imagine all the people/Living for today?” Yeah, he’s put his finger on our problem – too many people planning ahead and preparing for the future. This is the kind of powerful, incisive reasoning that led a guy who could take his pick of pretty much any woman in the world to shack up with Yoko Ono. Let me put it another way for emphasis – this guy chose to see Yoko Ono naked. Many times. The only response to someone with that kind of judgment is to listen carefully to what he says and then do the exact opposite."
Kurt, I am a free market guy and thoroughly believe in having a choice to listen to this tripe or not. This song and most of Lennon's hypocritical songs are vapid and vacuous. I try not listen when Lennon's tunes are on the playlist of the program that I listen to. The most disturbing comment from your excellent review is that of sweeping up the Yoko Ono naked take. Ugly and FUgly are words not descriptive enough to satisfy your take above.
I do have to admit I did like "Starting Over" with its Elvisian like arrangement…When Lennon reverted to a neo-Fifties old fashioned Rock & Roll mode, he wasn't too bad. At least he wasn't pretentious.
That said, "Beautiful, Beautiful Boy" sucks royally.
"And how about “Imagine all the people/Living for today?” Yeah, he’s put his finger on our problem – too many people planning ahead and preparing for the future. This is the kind of powerful, incisive reasoning that led a guy who could take his pick of pretty much any woman in the world to shack up with Yoko Ono. Let me put it another way for emphasis – this guy chose to see Yoko Ono naked. Many times. The only response to someone with that kind of judgment is to listen carefully to what he says and then do the exact opposite."
To further follow up and complete the final and sordid thought, most who have studied the Beatles, whether being a fan or not, feel that Lennon "Jumped his Shark" of life when Yoko somehow wormed her insipid values and influences on Lennon, who then felt it necessary to pay it forward to the rest of the group. Yoko was and still is to the Beatles' and to their fans, the Anti-Christ, much like Bud Selig is to Major League Baseball! http://www.instantrimshot.com.
These is a girl on my floor who has a poster of lyrics to Imagine in her room and I actually read them critically one time I was in there.
It's such a hippy-dippy crap song with no concept of reality.
You know who lived the life John Lennon imagined? The Soviet Union: no countries, no religion, no possessions, and they shared the world all right.
Anybody heard Dolly Parton's recent take on Imagine? It's…it's…indescribable. Imagine Lennon with an undescended testicle…
But Mr. Schlichter, if we ban this song, where would people get their insipid quotes for their high school yearbooks? You know how many times I've seen “You may say that I’m a dreamer/But I’m not the only one.” in that context?
Thank you, thank you thank you, a million times thank you! I have sat in the quite of a very dark cellar with my feelings about this song for far too long. Everytime I offer up my opinion on it when asked I get the queerest looks from people…as if I have attacked the good lord hisself. This is a moronic anthem…no, worse. It is very nearly pure evil.
Way to jump all over a 40 year old song there Kurt. What's next? You going to start a petition to stop them from making new episodes of Laugh In?
Here's what I imagine…
John is sitting at the table looking over his stock portfolio, perusing his balance sheet, grinning widely at the splendor of his accumulated wealth, and humming the tune to his latest song. A simple ballad, a monument of sarcasm aimed at the pathetic socialist/communist/Utopian dolts that believe in their worthless manifesto. It's just a little ditty to fill some space on his latest album.
He flips on the radio and there's his song. After the song ends the DJ begins telling the audience all about the wonderful message the song delivers. About the hope and dreams contained in those heart felt lyrics. About the genius of the man behind the song.
His face crumbles. He wonders what he can do to correct their mistaken impression. And then, he realizes…
There's money to be made if just keeps his mouth shut and rides this bronc for all it's worth…
Only in your "imagination". Go read the New Testament and tell me where Jesus preaches about government wealth redistribution, supporting abortion rights, union card check, etc. Jesus preached one message: repent, love your neighbor and follow me. That's not liberal, not even close.
I have always felt that way about the lyrics. They're really quite disturbing. Imagine there's no God, no loving entity who watches over His children, giving us a REASON not to kill and steal and descend into chaos, is supposed to be a good thing? If there's no God, morality is an illusion like everything else. Hunger, poverty, hate, love–all results of random assemblages of particles that mean nothing. It's disturbing that people sing this all weepy eyed at its "loveliness"
Thank you Sir.
What hit my hot button was not that the author didn't like it, but that my freedom to access this particular property should be denied.
I'm not a right winger, I'm a recovering liberal. I'm still trying to figure out what the right is, one of the main tenets of the left is never, ever, under any circumstances, listen to anyone on the right. You insult them. You belittle them. You destroy them.
One of the biggest hammers the left uses – and to great affect – is the Nazis were right wingers. And the whole book burning and banning of expression really works well pulling people to the left. When some one on the right does it, even in satire, it really doesn't help. You're kind of playing into their hands.
Jeez, I want it played at my funeral. Love that song. I pause whenever I hear it. What kind of creep are you?
Are you TRYING to become the most hated person ever?
How about the James Gang Funk #49.
It's got the most intelligent hippy lyrics I've ever heard.
You know who "you" are? Which one. Oh, I hope it's me! I hope it's me! I hope it's me!
By the way, pumpkin', Conservative and Republican are not synonymous any more than Liberal and petrified man child are synonymous…oh wait, bad example.
Personally I think "Mmm mmm mmm Barack Hussain Obama" is the worst song of all time.
My goodness, can't we please get a better class of troll who is at least capable of letting us know whom he/she/it is addressing?
The best kind.
well. there is no accounting for taste, is there.
"artless"? Not in German. You're obviously an anti-Deutcshite.
Now those lyrics I can get behind! Amen!
Get over your own self asshole.
Good point!
A hundred times, THANK YOU.
As a musician, I've been forced to endure both listening to, and playing, this stupid song for years. It has never been profound, it has never been relevant, and it has never been good.
I am a long-time Beatles fan – especially, their early music. I remember watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Even though they wore suits and ties, my father was appalled by their "long" hair. But this is a man who told my older sister that Elvis was just a fad.
The spouse and I recently attended a concert by a great Beatles tribute band, Rain. Every single seat in a large venue was filled. It was a wonderful concert, and well-worth the money.
See Part 2
What the F_CK is that song doing on there? That wasn't the Beatles.
Part 2
However, based on current events, I felt somewhat disturbed by two incidents:
1. During the song which made reference to "Chairman Mao," a large photo of him was on both side screens, and it really made me think about the recent Anita Dunn "Mao" issue. The band wasn't advertising for Mao, as they were just effectively doing a retrospective of a turbulent time in history. It was the current link that bothered me.
2. One of the encore songs was, "Imagine." As I listened, people all over the venue raised their hands in the peace sign I remember so well from the 60s. This was in a Texas city with several military bases. Disturbing.
Do I want peace? Heck, yes! My heart aches every time I read about U.S. and allied soldiers and innocent civilians dying. Do I think our enemy wants peace? Absolutely not. To quote the Bard, "Ay, there's the rub."
At least you didn't have to walk around for months and having it blare from every radio.
Another thing we codgers suffered through so you didn't have to, grasshopper. We're not asking for thanks, but you could call once in awhile. Maybe one of them email thingies you kids love so much. I still have the AOL address you set up for me that Thanksgiving….
I will leave aside the comments about the music and the singing, since that sort of thing tends to be subjective as far as people's taste. I'll also leave aside the nasty personal comments about Yoko Ono, since that was neither funny nor necessary. But I couldn't agree more about the lyrics of this song. What a mindless philosophy is being put forth here.
And to think that people worship this song like it's the most profound thing they have ever heard. I used to be one of them when I was a kid. Then I grew up.
"Its only a pop song. It's not meant to be a lost Beethoven symphony."
True, EdSki. Beethoven tore up his dedication of the Eroica when Napoleon made himself Emperor (kind of like all the prissy pop men tore up their songs when Obama turned out to be socialist; oh wait, they didn't).
Saying Imagine is only a pop song is like saying Mao's Little Red Book is, well, just a book.
Ditto. And I agree with the author's assessment of Lennon's verbiage Still, lyrically I'd have to go with Dickie Doo and The Don'ts "Nee Nee Na Na Na Na Nu Nu" being the worst of all time. Tap your feet, bob your head, wiggle around to the music, but the Nee Nee's make me cringe. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmX6NhyHtTk
Absolutely!
I don't agree with banning it (I'm sure he was just joking anyway) but absolutely ideas have consequenes. Look where our country is right now, with a leader who seems to espouse that same philosophy!
Sheesh, it's just a song. Lighten up. It's not gonna cause a commie revolution or anything.
Yes Lennon was an idiot and a hypocrite to boot.
I've heard one band here in Phoenix whose music was worse. I can't recall their name or if they're still together (the name was something deliberately offensive, though — Osama bin SARS or something like that); their "music", however, consisted almost entirely of incoherent female screaming over what sounded like mangled samples of classical music.
Incredible — I can't believe I actually clicked the above link……nevermind completely agree with the rant that preceeded it. I have always hated "Imagine", seems like I was on to something. This song is a huge reason why The Beatles are "the greatest thing known to man". Never did I think that so many people could be THAT deluded. However, after following the link above, I have a new cause — hunting down whoever thinks this band has anything even resembling talent, or even pity for them, and setting people straight.
Lay off Yoko. She loved her husband. Cattiness is beneath the dignity of this site.
Worst song ever? Not even close. Dumbest article ever? Definite contender.
I will agree that At this Moment is like nails on a chalkboard. The only reason it got any airplay was because it was featured on Family Ties. The only one worse then that was "I've Been to Paradise (but never been to me)" if you never heard it I give fair warning you may lose bowel control.
