Imagine – Log 4

song

By John Lennon

Introduction

Imagine is a song written by john Lennon in early 1971. During 1971 the Vietnam war was still happening, protests were being held to bring soldiers back home. Amongst this John Lennon decided to write this song about world peace and world happiness to help support the protesters in bringing home the soldiers from war.  

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A phrase of the song I found interesting was at the start of the second verse Lennon starts it with “Imagine no possessions’. Lennon was known for his thoughtful lyrics, and the phrase Imagine no possessions is one of them. For the whole song he’s talking about things we could stop that could make the world a better place. I found the word possessions interesting because in his song he tends to lean more towards massive problems like hunger, and religion which I can completely understand. Though he also throws possessions in with these bigger problems which I find I don’t really agree with. This is because things we decide to possess bring us happiness and entertainment like photo’s and toys or gadgets. Not only that but they can also make things easier in life with the use of things like kitchen appliances, new gadgets which can help you do things like measure how far you’ve run. I think John Lennon was trying to talk about weapons and bombs however. As during the time when the song came out the cold war was happening, and there were lots of threats of war and demolition. I think Lennon was trying to make us imagine a world without these threats, and this I agree with and I  think most of society would too. An example of where he refers this thought of war during the song is the phrase “Nothing to kill or die for”, referring to the armies who died for their countries survival when they don’t have to, but due to the separation of the world, world leaders feel they have to use armies for protection. If there was no separation however (which John Lennon also hints to us in his song with the phrase “…the world will be as one”, referring to the fact without separation of the world we could be happier and be more like one big group) the world could all be as one. Another place Lennon references war is the phrase “No need for greed…”. Here Lennon is referring to the fact that most wars are fought over there own greed, for example oil is a supply that all countries want to take for themselves, and therefore they fight each other for it. Lennon is trying to show us in his song Imagine that war is something we could stop, we just have to get along with each other and stop being so greedy. I feel like Lennon was on the right track with his thoughts on war however there is a little more complication involved like politics and survival of countries. I also understand however the during that period of time of the Vietnam war society would have been very desperate to bring there soldiers home from war and scared of the chance of a nuclear war, which is why I also think Lennon was just trying to give us hope and make us feel stronger through his song ‘Imagine’.

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A message I found interesting in the song is the repetitive thought by john Lennon that what if religion didn’t exist. Nowadays over half the world is religious. Amongst all these religious people there are seperate groups like christians and Islam’s, these groups have different beliefs then one another. When confronted with one another, sometimes fights and bullying can happen amongst each other due to selfishness and not liking their religion. John Lennon saw this conflict happening amongst the world and used his song Imagine to show other people that this really is happening, that religion is bringing violence to our world. We see him talk about this throughout the song for example “Imagine there’s no heaven”, is referring to imagining a world without religion so that everyone is the same and there are no rivals. “No hell below us”, is again referring to the fact that a world without religion could mean a world without conflict. John Lennon used his song Imagine to point out the fact that religion brings on conflict amongst the world, and if there was no religion the world could be a happier place. I found this interesting because I believe a lot of the wars in history involve religion. If there was no religion then maybe instead of contesting with one another, “the world could be as one” said by John Lennon during imagine. I think a lot of society would agree with this because nowadays not everyone is blinded by a religion and we can see what can really happen between rivalries that get out of hand. I feel grateful I have managed to not be blinded by believing in a religion as now I can live my life to the fullest without worrying about gods, I think that other people who aren’t religious would also agree with me as we are able to have so much more fun.

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I think the song title imagine, was the perfect choice for this song. Imagine is a song about imagining a world where there’s no violence. This is because this song was created during the Vietnam war when people were protesting about violence and wanted to bring the soldiers home. Imagine talks about this world where the soldiers come home, and violence and all problems of the world are extinguished, and how it isn’t as hard as we think. For example the phrase “Imagine there’s no country, it isn’t that hard to do”, refers to the fact the world doesn’t have to be separated, we could all be one and all we need to do is agree with each other. Another example of where Lennon expresses how easy it could be to make the world a better place is when he says, “Imagine there’s no heaven, It’s easy if you try. Here Lennon is referring to the fact that religion brings violence upon the world, and without religion the world could be a happier place. With all these great possibilities Lennon is imagining them, I believe he wants us to imagine a world like those two. This is why I think Imagine was the perfect name for this song as it expresses what Lennon wants from people listening to this song, he wants them to imagine this nonviolent happy world. There’s no doubt Lennon has chosen the title Imagine because he is asking society to imagine his fantasy world with him.

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 I would recommend this song to any age. Imagine is a meaningful song about world peace and happiness and was there to give people hope that war can be worked out, and it will one day stop. Therefore it is definitely child friendly as it is good for children to know that just because times are distressing at the moment they will eventually die.. Not only that but it also expresses a lot about violence, and how violence is not a good thing, which is a good message for children to know so they don’t grow up and turn into criminals. Lennon expresses his thoughts on violence throughout his lyrics to teach us this lesson that violence is not okay. For example, “Nothing to kill or die for”, refers to the fact that we people choose to die for there countries and just because you see these people do it, doesn’t mean you have to. Another example is when he says “no need for greed or hunger”, “a brotherhood of man”, this shows us we don/t need to have to fight for food and supplies, we could instead share and all be as one. This is important because for kids growing up now there’s the internet.It is really easy for kids to look at violent videos and just stuff that we want to protect them from so they’ll stay sweet, innocent, and not turn into criminals. John Lennon has used Imagine to show that just because there is lots of violence today, doesn’t mean there can’t be a world without all this violence. Having songs like this I think may help kids to think with more of an open mind and how just because they see all this violence, it doesn’t mean they have to get involved with it. It definitely made me have this realisation and I think society would agree with what Lennon is saying as everybody wants a world where they don’t have to be careful of who they trust or what they get involved in, they can just live freely knowing everyone will help each other. This is why I think John Lennon’s song ‘Imagine” is a song suitable for any age to listen to, as it teaches us about non violence and happiness, which are both things important for society to understand.