Dissecting 'Imagine'

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say that 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 may say that 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

It is all the rage in certain circles to make light of Christian beliefs.Of course,certain Christians are making it justifiably easy to do so.Instead of preaching the Lord Jesus's message of salvation,mercy,love of enemies and forgiveness,these Christian Pharisees and Sadducees are more intent on spreading the easier messages of fear,hatred and ignorance...everything Jesus taught against embracing.

BUT,thought three lefts do indeed make a right,two wrongs never do.Therefore in my vain attempt to try and instill this lesson upon those whom do not wish to learn about the harms of intolerance,just for the giggles,here is my criticism of the pseudo-religious John Lennon song,'Imagine'.

Lyrics are only a part of a song.Most music can only be totally enjoyed when it incorporates lyrics,voice,music,tempo,etc.Just taking a section of a song and interpreting it can not clearly give you the 'wholeness' that is meant to be conveyed my the song in it's entirety.For example,take these lyrics:"She loves you,yeah,yeah,yeah".Pretty dumb on their own,but when you have the Beatles sing them in context of their song,it's pretty awesome.

But this is what I am going to be doing with the 'Imagine' lyrics...taking them apart-dealing with them on their own face value(just sayin').

The opening lines are simple enough :Imagine there's no Heaven /It's easy if you try/No hell below us /Above us only sky /Imagine all the people Living for today

Of course John Lennon is talking about there not being any higher power(s) judging our actions.We shouldn't be basing our lives on some obscure entity's final judgements of us either being rewarded or condemned for the lives that we have led...that we should live our lives for the right now-this exact moment.

But that is not what he is saying.

Basically,what Mr. Lennon is saying here is that you should act as if the life choices you make shouldn't have any consequences.Help an old lady across the street,serve somebody a good meal at Applebees,then there should not be an expected thank you or tip for good service.
Further,if the old lady pushes you out in traffic,or the person spits in your face,you should be totally ok with that,accepting the behavior as is.

I know,I know,you are thinking that is not what John Lennon meant.You are saying that what he meant was that we all should skip along merrily picking flowers and acting kindly towards one other.But even then,what if someone is picking flowers from your flower garden and giving them merrily to your 'Ex'?

The 'what if' becomes an entanglement,a law meant to trip you up.Say you don't want your 'Ex' to have your flowers.Thus comes conflict.Neither of you is wrong,but the conflict still exists.

You 'Imaginary' world is already no better off than this one.

The next lyrics are: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/Living life in peace

I love these sentiments...whom doesn't want to live a life of peace?Who doesn't want that kind of love?

But this also means there is nothing to believe in.It doesn't matter where you live,or what the people around you believe.This can be taken mostly two ways.One is that everyone is a mindless drone.The god of Big Brother-ism.No choices.One simply must.Nothing to live or die for?

The second,is that everyone is so full of love and tolerence,that everything's cool.

This sounds strangely like heaven-but wait-there is no religion.Who would not die to save their son?Who does not love their home?The American Indians claimed not to own their land...but why did they then fight the white man when he stepped in to take it?

Because the American Indian loved his land and was willing to kill and die for it.

What if I loved where you slept as much you did?And why shouldn't I?You'd probably have a nice place to lay your head.Does that mean I could just pull up next to you and hug on up?What if this encroached on your personal space,your happy place?Wouldn't kicking me out be killing me on a small level?Or you?

Imagine.

You may say that 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

You see,here,these lyrics show that John Lennon was a product of his environment.War,greed,prejudices,bigotry,molestations,politics,advertisements,drugs...
...'The world will be as one'..amen.But,do you really want to be like me?Haven't most of us fought our whole lives to stand out;to be different?Isn't the glory of our lives in our individually?Isn't that our greatest asset?Wouldn't the world truly benefit from us not being one but millions being glorified and accepted for being ourselves?

Imagine no possessions/I wonder if you can/No need for greed or hunger/A brotherhood of man

Now,I am just beating this into the ground.It's just that I consider it too easy for John Lennon to write about no possessions as a semi-reclusive,muti-millionaire.Talk to a mother or father who doesn't have enough money for baby food and diapers about not wanting to possess them.Talk to someone whom doesn't have his health about not wanting it.

You may say that 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

I will say this about ,'Imagine',it's one ballsy song.In order for something to happen,first you have to imagine that it is going to happen.People don't consider this not only one of John Lennon's greatest songs,but one of the greatest songs of all time of all time for nothing.

The sentiment is there...the ideology is just semi-thought out and-in parts-just out and out wrong.

But,relax,Pilgrim,there is a plan that has a better chance at working.A plan that does work and has brought humanity up unto the point that we can dream and imagine as John Lennon does.

Too bad,that some of the people that could expand and use it the most won't use it because they see other people using it-in their eyes-wrongly.

Some people just can't dream...imagine that.

It's Labor Day...and you know what that
means...

IT'S THE START OF THE GIFTMAS SEASON!!!