Is any worse then Obama trying to bring back communism?
Sheesh it's just a guy expressing his views why don't you lighten up..oh I forgot liberal don't want hear anything but their own views
Lamest troll ever? No but still very lame
You just want some hits for your website, right? I am not fond of John Lennon as a person, but he contributed greatly in the business at that time. I just want to slap you for bullying the innocent guy, David Archuleta. Do you know karma? When things go wrong, think about horrible things that you did or said to others.
Love the music of the Beatles; have ever since I first heard that opening riff to "Here Comes the Sun" as a kid. But I've always hated "Imagine." I can't listen to it without thinking of the dreary world of Orwell's "1984", a world with "no possessions", "no religion too". I picture those two comfortably numb protagonists at the end of the book, after they've been reeducated, listening to John Lennon's tinny voice emerging from those speakers in the bushes as they shuffle aimlessly through the park.
Yeah, I always despised being told all I need is love when the messengers were zillionaires who never had to slog through 40 years of dull full time jobs etc just to have a small place to live where your neighbors impose their thoughtless noise on you at all hours …
Many times when "artists" have a song on the radio, I wonder "What can YOU tell ME about Life? Reality? Etc? What is YOUR life experience that qualifies you to tell the rest of us What It's All About … ?"
"Imagine" is truly awful — and Sir Paul has yet to apologize for "My Love."
I agree with the commentary of the article. I always thought that the lyrics envisioned a world that was hopeless and desolate world. Much of it is thoughtlessly banal. No, thanks.
I've always viewed this song as a straight-out hymn to Maxist-Leninism.
ah yes, "No Matter What", great song, written by Paul McCartney, after he became a (*shudder*) "hippie".
I have been a Beatles fan since they first hit our shores, and John was always my favorite. And this article made me laugh so hard I almost pissed myself. I think John would have laughed his ass off as well. Who had a more sardonic sense of humor than him? And if he didn't think it was funny and well-written, then he would truly be taking himself too seriously. And that would make him Mick Jagger.
What a surprise that a guy with a name like Schlichter wants to do a little music (book) burning.
Can't say I disagree…but both of the pitiful bands you name are not one whit better. The Clash? You are an idiot.
Husker Du is poo…
Thank you! What a horrid song. I've loved the Beatles since I first saw them on the Ed Sullivan Show, but that song is lame.
I've always despised the pretentious, hypocritical lyrics of this song, so I avoid hearing it whenever possible.
When I find myself stuck in a situation where I can't avoid hearing it, I imagine my own lyrics, something like:
"Imagine you're a millionaire … preaching non-materialism …
Imagine you're an egomaniac … preaching such humility … " etc..
That being said,
1. This article looks foolish when attacking the musical/performance element of the song.
2. I'm a huge fan of many John Lennon songs, both Beatles and post Beatles solo output.
In reality, Lennon was a sadly flawed human being, but he never claimed to be perfect, above the law, etc.
He admitted his flaws openly in interviews. He never wanted to be seen as 'Saint Lennon' like the fantasy some seem to prefer after his death.
The only thing worse than 'Imagine' is anything Yoko (gag) Ono vocally tortures. Right on, about his piss-poor taste in women (bet McCartney agrees). Whatever she slipped into his pipe that turned him into her pooch is the most toxic substance on the planet! Most offensive – as you point out – is the hypocrisy of a kazillionaire whining and moaning for the 'virtues' of communism (bet the 50 million or so slaughtered by communist regimes DON'T agree).
From the day the Beatles disbanded until Lennon released "Double Fantacy" every single thing he released
SUCKED, imo. "Imagine" is crap, more interlude music for the *pink unicorn crowd* bereft of balls, reality or a job.
Kinda like Obama before the "organizing gig".
Sgt. Hulka was a wise man. He was the "thumb". We were just the fingers, we NEEDED the thumb that Sgt. Hulka provided us. We need Sgt. Hulka to kick the ever living dog sh!t outta Harry Reid.
I "Imagine" that. Because that would make me smile
At least "Gimme Some Truth" rocked hard enough to be covered by pretend-punks Generation X.
Ignorance is bliss. You must be in Heaven.
Gee Kurt , you sound a little bitter , it's not that big of deal it just a song , to except or reject thats the nice part of music
Gos, are you a retarded 12 year old girl? Just askin'.
Thank you!!! This song came out when I was ah…younger. I did not get it then and I still do not get it. It just sounds lazy. Maybe he was just sitting around wondering if fans would buy anything he wrote. He was right, they did. As a disclaimer,I have never liked the Beatles.
Lennon sat on a bed protesting the war in Vietnam despite, I believe, that he was still a British subject. Vietnam wasn't any of his and his buttugly wife's damn problem. He scrawny bisexual ass wasn't getting drafted. He was a Freudian mental mess (massive Mommy *issues*) who couldn't pass the mental exam.
Lennon was HUGE POLITICAL LIBERAL, massively LEFTIST, and he totally offended me every time he
shot his mouth off.
Just another millionaire communist sympathizer. Easy position for him to take, hard for the oppressed millions of people whose oppression HE SUPPORTED!
Thomas Sowell points out this song is a good encapsulation of the unconstrained vision.
or 48
Ears. $100 it's ears.
So did Hitler, Mao and Lenin. Ahhhhhhhh, now I see the connection.
anything post break up by Lennon generally hurt my ears. I loved "Band on the Run" on the otherhand and always had to chuckle at Ringo occassional forays , and thought George was maybe, after McCartney the best musician. Lennon's politics stuck in my craw, even when I was a teenager.
Was it unusal to be a conservative teenager that had long hair, played in rock bands and smoked herb and drank like a fish in the 70's? I did think Double Fantasy was a masterpiece. He suddenly "put it all together". That was a fantastic record.
BINGO! except an elite like Lennon (coincidence/) would live in the nice dacha and hang with the oligarchy.
What he advocated was for the "little people".
or "Someones Knocking at the Door"
WTF????????????????????????
UGHHHHHHHHHHH, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TURN THE CHANNEL!
If I was at home I would run then longjump to hit the off button! In the car it was more like a karate chop to the radio!
Ah, actually it has caused a commie revolution.
Just look around you and see all the fools that continue to revere this shlock, and actually hope for it to come true.
Not only did John Lennon choose to see Yoko Ono naked, he let the wacky broad break up The Beatles, then allowed her to record her 'music'.
Nice thinking there, Johnnie.
I think Lee Ving said it best: http://www.plyrics.com/lyrics/fear/letshaveawar.h...
Agreed that the song is a piece of tripe. What bothers me is this time of year, the radio stations will start playing 'So This is Christmas'. My ears are starting to bleed.
Sorry — I haven't read any of the comments. But I've always thought this was the worst song of all time. It still angers me when I hear it.
Me too also, the 1960's were a disaster, wrapped in a catastrophe, hidden in a flaming bag of dog crap.
I'm somewhat excluding the pre break-up Beatles. They broke up when I was 9 so I kinda missed them and I was living in Japan and Armed Forces Radio didn't play alot of Beatles, only at certain times.
What I REALLY HATE ABOUT the 60's are the idiots we still have around infecting our country with their "Imagine" approach to Foreign Policy and economics and public policy. Damn commie hippies!
It is the song of a naive person who clearly hadn't put much thought into the lyrics. Post-Beatles Lennon was clearly not in the same planet as Lennon/McCartney.
That being said, he still was superior to Frank Zappa.
Ringo's "Photograph" was by far the best post-Beatles record by any of the previously Fab Four.
I agree that "Band on the Run" and "Double Fantasy" each had their moments (although on their respective release dates, I was all about — in the first case — Alice Cooper, and in the second, The Clash).
"Hippies.They're everywhere. They wanna save the earth, but all they do is smoke pot and smell bad."
Eric Cartman
"Real guitars are for old people!"
Eric Cartman
"Imagine is lame,TOTALLY LAME."
Eric Cartman
"Imagine" is indeed execrable, but your broad indictment of Lennon's talent is deeply misplaced. The man penned and recorded dozens of truly great rock songs.
I think you have NAILED the all time worse song!
Way to play Can You Top This!
Good — or should I say — bad call.
Jesus would kicking some righteous liberal ass right about now.
Liberals are a bunch of whining cry babies.
before the hash and lsd fried his brain – i.e. pre 67 or so.
Imagine's a joke! Take a look at what Yoko and John owned? I bet if you tried to take any of it away from them they would have faught like friggin tigers! They NEVER gave ANYTHING to charity unless there was a camera around to capture the moment for posterity. One of the MILLIONS of documentaries made about this couple of hogs showed this homeless fellow hanging around their house and so, just out of the blue John and Yoko invite him in and feed him. Out of the blue? Where'd the camera come from? Yoko wasn't running and getting one. It was already se up and waiting. These two people were the worst of the worst. Talk about Michael Moore being a hypocrite? Hey you really have to travel to reach the extent John and Yoko took it. Yoko's still at it!
"It Don't Come Easy" particularly the live version that is still played on the radio. Ringo was masterful on that version. There's a second drummer but he didn't need him. I think it's on the sound track of the "Concert for Bangledesh" from like '76 or '77. Ringo could play, no doubt.
OMG I don't know you but I love you. I can't believe someone finally says it. Imagine is one of the most insipid songs of all time.
Thank you.
I feel so much better reading it and knowing I am not alone.
I used to believe it was one of the most incredible songs of all time, then I really listened to it.
It's just stupid and shallow and mean as was John Lennon.
