Imagine by John Lennon
Reflection
I remember singing this song in high school choir years ago, focusing more on the alto harmonies than the words I was singing. Yet some of the phrases in the song always jumped out at me. Imagine there’s no heaven, imagine there’s no countries, no possessions, no religion, etc. It all felt like we were singing about getting rid of everything, but all the while somehow longing for that. It was all quite confusing and I couldn’t fully wrap my head around it at the time.
However, with another decade and a half of life under my belt I’ve started looking at this song much differently than my 15 year old self. Is this song really about getting rid of everything? Wanting a life without heaven, hell, possessions, religion, etc.? No. I don’t think that was what John Lennon was truly hoping for when he wrote this song.
This song has been scoffed at from multiple angles as being “anti-religion” to being an inspiration of the “communist manifesto.” In many people’s minds Lennon was pro-communism, wanting no religion, no countries, no politics, no more problems. However, in an interview with Playboy shortly before his death in December 1980, he stated the following about the inspiration for the song:
“The concept of positive prayer…If you can imagine a world at peace, with no denominations of religion – not without religion but without this my God-is-bigger-than-your-God thing – then it can be true.”
He went on to say:
“The World Church called me once and asked, “Can we use the lyrics to ‘Imagine’ and just change it to ‘Imagine one religion’?” That showed [me] they didn’t understand it at all. It would defeat the whole purpose of the song, the whole idea.”
To me, this changes how I view the song. It’s not about being anti-anything. It’s about being pro-people and wanting true peace and unity in the world, however that works for us. What if, instead of pushing our personal beliefs and views on each other in hopes of changing another person, we respected and held space for that person just for being who they are? What if we helped our neighbor who might not look or think like us by giving them food and clothing when they’re in need?
In the coming weeks, I hope that we can lean into the discomfort that this idea provides while being in search of things that we clearly yearn for - understanding, peace, togetherness, unity. Let’s take the challenge to link arm in arm with the people around us who might not think like us, believe like us, choose the same life paths as us, but all want the same thing. Let us take this Lenten season to better love our neighbors in search of peace and unity. Let’s imagine how “the world will be as one.”
Links
Lyrics
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin' for today
Ah
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace
You
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
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
You
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one