Perfect! I second that!
Saw Alice Cooper several times, but his best band was the early incarnation with Michael Bruce, Glen Buxton, those guys, the "School's Out" guys. Fantastic. Billion Dollar Babies et al. if memory serves
Yes — another excellent song!
(I think George helped out on the writing on both of them).
what did you do? Keep only the comments that agreed with you? I think imagine is a wonderful song and John sings it beautiful, been a Beatle fan from the day they came out. Do I agree with what the song's words? No, I'm a Christian and you just couldn't believe what he sang, but other than that it is one of John's best. You can only be jealous of what John did with his life, you ever cared to find out what type of a childhood and young man's life he had? I think he pulled himself together very well. Pick on Michael Jackson, before his death he was called WACKO, now he is the most wonderful best singer ever……..bull crap! Just because someone dies that has proved to be unstable doesn't make him all well!
I agree 100% its a bloody awful song. Lyrically, Lennon's whine and the insipid music,
true dat!
"I'm you Boogy Man, thats what I am!" now that beats Imagine anytime. It's so much more realistic!
true. war will always be visited upon people that never heard of Lennon and don't care about him either.
"Imagine" will just get more people killed. "Imagine" would have been Neville Chamberlain's theme song.
Imagine is musical pizza topped with eyeballs and dog crap.
I admit that when I hear this song, I sing along. Maybe because Lennon can make even ME sound decent!
But this ranks right up there with "Every Breath You Take" by the Police. When that song came out, it became a favorite for weddings, and receptions … and it's about a STALKER!!! Even Gordon Sumner (aka Sting) said he laughs at people who think it is a dreamy, romantic song.
WORDS MEAN SOMETHING!
Juke Box Hero by Foreigner is in fact, the worst song ever recorded.
ya, sorry about the "let me top that" reach back into horrible pop songs history!
If I start singing it on the way home, I may have to suddenly veer the Mustang into a highway abutment!
It's easy to see why Kurt is no longer a Stand Up Comic, his lame attempt at Satire is …… Lame
Can't we just ban Fox News and burn all their videotapes instead?
I almost can't type for laughing so hard!!!! Thank you! I have been vindicated!
One other tale on this….sitting in the pews (in a funeral home…not a church) at the funeral of a non-believer friend, suddenly the music began. "Imagine" I slumped and whispered to the woman next to me…"oh no…I hate this song." to which she replied, "You're kidding….this is my favorite song." I thought….whoa…I'd better be careful to whom I confess my dislike for that song. Not sure where that dead friend is now…but I sat there hoping that God wasn't listening. Maybe he is at a perpetual Lennon concert of only that song….now that would be hell. So bad I wouldn't wish it on anyone….
but man, Minnie could hit a high note…
Elvis Costello takes a shot at this song in The Other Side of Summer. He has the line 'was it a millionaire/who said imagine no possessions'.
Excellent, I may print out this article and frame it! Its so nice to read some common sense every once in a while. That song has always made me cringe.
Funny, I heard this on the radio this morning and quickly changed the station because it is mindless and meaningless drivel. No thanks.
[...] News Sources wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIn a world of Starland Vocal Bands , Lady GaGas , Bon Jovis , Snoop Doggs and 1910 Fruitgum Companies , it takes real talent to write a song so unbelievably horrible that it transcends mere awfulness and crosses the frontier into a whole new realm of sheer crappiness. An artistic, musical and philosophical failure of staggering proportions, John Lennon’s “Imagine” is the worst song of all time. [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the vid [...]
You really haven't got a clue do ya?
You have a cool way of putting things Benjamin. Your prose rocks.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks the song stinks.
Great. Now I have this song stuck in my head. thanks
JAMES! hahahahahahha I love that description. I'm going to make it into a bumper sticker for my car. What we need to do is start a t-shirt company that handles counter counter-cultural revolution philosophy like this. Got any more good ideas?
Down with the insanity.
Imagine was the high point of a feeling that launched a thousand liberal idealogical initiatives, most of which have failed to work in the real world. It is an ode to a simpler philosophy that will take one more generation to die off- and none too soon. Sorry hippies, you are now dinosaurs and must shuffle off. Your ideas are no longer cool or relevant. They've been tried and retried. Imagine a world without you. It's easy if I try.
I still agree with Dave Barry — "Macarthur Park" is the stupidest song I've ever heard that wasn't intended to be played by Dr. Demento.
Damn good song! That was '71? Wow, didn't know that. There was a lot of fine music though. "I'll Be Around" by The Spinners. "Yellow River" by Christie. Lots of great AM Gold! I wasn't born yet, but it seems the only music worth listening to is before 1980 or so…
Yeah, it was awesome. But Badfinger were not "hippie" social-justice, preachy, nasty bullcrap. They had little 3 and 4 minute power pop songs that people want to hear again and again. Like I say, most good music came out before 1980 or so.
Geez. It makes me shudder just thinking: do you think all the prissy pop men will tear up their songs when Obama makes himself emperor?
When Lennon reverted to a neo-Fifties old fashioned Rock & Roll mode, he wasn't too bad. At least he wasn't pretentious.
"Nobody Told Me" is another good example. Not to mention that at least the political references in that song are more subtle than "Imagine".
Here is an excerpt of substitute lyrics of "Imagine" sung at Conserative parties (you know, at all those Liberal "imagine" back-room deals where we all lay around in our Hart Shaffner suits drinking scotch, watching big screens of the stock market and smoking cigars while we get serviced by little Latina women shipped in special for our pleasure…..)
IMAGINE YOU STOLE ALL THE MONEY, IT'S EASY BECAUSE YOU HAVE
IMAGINE ALL THE POOR PEOPLE, YOU RIPPED OFF AND THEN YOU LAUGH
IMAGINE ALL THE DUMB SOLDIERS, YOU MAKE GO FIGHT AND DIE
IMAGINE ALL THE DUMB MOTHERS, YOU MAKE THEM WH()RE FOR A LIE
IMAGINE ALL THE DEAD LENNONS (LENINS?) IN HELL, WITH DIS-HARMONY…E-E-E-EEEEEE
—–
…THEY SAY PELOSI'S A CRAZY BEECH, BUT SHE'S NOT THE ONLY ONE
BARNEY'S A BUTT-MONKEY BOY, AND REID IS JUST A BUM…
Hey! Wait, I don't think Paul McCartney wrote that one. He wrote "Come and Get It" Pete Ham and Tom Evans wrote "No Matter What" (at least my CD says so). But the other one's pretty good.
Lennon's "Imagine" shares the limelight with the Guess Who's "Share the Land" as the two most senseless hippy dippy commie crap songs ever foisted on an unsuspecting young music-loving world. Yet they live forever on every golden oldie radio station on the dial. What a world, what a world.
Seems like a lot of us have been afraid to admit that we have never liked this song.
Any other long-held secretly hated titles?
Wow! I thought I was the only one that remembered that piece of dreck from the seventies! However, there is one ditty that beats it: "Torn Between Two Lovers."
Hasten Jason bring the Basin!!!!
It was just a song. However, it's not the worst ever by far. Hell, it's not even the worst Lennon song (or Beatle song, for that matter).
However, it was pontifical and very unrealistic. I truly regret that I believed several of the big lies of the sixties.
I love John Lennon and the Beatles, but this song wasn't so great.
I know the answer; call on me, I know, I know!!
We should all get back to where we once belonged.
Finally, a question I could actually answer, instead of just stammering, red-faced, in shame.
"Imagine" isn't nearly so dreary as Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land."
LOL
I was a hippie and I fully agree with you.
That was a waste of time and talent, as far as I'm concerned. I wish someone had kicked my ass and told me to straighten up. Wait, I'm sorry, they actually did that, but I was too "smart" to listen.
Another rich commie is Bob Dylan.
If Bob Dylan became a Jehovah's Witness, he'd be knock , knock, knockin' on everyone's doors.
If someone put out a contract on him, he'd have to enter the Federal Jehovah's Witness Protection Program.
Loathed that prissy, churchy piece of crap from the first time I heard it back in college. I was still an atheist lefty-radical wannabe at the time, but "Imagine" was so awful, I was repelled. Maybe played a role in leading me back to my faith and to my conservatism.
Being psychic, you sound like the sort of person who would drive a Mustang.
Are ya ready for some Rockin' Dokken?
Dokken, you're Sukken.
She put sump'n on him that Ajax won't take off, that's what she did.
Uh-huh.
Paul played with the Beatles? I thought he was their accountant.
A thousand points of crap.
Right on!
woa. You really gonna get it now. You think Lennon is untouchable? That's nuthin compared to the jokerman.
Morality was around long before the Abrahamic God was known. The species wouldn't have survived without it.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE A CONSERVATIVE MAKING FUN OF LENNON OR IF IT'S THE OTHER WAY AROUND…. BUT EITHER WAY THIS IS A FUNNY ASS POST!!!
And there are no tasty accountants, either.
Another musician agrees with you. I've always had to pretend mightily, just to do the song "justice."
LOL — Very incisive comment!
JOHN LENNON WAS A DRUG-USING, WIFE CHEATING, SON IGNORING, P.O.S….
I'D ALWAYS HAD A NATURAL AVERSION [SEE: INSTANTANEOUOLSY FLEEING TO ANOTHER ROOM WHENEVER THIS "SONG" CAME ON… THE WORST LYRICS, THE WORST VOICE, AND NO F**KING FUN AT ALL… WHAT A DOUCHEBAG, NO WONDER THAT GENERATION IS THE BANE OF HUMANITYS' EXISTENCE..
GOD BLESS YOU FOR SPEAKING THE TRUTH, MR. SCHLICHTER!!!!!
What the song really say's is "Imagine if everybody thinks just like me". What these bohemians don't seem to realize is that people think differently, have different desires and different ideas. Some people like opera, some like rap, some like heavy metal and some like jazz. Some people like surfing, some people like hiking, some people like fishing. If there were no possessions, such as a surf board or a fishing pole, how would these people enjoy life and "live as one"?
you guys are certainly a minority………. its good you have a place to vent.
Whoever decided this doesn't know anything about music. Stick with your Backstreet Boys cd's. John Lennon was more brilliant than any part of you will ever be…or "imagine" to be. What a moron
Thank you, Kurt.
I had always thought I was the only one who gagged when the zombie lefties played their favorite hymn.
"Imagine" not only tags its composer as a fatuous little pinhead, it also reveals his self-righteousness — asking us to imagine his paradise but wondering if we're even capable of rising to his heights of glory.
Gag!
What about Paul McCartney's long list of sickening songs?
"Someone's knocking at the door, somebodys ringing the bell. (repeat about 10 times)
Do me a favor, open the door and let them in."
And Rocky Racoon, With a little luck, dozens more.
Banning and destruction? You give it too much power mister. How about, if you do not like it, don't listen to it and maybe even write a piece about what you find wrong with it. If you like it, feel free to spin it until you burn a hole thru the vinyl.
Me? I enjoy talking about it with people who love the song. I enjoy pointing out the hypocrisy. If you really read it and understand it, it is the most depressing song written. Ever.
"I do not think its appropriate for anyone, anywhere, to advocate them ban freedom of speech."
It's a joke. Get over it.
Lyrics by John Lennon, as told to a magazine interviewer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qrMEEN6WxM
Lyrics by John Lennon, as told to a magazine interviewer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qrMEEN6WxM
Actually, Dylan is largely apolitical, if you listen to more than just the first two or three albums.
Husker Du? What are you kiddin? You are obviously a Douche Bag! Fuck Husker Du, and Fuck you Too!!! Yeah the Clash are great, so what? Where have you been for the last 30 years? Oh yeah thats right, your head was up your ass. Destroy Babylon and Kurt Schlichter.
I never could understand the lyrics, LOL. I figured he was saying, "Come join me in China; we'll be happy, you'll see."
My bad.
I hated Gravity's Rainbow as well.
McCartney sings?
I thought he was the Beatles' accountant.
I forget where that lame song fit in with John's life. Poor John, the ultimate inadequate personality with lots of family baggage hijacked by a gold digging failed artist and narcissist, Yoko, trying too hard to be relevant when it was so obvious he was owned by her mediocre talent. Like Kennedy, Lennon's murder simply perpetuated the myth and postponed any honest criticism.
I hate that song. It's all that was wrong with the 60's even though at the time I was a part of the lameness.
Hey Kurt…. John might have jumped on the sappy wagon on this one but it's very ironic that this critique is coming from a guy who can write a proper sentence if the pen(or keyboard) bit him in the ass. Learn to articulate thoughts first and maybe you too will be able to move millions of people with with a silly song(or useless article).
PEACE
I concur.
I like when writers can put words to the things that I feel. Thank you.
I don't think the song should be banned but it should be restricted for military use only, mainly to torture the terrorists at Guantanamo.
I remember The Giver…vaguely. Isn't the entire society dependent upon one person having some sort of ability? like interfacing with the weather control doohickey or something.
Every time the song asks me to "Imagine all the people, living for today," I wind up picturing looting after a hurricane or blackout or the LA riots. No thanks. I'll pass.
Nice tune, though. Actually, when I hear Imagine, and a world without religion, and everyone living for today, I can't help picturing in my mind scenes from The Road Warrior. Imagine.
I…like it. I like the album it's from, too, "Those Were the Days." Dolly can do no wrong. But I like the original, too.
A late friend of mine, Nicky Hopkins, played electric piano on this song. He wasn't too fond of Yoko. I've never been fond of this song. You missed that Elvis costello said "Wasn't imagine no possessions written by a millionaire?" When Yoko kicked John to the curb, exiled him to L.A., he stayed with Ringo, who was living with Nancy Andrews at the time. Nancy's sister Jenna, who I dated many years later, was 16 and living with them at the time. John would come in stoned and drunk out of his head and try to get in Jenna's room – Ringo had to bar the door with his body. Sure, I liked a lot of the music, but John Lennon was a train wreck.
Oops — thanks for the info.
Dang, 'No Matter What' sounds sooo much like a Macca song, doesn't it?
Anyway, yeah, great song, and like you say,
Badfinger didn't get all preachy on the public — way more appealing than selling utopia BS …
The lyrics best describe the naivete of the hippie generation. Despite the silly lyrics (sometimes they really do annoy me), the music is brilliant.
I despise that song and always have. Thanks.
I don't know about that. I consider the Usher song "Yeah" to be the worst song ever made. How may times can you listen to a single word like that without gagging on your own vomit?
Oh, and you'll have to pry my copy of "Imagine" from my cold dead hands if I have anything to say about it.
Yeah, it's crap. What in the hell does Rolling Stone know anyhow?
No, it was that everyone was sort of mentally stupified. When things like puberty happened people would be forced to take pills that supress the emotions involved and the like. The Giver was a man who had the memories of life before the time, such as snow, ice, happiness, and in one part, we are showed his favorite memory, which was one of Christmas. It gets explained that when the Giver comes of elderly age, a youth is chosen to recieve the memories.
I agree with you, Brian. While "Imagine" is not my favorite post Beatle song, it definately ranks up there. To me it's just a song and not necessarily a socialist statement, after all the song only suggests that the listener "Imagine." As with you I'm much too big a Beatle fan to agree with this writer, although I tend to agree with him most of the time.
I guess you had to be there.
Ah, the "Hollywood Vampires" days.
At least Alice Cooper had some sense…
This is the funniest thing I have read in a while. You should consider writing for The Colbert Report
song is on Lennon's 2nd best album; and like few others- I forgive John everything- that said: Silly Love Songs makes me look nostalgicly on the old scar on my wrist when it was a hit
I have always been and well always remain a Beatle fan, their kooky utopian politics notwithstanding. Anyway James, you're 100% correct IMHO about the 60's and to nostalgic culture that continues to inspire the insipid.
Oh and I lived overseas in the mid 70's and remember Armed Forces radio fondly.
4 more Ws for WS #27!!!
and you should also say "Hi" to Sarah Palin for me because I know you didn't come up with this on your own.
Also, I hope you don't really believe this, because I would have more pity for you than I've had for anyone else in a while if you do, and that, if it can be considered an accomplishment, is a huge one!
Well put, I'm with you dcase, I grew up and am a big fan of both The Beatles and their solo music. Since I''ve grown into a conservative, I just don't buy into the pablum that many songs prepetrate, although I still like them. After all IMO it's only entertainment.
If anyone want to slam on me as well, feel free!
From what I've been reading on this thread, I may be the only one who likes this song, however your post made me LOL!!!
Yoko was indeed dreadful, but most of his music Beatle and solo I like, just my opinion.
Agreed!!!
Thanks maatkare, I've never been a fan of Yoko, but your post was well stated.
Very well said, as I have always been a Beatle fan myself. Lennon to my knowledge never took himself too seriously, and quite possibly agreed with many of the posts on this thread.
LOL I used to love "My Love," but it is bit corny and hasn't aged too well, to say the least, even though the guitar solo in it aint half bad.
Absoulutly LOVED that version of Alice Cooper, and I have the CD "Billion Dollar Babies" in my car. First time I heard the LP, was at my next door neighbors on her 8 track.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by A. Fischer, Big Hollywood, Fernando Colon, dgcarrie79, Aaron Barrette and others. Aaron Barrette said: RT @Big Hollywood The Worst Song of All Time: ‘Imagine’ http://bit.ly/2gWSze I've been saying this for years– an utter BS song [...]
The bed-in protest, as well as, most if not all of his public events were vulgar and embarassing to say the least.
You got that right!!! The eighties music for the most part was garbage.
Ed you're not the only one. I like the song myself and don't worship at the altar of socialism. It is only a song, nothing more nothing less.
Ditto. One day I came across the revised lyrics for this song, and now when I hear it I don't even hear the original words.
Imagine all the actors, and musicians too,
Would stick to acting and singing
With no political views
Imagine Barbara Streisand, falling down a flight of stairs
You may say I don’t like Barbara Streisand,
But I’m not the only one…
I hate be repetitive, since I posted this in one of the replies above, but here is a much more version of the lyrics I found:
Imagine all the actors, and musicians too,
Would stick to acting and singing
With no political views
Imagine Barbara Streisand, falling down a flight of stairs
You may say I don’t like Barbara Streisand,
But I’m not the only one…
The rich and famous enjoying the wealth and renown afforded them by a free country are too often the ones putting forth the lilting, self-aggrandizing, socialist drivel that's praised as being so poignant and timely. There is nothing in the world wrong with being rich and famous, but it makes for a bad combination with being a joyless, insufferable communist.
NOT the worst. That trophy goes to "Love the One You're With".
[...] agree. Lennon’s Imagine “is the worst song of all time.” Posted in Miscellaneous | No Comments » Leave a [...]
absolutely brilliant writing and so on the mark it's scary!
so glad someone finally said what a lot of us think about this putrid filth… (though much more eloquently than i could have ever approached…)
I think Johnny Cash's Man in Black is almost as bad as the above mentioned crap. It must be drugs that make people able to pen such self indulgent sewage. Of course Johnny Cash was a decent man with abhorrent political beliefs. John Lennon was a slimy self centered megalomaniac with abhorrent political beliefs. Man in Black tortured the county charts and was a miner crossover hit for just a few weeks. Imagine is unfortunately a counter-culture anthem. It is amazing what just a little more effort at awfulness can achieve towards making the world uninhabitable.
Anyone like me who thinks that not only was this song terrible, but aside from three or four songs in the entire Beatles 'Library' every other thing the Beatles 'wrote' was pathetic three-chord pablum?
To this day, I have never understood why people treated them with musical reverence, saying that their musical 'skill' was genius. What was so great about a production line of 'questionable music' that a three-year old could've written? It makes me wonder if they 'took advantage' of the same line of thinking that made Aerosmith the 'greatest' band ever?
John Lennon was the original dirty, stinking hippy. His influence MADE the left created world conservatives lament today. Why bother whining on a blog that will roll off to irrelevance in 24 hours. Do what he did. Make a difference.
That's just insane.
Yes! I said to myself years ago when I first listened to the lyrics that I felt he was singing an ode to communism. I also felt that since this was shortly after the Beatles break up, that the split with Paul affected his output for the worse. (Paul's too, but in a different way) Pretentious babble is what it is, both musically and lyrically. But he was John and by then he could come out with anything he wanted and get away with it: a composition simultaneously melodically bland, but cute, and lyrically purposefully illogical and esoteric. The competitive edge of composing something significant was gone (again, McCartney's presence and influence were sorely needed), and with the inevitable overly large ego resulting from years of adulation, and a drug induced stupor reinforcing his belief in his own genius, he basically sat down at the piano and knocked off a tune that would have been rejected wholeheartedly by the other 3 Beatles, Brian Epstein, and George Martin if it had been 1963 rather than 1971.
HA HA HA!!! Man, you rule!
What does Cats and Coffee mean? I am not being a smart ass here.
My parents abused me because " someone" left the cake out in the rain (being a smart/dumb ass HERE).
No we shouldn't ban this song. We need this song to show the world how intellectually bankrupt The whole tune in, turn on, drop out sixties hippie thing was. And what would be its exact opposite? How does one person go the other way? One goes to a Bible church regularly, fully attempting to cleanse one's self of Hate, Unforgiveness, Jelousy,etc. Gets a real job and try to build a life worth living. Not expecting the government to do it by taxing someone else, and redistributing it to those in need. But by seeing the need yourself and manning up to the job at hand, one small crisis at a time.
don't know if it is the worst song ever…. yummy, yummy, yummy, I've got love in my tummy… but it is in the bottom. interesting that you dare point out the hypocrisy of john lennon, the socialist, idealist song writer compared to john lennon, the partying, coke head, alcoholic jet setter who did take advantage of all of the tax loopholes that he could to keep his hard earned money out of the hands of the social systems of the UK. Imagine that!
Imagine you are sleeping..
And you dream a song…
It's the one you wrote about…
And it lasts real long…
Here is my 2 cents….I have to break the music down to two different progressions, first is the main progression of the verse and it is booooooooooooooooooring and monotonous. Now the music of the chorus is quite beautiful and meloncholy it is striking that they even mesh as wel as they do.
Now for the lyrics, they are typical pie in the sky crap. Emotion with no logic or reason and that is why there are almost no songs that express conservatism. It requires too much thought.
Now as a follow up I actually think that the best song I have heard that expresses everything wrong with the mentality of the 60's generation is Sgt Peppers "She's Leaving Home". However, if you want maddeningly stupid, illogical and straight communist craptastic music, just go out and listen to former Pink Floyd lead's solo craptastic tripe. I made the mistake of seeing him live in concert….I can't listen to Floyd anymore thanks to that stupid, narcissistic, arrogant, ass-hat.
JOHN LENIN…..SUCKED IT!
The epitome of a liberal pansy sissyboy.
http://noliberalspin.blogtownhall.com/2009/10/28/...
The Anti Liberal Zone
Finally. Someone who thinks that song is as much of a piece of crap as I do. I always hated that song.
With nothing but humility, may I offer: Hulka was the "big toe," actually.
Winger says something like, what's a foot without a big toe…our newest, and bestest buddy…and big toe, Seargent Hulka.
Instant karma is gonna get you.
Mao's little red book was just a book. It's just words. It's not the words themselves, it's what individuals do with those words.
And I worry a lot more about the people who say I have no right to read those words than with the words themselves. I'll decide for myself, thank you.
She loves you yeah, yeah, yeah!
I know what the author meant. I'm not a moron.
I fail to see the humor in censorship. I'm not a conservative. One of the things I'm doing here is trying to figure out what conservatives are.
And do conservatives find humor in censorship?
Finally – someone expressing what I've felt since this anti-religious, communist song came out. I hate this song and everything it represents. Obama to the max. UGH!!
So true, so true. It truly is a horrible song and easily shows just how stupid and willing to eat up dogcrap if the concensus tells people it's great.
And to answer a couple of the sillier posts.
James S. "Lennon inspired millions of people, has the writer?" Hey James…a guy with a funny bit of facial hair inspired millions as well. That's not quite the bench mark that makes something all that wonderful.
Ed Ski "It's just a POP SONG." Hey, Eddy, "it's just an ARTICLE. This is one of the most insipid of comments and finds itself into every commentary thread. It's just a movie, it's just a TV show.
DUH. We know that. And we all are commenting on such. By writing, it's just this or that…a poster is trying to say how much smarther they are. How they alone know it to be not worthy a comment, except their own of course. These people should be on a very small island so they can try to impress one another.
it just flat out wasn't a good column, with apologies to the author…
Another pertinent quote from Zappa: "Look here, Brother, who you jivin' with that cosmic debris?"
I won't go into my standard Lennon diatribe. Somehow the rythm-guitar-and-mouth-organ-playing lad from Liverpool decided he was someone important. That pretty much ended his usefulness as an entertainer.
I'd give that one a close second – at least among Beatles and ex-Beatles songs. At least it was happy and had that classic Beatles sound. It was a typical, cutesy 60s love-and-peace anthem. Everybody was doing 'em back then. But Imagine is John Lennon in full "I'm The Guru Of The Anti-War Movement" mode. Zero imagination, zero entertainment value.
It wasn't just the Beatles' kooky utopian politics – it was just about everyones' in the entertainment/art/culture world. It was in the air at the time. They just cashed in on it. Whether they believed it or not – well, I tend to think all of them except John were a bit more down-to-earth in their goals and expectations. They were millionaire musicians who enjoyed the fruits of their success. Did a little charity work on the side, the usual thing, it's expected of your millionaire musician. But John, I think, really bought into the whole Change the World business, and he wanted to be in on it. Who was right & who was wrong, I don't know. But I know I like a good old, cheesy Wings song better than anything by the Plastic Ono Band…
Now, that's an improvement! Well done!
However…I'm not sure I'm ready to call this the WORST song of all time. If we're talking about insipid, hippy-inspired garbage, I'd like to toss in my vote for "San Francisco" by Scott McKenzie.
Mr. Hopkins played in some much better songs on "Who's Next" in the same year (1971), especially "Gettin' In Tune" (the intro actually sounds quite similar). A emotionally broken down Pete Townshend beats a hippy-dippy John Lennon everytime.
McCartney was an entertainer from first to last. Like all entertainers, he eventually went out of fashion. I think Lennon started out as an entertainer, but his ego wanted to be more. Writing catchy little tunes wasn't enough for him – I think he wanted Artist and to Change the World(TM). People could tell Lennon was preaching to them. With the exception of a minority of lefty idealists (who enjoy being preached to), most people just wanted to hear some good music. That's why McCartney lasted into the 80s as an entertainer while Lennon became sort of a reclusive old dinosaur.
FOUL!!!! No fair bringing Disco into this elevated discussion!
"Submarine" and "Octopus" are basically kiddy-songs. They're supposed to be cute – strictly for fun, not making any point at all. I'd say they came from Paul's fondness for old British music hall ditties. "Imagine," on the other hand, tries to be profound. (I know, John says he's a dreamer – but you know he takes the dream seriously.)
"…this guy chose to see Yoko Ono naked…" Worse than that, he chose to let her sing along with him on a number of songs. Try this – play a Yoko Ono song at full volume with your windows open and listen to all the dogs in the neighborhood start barking and baying. The woman has the aural appeal of fingernails across a chalkboard.
"Imagine Lennon with an undescended testicle…"
It's easy if you try!
I think that kind of creep is called "a grownup." Grownups were in charge of the country before about 1965. You can read about them in old history books.
"Mao's little red book was just a book. It's just words."
Wow. Where did you pick that up? If words are "just words," then you have no reason to be here using words. Everything you say or write is "just words" without meaning, weight, power.
Test it. Tell the person you love that you loathe her, that you never want to see her again, tell her to scram. "Just words," you can tell her, as she bursts into tears. "But honey, you know I don't mean it. It's just words. You know I really love you and don't want you to leave." More words. In this case, words that damage a person and a relationship.
Words have consequences. NEVER forget that, EdSki. Mao alone didn't slaughter 70 million people. His words, like the words of Stalin, Lenin, Hitler, et. al. induced a lot of people make horrific, evil choices. Yeah, you're more mature than that, right?
By the way, sometimes words are framed as jokes, as this article most obviously was. It's hyperbole. Exaggeration. Yet the words got a visceral reaction from you. Why be upset with what you "think" the article tells you to not read when, again, in your framework, they're just words.
This is just a personal rampage against a song that you are sick o fKurt. This is clearly a song about peace…I wiahs people would write more material like this. Get a life Kurt!
ya, toe. It's been a while since I saw "Stripes". Thanks!
It may not be the worst song ever written, but it is easily the most overated song in the history of pop culture. While the writing team of Lennon/McCartney produced one of the greatest portfolios for our pop music culture, individually they were ordinary, even facile in their later writings.
funny you mention that, I have 2 8-tracks left over – "Billion Dollar Babies" and "Cat Strach Fever" I borrowed BDB to learn one of the songs "Iiiiiiiiiiii crossed the ocean……." and never got it back to the loaner (oops) the lead guitarist.
After I read this article, my reaction was the same as when I watched Michael Jackson deny ever getting any plastic surgery during an interview. I thought, "You're kidding me, right?" I am putting this article at the top of my list of worst articles I have ever read. Why don't you start giving to the human race instead of taking away from it. What a waste of my time.
#27 "on deck!" I pumped! Have the Yanks gear on for school.
English professor and Phillie native up first! He's a good guy but looks like he wouldn't survive a "take out" side at second without broken bones!
The worst thing growing up with at stupid song was that Carter wasn't even elected president yet. We still had that grim period to wade through.
by the earlyish 70's we were listing to the "best of" albums the red one and the blue non-stop. All hits, all the time. Both were brilliant compilation records and were fantastic because you could hear and feel the growth and song writing ability of the four getting better and better.
A "C&C" (Cats and Coffee) warning is to let the reader know that, before proceeding, they should put down their coffee (and swallow whatever is in their mouth), and make sure the cat has been removed from their immediate vicinity. What the reader is about to experience will cause extreme and serious convulsions of laughter (see: ROFLMAO); in the case of non-compliance with the warning, the reader is left entirely responsible for any repairs or replacements needed for coffee-splattered keyboards, and for any medical bills caused by a traumatized furry feline using its claws for maximum traction while exiting your lap.
Being PSYCHO, you sound like the sort of person who be able to ~divine that~.
I get 16 miles to the gallon and LOVE IT! Die, dinos, die! Kiss my ass Al Gore!
I've made it from West Texas to Phoenix in like 68 minutes.
You know, "My Love" in the context of his marriage to Linda made perfect sense. I understood it and he sounded really sincere, and they were a great couple. I was truly sad for Paul when she passed. They had great kids, a nice family, he had it all. Then…
The only power words have over you is the power you give them. Mao's little red book is an inanimate object. There is nothing it can do to you. A book never killed anyone, unless it was an encyclopedia and some one dropped it off the roof of a tall building on some one.
It is what people decide to do with those words that have ramifications. I do not fear words. I do fear people having the authority or the ability to compel me to do what they think words mean. There's a huge difference between mere words and the actions people claim words authorize them to do.
And yes, I do realize it was meant as a joke. I'm not a moron. But I fail to see any humor in censorship.
“'Imagine' should – no, must – be banned and all remaining copies of it destroyed."
Censorship is exactly what communists and socialists demand, not a free society comprised of free people. We as individuals decide what we deem appropriate. And censorship has no place.
I agree. So if you don't like it do what I do, ignore it.
Allow me to reiterate one more time. I know its a joke. Not a particularly funny one, especially with the line about banning and destroying other people's private property.
Do you conservatives and people on the right have any idea what people on the left are going to do with these posts? They are on the internet, they are out, and they will always be out there.
You are giving them ammunition to declare Big Hollywood as a fascist website where censorship, and banning are considered reasonable topics for discussion. And make no mistake, they are watching, and recording all of this. There are people on the left who do this for a living. Normally they plant posts like this so they can refer back to them should the need arise. Ask Charles Johnson over at littlegreenfootballs.com what they'll do to take out political opponents.
You know what else is destructive? People deciding what other free people should be allowed to see, hear and read.
That road leads one place, and you do not want to go there. You don't fight ideas by surpressing them. You fight them with your own ideas.
And that's exactly how you fight ideas, with your own ideas. You confront them in the arena of the exchange of free ideas, and you dominate them with your superior ideas.
You don't have to imagine it, all you need do is look back to history at the USSR.
Which, by the way, banned the Beatles and their music.
Notice the contrast: the USSR banned things deemed detrimental to society, and they no longer exist.
America, which does not ban things is thriving.
That's not a coincidence.
The other way around? You mean am I John Lennon making fun of conservatives?
You need you one of them there Yugos. I know they're rough, and very small, but we gotta sacrifice to save Mother Earth.
Actually, we don't. I was kidding.
Before you kiss Jamesb's ass, Al Gore, you need to detour by here and catch me. I don't want any sloppy seconds in the ass-kissin' department.
You're right about The Knack. How do songs about pedophilia get released? (Think Oingo Boingo's I Like Little Girls).
As for Chic's Freak Out, it was written about Studio 54 and their inability to get past the velvet rope. At least, until they had a hit song, ironically, about S 54.
THAT was how Yoko (along w/convicted murderer-nut Phil Spector) really ruined John!
Brilliant! Imagine is a large atonal pile of steaming POO!
Well, Kurt, you may have convinced me. I know one thing for certain: there is now zero doubt that the folks at Rolling Stone drank the kool-aid long ago. The third greatest song of all time? Everybody knows that distinction belongs to "Rockaway Beach" by the Ramones.
But until I read this, I really believe the worst song every written was the three-way tie between "Billy, Don't Be a Hero", "The Night Chicago Died" and that horrible late-70s version of "Hooked on a Feeling" (you all remember…where they chanted "oogah-chagah" over and over in the background?).
Thanks for getting my head right on this.
Come on now – it's only the THIRD worst of all time ("We Built This City", "Mr. Roboto")
And what makes it so bad is that Lennon can be such a GREAT songwriter. This is coming from a definite Beatles fan who thinks that the ten worst Beatles songs are mostly by McCartney, and none by Lennon.
Evertime I "Imagine" a world with no borders, religion etc. I "Imagine" a global socialist UN dream world of poverty, sickness, and oppression. No thanks – I like the protections and opportunities of my (American) Constitution, culture, and general rule of law.
And it a cheap, cheesey, melody to boot, but you're oh-so-cool when you warble it on American Idol.
PS:
The Ten Worst Beatle Songs (no particular order):
Maxwell's Silver Hammer
She's Leaving Home
The Long and Winding Road
Piggies
Do You Want to Know a Secret
When I'm Sixty-Four
P.S. I Love You
Her Majesty
Rocky Raccoon
I Don't Want to Spoil the Party
EdSki,
I appreciate you corresponding with me and see that you fall somewhere in the middle of this argument even though you like the song. One thing has always bugged the crap out of me from liberal-left pop stars is that they think they are planting a political seed through their music. I argue that their music ALWAYS reaches more people and has far more impact to listeners when it is devoid of politics. I mean, REM, The BEATLES, The Eagles, etc were made on songs with which a lot of folks could relate. It sort of pisses me off that bands get rich, spoiled, and try to rise above their raisin' AND START PREACHIN! It seems to happen with every damn one of them too.
i sold somebody a used Yugo once, back in 84 or 85. I felt really bad. It was a turd. We traded her out of it into a Toyota. Two car deals. Sweet.
I think it comes from achieving so much fame, adulation and money at such a young age, for something they were going to do anyway. It gives them a false sense of reality. Pile on top of that millions of adoring fans, hanging on their every word and note.
Since they enjoy it so much, every body should have the same luxuries. Enter the communist/socialist/anarchist who tells them they know exactly how to do that.
Put them in charge of it.
As a dediccated Beatles fan since 1964, I can honestly say that I truly HATE "Imagine". It's sadly not surprising that the mainstream media and the fosillized 'Rolling Stone Magazine' rock establishment tout it as one of Lennon's greatest achievements. I'd rank it among his very worst lyrics…somewhere below "No More Pakistanis". Lennon's best songwriting highlighted youthful insecurity ("No Reply"/"Help"/"I'm A Loser") or blissful, drugged passivity ("I'm Only Sleeping"/"Rain"/"I'm So Tired"/"Strawberry Fields Forever"/"A Day In The Life"/"Across The Universe"). His political/statement songs are usually not up to this standard, although the cynicism of "Revolution" was something of an unexpected breath of fresh air at the time of its release. "Imagine" is a fusion of passivity and protest with the intellectual depth of "What If God Were One Of Us?" by Joan Osborn. But I suppose by then, Yoko was doing all the thinking for both of them.
"I Don't Want To Spoil The Party" is an absolute classic.
I's their loving tribute to The Everly Brothers. Most of the
rest of your disliked songs are McCartney's second-raters.
You're right about this – quickly writing I had a different song running through my head. I retract.
BHAHAHAHAHA
And yet…more responses to this topic than most of the recent posts on current events! I will always have warm nostalgia for Lennon…when I was a kid used to see he & Yoko going into Suen, a macrobiotic (of course) restaurant on the Upper West Side. The Beatles were my gateway rock music, when I "borrowed" Sgt. Pepper and The White Album as an early teen. (then i got sucked into the 80's pop vortex, but that's another story)
The Beatles are my favorite band, but Imagine by Lennon is the 2nd worst recording ever….the first is Dolly Parton's version of this lame fem-tune
By now ,Kurt, you realize you have committed one of the secular religion's mortal sins by blaspheming one of the gods and holy hymns of the mushy-brained, collectivist left. The predictable reaction of a number of posters was your best entertainment value of the week.
Lennon is a litmus for our culture. One must separate the political and humanistic man from the brilliant artist so influential. For us that is quite easy. His sadness, melancholy even, in his early work were a harbinger of things to come. It was a natural evolution. Iimagine' as a song is what you want it to be. We see it as idealistic, if naively so. No crime there…
"Rockaway Beach" by The Ramones was basically a 'New York' re-write of "Little
Honda" by The Beach Boys/Hondells. Maybe not the third greatest song of all
time, but a breath of All-American rock & roll 'fresh air' back in discoball 1978.
The John Lennon-penned "No Reply" by The Beatles is also
about stalking…but it's a much better pop song than "Imagine"
or "Every Breath You Take" will ever be.
Funny to see a "Christian" championing an 'athiest anthem'. If you are a real Beatles fan,
you must know in you heart of hearts that "Imagine" is sub-par Lennon. I actually heard a church
group play "Imagine" at a Catholic "folk mass" back in the 70s. I'm of the opinion that playing
"Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey" would have been less
offensive to believeing Christians.
Wow! You get the prize for the best post here, peteee! Your point is
well-made, and you mention four of my favorite things: The Troggs,
The Trashmen, Chic, and Ronald Reagan. Hats off to you, friend…
How old are you? Are you a musician? Do you like rock & roll music? Most rock & roll songs have 2-3 chords.
I shudder to think what you music collection consists of…
So clever! I love both stanzas. Lennon became a product of his own publicity. Bigger, better, smarter, than the average person. I heard that at some point in the Age of Ono, he was considered a bit of a joke toward the end. That might coming from an aging memory, though. I certainly thought their naked album cover was disgusting.
[...] was reading Kurt Schlicter’s enjoyable and savage attack on John Lennon’s Imagine, when I got the yen to find out just who this Kurt Schlicter is. [...]
That makes me think about the Ten Best Beatles Songs. I don't have time to give it a lot of thought right now (like Sir Paul, I will shortly be focused entirely on the events unfolding in the Bronx).
I'll try and do this the quick way: 9 of them are on "Revolver," "Rubber Soul" or "Help." The other one is "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)."
The Beatles , The Simpsons , Larry David (well pretty much all actors) , Modern Art , every day I find out about something else conservatives hate. It's pretty fascinating and also hilarious , so thanks for that.
I gotta call you out on name checking the Clash though. Joe Strummer would have loathed your smarmy right wing ass.
I HOPE YOU DON'T HAVE A JOB FOR LONG — NOT WITH YOUR UNAPPEALING BLEND OF BAD TASTE AND VITRIOL.
Bobby GoldsBoro should have made that list.
USArtguy
I agree…..
MAkes you wish that Dicky Doo Didn't Do It
No, but we find humor in straight-faced alarm that a jokey blog article might threaten one's liberties to listen to a crappy, sanctimonious song.
I dunno
I have listened to the song and I just don't get the Pop. As a matter of fact I'd say the song was quite lethargic…….
Yes and that is a literary technique meant to illustrate the author's disagreement with the principles of the song. Kurt does not like the song. Even more he disagrees venemently with the statist ideas being sold by the song. The song is propaganda for a statist philosophy. The same kind of bohemian utopian rhetoric were used to push Marxism and Fascism.
Imagine a world without Religion is fine when it is just imagination. When it becomes a state edict however this is another story. Imagine a world where all share the wealth becomes something else when one's labor becomes the property of a nameless state. If Mr. Lennon wants to make clever subtle little political propaganda songs then he has to expect that some may find problems with the message being forced upon them.
"Lennon never claimed he was a prophet or a politician – he was simply a musician. A Utopian idealistic dreamer with no real grasp of how the world works."
Yes and I guess it is just unfortunate circumstance that whenever these "Utopians" take power in a state they create a totalitarian government that has to murder millions of its own people to maintain its grip on control. A shame.
Why is it these "dreamers" never seem to have a dream where the government gives up on confiscatory taxation and quits trying to over regulate us. I have a dream where the government leaves me the heck alone. Why is it the songs always seem to promote the opposite of that. Hmmm…… I'm suspicious…
You know if you watch old films and video of Lennon interview, which he no doubt enjoyed doing, he could be quite sardonic and self-depricating at times. I don't think he took himself too seriously and if alive would be interested in what other people were saying on a thread such as this.
Yes he did have and ego, and any normal person and was proud of his work, and who wouldn't. But IMHO I think he would enjoy hearing and reading a debate on his work, agreeing with some, disagreeing with others, and everything in between.
As he did at times disparage The Beatles, he was fiercly proud of all of them and the music they created.
I agree that it left a lot to be desired. Cheers!!
I never had an 8 track only records, what a gype!!!LOL!! You can't always get what you want. However, still have vinyl LPs of both BDB, & "Cat Scratch Fever" I saw Alice at the Tower Theater in Phila. in the late 80's, & the "Motor City Madman," in Hartford CT in the late 70's.
Been a little busy today…And Cliff Lee was lights out!!! Need the bats to wake up and soon!!
I'll sign your petition!
The incomparable music of John Lennon and the Beatles will be remembered, listened to, and discussed in the music departments of illustrious universities for centuries, as Beethoven is taught and discussed today. The Beatles' deep influence on Western culture – as poets, musicians, and social activists – will be discussed in cultural history classes for centuries.
However, every singe piece of Kurt Schlichter's so-called "writing" will be relegated to the blogosphere dustbin, utterly forgotten, within 5 years at the absolute extreme.
I rest my case.
your viscous angry with Lennon screams with jealousy…like that of a child
who didn't get the same pop sickle his friends received.
What have you done with your live?..
is it in a nice, safe box protected by your insecure thinking?
I was born in 74, and as I reached persistent memory-retainability around 1980, I recall be adverse to anything Hippy.
My High School years were 88-92 and I would be instantly appaled at the Hippy Wanna-Be's who would play this song and be so smug like about its utter ridiculousness.
But I didnt view this song as just ridiculous, but in fact down right evil.
I dont want to live in a world with no countries.. with nothing to fight or die for.. my God.. that's like living in a Omaba-Ayers nightmare, having to do forced orgies with their wives in the back of a van.
I dont want to be one with the genetically degenerating Saudis… or the Armenian people in Jerusalem who insist you buy you some blue-tiled panarama of where the guy's great-great-grandfather was genocided by the Turks.
Heck i dont even want to be one with the morons who staff the State Department.
It would take a brutal totalitarian spirit-destroying force to implement the world Imagine dreams for us to suffer in forever.
uh… you're talking about Schlichter, right?
Hell, at least it's not as bad as "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" Sheesh, what a giant turd that is.
What has a piece of utter shite like "Imagine" got to do with the bloody Beatles?
I guess it's fair to judge the worth of a musician on his worst song?
Frank Sinatra must be a total cretin then, since he cut "Mama Will Bark"
for the Columbia label early on in his career…
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ben Griffitts, gamurgis. gamurgis said: The most overrated song – #tlot http://bit.ly/S4e1A [...]
"Taxman" was written by George Harrison, mate.
Lennon is barely on it.
Fail.
You're an idiot. He's been taking a dirt nap being WORM FOOD for 28 years, I'm ALIVE!
You write like crap too, reread your posts, out loud – before you post.
I'm completely secure in my thinking, thanks for asking. Idiot.
whether people want ot admit it of not, cranks like the crank Lennon became, weild political power.
Rock Band Beatles is really great and there is no Imagine because it is John Lennon. Also there is no Let It Be though I presume at some point, you will be able to download it for a couple dollars.
The great song Revolution mentions Chairman Mao but not in a positive way (but if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow) so I find the lyrics quite good as opposed to the utopian rubbish of Imagine. Beatles were a great band but John Lennon was not a great person for sure and was really a sad, miserable human being for most of his life.
I read a biography of John Lennon and their relationship was unbelievably dysfunctional. Drug addiction, abusive and adulterous on both sides and just a big mess in general. If that is love, I don't want any part of it. They deserved each other I guess so I wouldn't blame Lennon's misery on Yoko but she didn't help.
Get a grip man, I like The Beatles as much as the next guy (though I do not worship them like it sounds like you do) but the lyrics for Imagine are dreadfully pretentious and hypocritical. Do you want to live in a world Kiff where there is no religion, possessions or country? Everybody wants to live in peace if possible but not in a communist world envisioned by John Lennon, I would rather die fighting to prevent it . Don't think he was too keen to give up his millions but only too happy to make millions from writing Imagine. The Beatles wrote great songs like Taxman protesting absurd socialist tax rates and Revolution decrying the violent radicals carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, Imagine cannot hold a candle to great rock songs like those. At its best, it is silly hippie Utopianism. At its worst, it is communist propaganda disguised as a pop song.
I agree with your assessment of the song. IMHO, the only reason to listen to Imagine at all is to hear some fantastic slide guitar work by Lennon's ex-bandmate, George Harrison, on several songs. If the song "Imagine" is Spector's second-worse mistake, producing Lennon's next album, "Some Time in New York City" was his third. The album is so full of leftist propaganda from a man suffering from major "rich white man's guilt" that a person has to be some kind of masochist to try listening to it even more than once. Lennon was a Socialist, no doubt, although I do believe he started to re-think some of his positions during the late 1970s.
The haters are funny. They only wish they could write a song that will be known 500 years from now. Please get over yourselves! LOL Jealousy is pathetic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvFeU9hQjVA
On secound thought, the melody is not too bad, it is pretty good.
The Lyrics: The Definition of Pretension.
And, again, John Ondrasik's "World" is better.
OK, sorry, but I'm too far gone as a Beatles and John Lennon song to agree with you. I also would stand against most bannings.
I am familiar with the argument against this song and have heard people bring it up before. Many of us Right-Minded folk can find "their" utopia behind this song instead of its challenge(s). (Feel free to flame me for saying it, if you must.) It can be read as gibberish and can be laughable. But it is at minimum, far better some other drek and more skillful and provocative than most songs.
Being a fan of Husker and The Clash and I know people might disagree on their value and talent too, but they wouldn't get any further if they suggested censoring them away either – not with me.
I'm a conservative and I HATE "Imagine" but I don't see how this song
has anything at all to do with The Beatles. John did not write it during the
time that group even existed. The two things that made 1964 an important
year for me were Barry Goldwater and The Beatles. They really shocked
a lot of people out of the "Kennedy hangover" we were (as a nation)
suffering from at the time.
It's the pretension. Nothing wrong with fluff lyrics, if that's all they claim to be. Problem is, Lennon had decided he was (or could make a lot of money playing) some sort of hippie guru, and lots of stoned addlepates took to this bit of fluff as if it were Plato.
There's nothing wrong with social-commentary rock. But that's for guys who know how to do it (and don't claim to have answers) like Elvis Costello and Joe Strummer, not Johnny the Scouse.
Do you appreciate that ironic hyperbole is not to be taken seriously?
It's equivalent to saying "Come the revolution, So-and-So will be among the first against the wall." Honestly, I'm not actually recommending that So-and-So be shot.
However, I do recommend in all seriousness that every extant record, tape or CD by K. C. and the Sunshine Band be destroyed. Ok, not so seriously.
"Lennon was really the first outspoken Liberally socialist celebrity"
Ever hear of Paul Robeson? Woody Guthrie? Bob Dylan? Joan Baez? Pete Seeger?
That may be constitutional under the protection of the general welfare of the population in the preamble.
But in all seriousness, this original post, minus the banning and destruction is perfectly fine, though I don't agree with it, because I like the song. But with that line, the author is, basically, setting up the entire community like a bowling pin for the left.
I have no doubt what so ever the entire thread is already archived over at Media Matters, and who knows where else. Don't be surprised if it's used to discredit Mr. Breitbart during the upcoming discovery process for the ACORN law suits.
On the left, they play for keeps.
That was Stephen Bishop singing "The Riddle Song" in
'Animal House'. One of Belushi's great moments there.
Hard to believe how many people recorded this wack-o
song over the years. Even 'cool cats' like Sam Cooke and
Link Wray's brother Vernon released versions of this turd.
Folkies. I really hate those guys…
I'm a Goldwater/Reagan conservative myself and just bought the new Beatles mono
box set and I love every gosh-darned second of it (well, except maybe for "You Know
My Name, Look Up The Number"). That being said, I truly H-A-T-E "Imagine" and
dislike most of John's post-Beatles songwriting, especially his armchair Marxist
dreck from the early 70s. My thought when Lennon was shot by Mark Chapman?
Why couldn't it have been Mick Jagger instead? (We could have avoided 28 years of
ever lamer and lamer Rolling Stones tours and disappointing albums that way).
Except that Libtards STILL regard it as their national anthem, forty years on.
Those who beat their swords into plowshares will end up plowing for those who didn't.
Agree with you 99.999%, however I really do like Lennon's "Cold Turkey" 45.
(but remember, this song was suggested to be the 'new' Beatles single
about the time that the band finally broke up). I also enjoy the gigantic
drum sound that Phil Spector got on "Instant Karma" (although the song
itself is dumber than a sack of hammers). The rest of it is all bunk.
Sorry, mate. Yoko's influence on John was malign, both personally and musically. Before Yoko, no 'outsider' was ever admitted to recording sessions. No-one but the Fabs, Martin and Emerick in the control booth. No-one outside the band and the production team was allowed an opinion on a take or a mix. And yet there's Yoko, lodged in a freakin' BED in Abbey Road #2, wearing a see-through nightie and a tiara and imperiously demanding *recording engineers* bring her tea and biscuits. Oh, and she introduced John to heroin, which blighted his songwriting and behavior for the Beatles' last year.
Just think: no Yoko, no "Revolution 9." Isn't that enough by itself?
But Paul never claimed to be doing anything but "silly love songs." That's the difference.
Lennon claimed in a 'Rolling Stone Magazine' interview that he had taken LSD every day
for three years. I just kept asking myself: How could he see Yoko Ono naked every day
and not have a 'Julie Linkletter-level' bum trip and swan dive off the nearest available roof?
" And that would make him Mick Jagger."
Priceless!
I guess there's three components to any performer – from the audience's point of view, anyway. First is his talent, second is the products of that talent, third is the artist "as a person." A talented musician who is a decent person can still produce crap music. A talented musician who's a horrible person can still produce brillian music. And an untalented musician who's a decent person can, once in a while, produce something worth listening to.
I think Lennon was a messed-up person who tried to be a decent person – sort of like the rest of us. He was a talented musician and poet, but not in the way HE thought he was. I think he was at his best when he WASN'T being all arty and serious and confessional, but when he was being smart and witty and entertaining. I wouldn't presume to disparage Lennon's whole career based on a few songs – every artist goes through various "periods," some of which produce wonderful stuff while others…maybe not so much. But I feel free to criticize "Imagine" – which I think is dreck.
Don't get me started about Billy Joel in the 80s…
Got ethnic bigotry?
The Clash and Husker Du were weekend Commies and fruitbaskets too, but I don't think either band
ever supassed "Imagine" on the musical 'suck-o-meter'. I still play "Rockin' The Casbah" and the cool
Husker version of "Eight Miles High" though.
Now THERE's a songwriter who can do social commentary!
Dave: There is no "Right-Minded" Utopia! That's the point.
"Imagine" makes as much sense to a conservative as "The Big Rock Candy Mountain."
you'rer right. He wasn't claiming to cure cancer or get involved of politics of wars he had no part of – I can admire that. Besides in his hey-day I was a long haired metal musician, not really the Sir Paul demographic…so I agree.
Imagine there's no Lib'rals…
It's easy if you try,
Ever'yone free and hungry,
Liberty the new "High".
Imagine all the people…
making things of worth,
Yoooohoooo, You may say I'm a wingnut.
But I'm not the only one.
In 2010 our Congress,
Will find their careers are done.
I liked your commentary until you mentioned two words and then your credibility went right out the window.
"Husker Du"
[...] THE WORST SONG of All Time: ‘Imagine’; and Shaidle’s timeless “Imagine No John Lennon” [...]
I've often wondered how Julien Lennon felt about his dad singing about the "brotherhood of man" while being such an absolutely neglectful and horrible father of him.
I guess that's part of being a "dreamer." "Dreaming" that one day everyone will get together and love one another but not living up to your own responsibility to love your own kid.
Kurt,
So your moniker is that of comedian? This is the most relevant topic that you could find to chastise the left? Work on your game plan a bit more or join the bitter bugger club. Try ripping apart the lyrics from "Working Man Hero". You stink of pettiness and a belief that no one has worked as hard as you have. You have bought into the bad bill of goods sold to us by the Republican party. I know, I was on that side for a long time and then reality hit me. I work, and I don't believe that my job or path in life is any worse than any other person. I was born into a lower middle class family of hard working, blue collar parents.I have a full time job, fortunately, when most of the folks I know are having a hard time finding a job here in the upper mid-west. Do the U.S. a favor and work on ways to make things better in place of your whining and feeding the rage of the ignorant. As for god, of all the fairy tale creatures, he is my favorite.
Good way to explain war! Direct and quick. Visceral. And if you still have a girlfriend after this, she's a real keeper!
It's not Lennon's fault that he wrote a song that got promotion and it became a hit for him. Write a better one Kurt. Show everybody how it's done. For all you know – you jerk – he laughed all the way to the bank. It's message still beats the hell out of 95% of the crap that gets airplay. Show us how easy it is to write a song and sell millions. Maybe if you could, you would stop your STUPID blathering. The "utter nonsense" here is that you have a job…amazing.
How old are you stormrider? "Imagine" has nada to do with The Beatles and was released in 1972… years after that band broke up for good. The Sixties were a great time for pop music no matter what "too young to remember much of anything" knuckleheads think. I enjoyed all the great American right-wing music by The Beach Boys, Paul Reverve and The Raiders, Jan & Dean (ever hear "Universal Coward"?), P.F. Sloan, Merle Haggard and many others. I also tripped to the psychedelic stuff by Dylan, The Byrds and The Thirteenth Floor Elevators…and it didn't make me stop reading "American Rifleman" magazine, liking Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, or watching "The Joe Pyne Show" on TV. I wish more folks on the "right" (in the John Birch Society/Jonah Goldberg sense) would wake up to the fact that it is possible to be a gun-loving, small-government conservative and love really good electric guitar rock & roll music too.
Sounds to me like Mr. Schlichter is angry at some of the people that listen to it, rather than the song itself. So they don't have your ideals, big whoop. Get over it. I certainly do not have yours. I might agree, not Lennon's strongest, but you sound like a child arguing that your favorite color is a better than someone elses. He was an artist, what do you want him to do? Pick up a gun and fight a war to change the world? That's rich! You also seem to know SO MUCH about his personal life. You should do some more homework. Americans…
Thanks for the article. I have hated this song ever since I listened to the lyrics and realized it was a call for the destruction of everything good. Nothing to kill or die for did it for me. There's plenty worth killing and dying for. If there's nothing worth dying for, then there's nothing worth living for.
Lennon was the king of the phonies. It's morons like him who inspire the idiots of this world who still think communism is a good idea despite its utter failure.
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