Imagine

The song Imagine by John Lennon.

I was raised in a very conservative home. My father was a deputy sheriff and a protestant minister. It taught me a lot of good things, but it also made my vision very narrow on many subjects. This song and how I viewed it then and how I view it now shows exactly how I have changed over the years.

At first I didn’t really pay attention to the song Then, later in life I started to think “Is this guy promoting communism?” That didn’t settle well with this veteran, flag waving American. My next thought was “Is this guy an atheist? Agnostic? That didn’t set well with this son of a preacher man.

Then I heard it at my Uncle Denny’s funeral (he grew up in the sixties and loved the Beatles and John Lennon) over a decade ago. I began to consider the song differently. My Uncle was a good man - laughing, joking, and smiling whenever I was around him. He also seemed to be a wise man, so what was he getting from this song that I wasn’t? I let it go again for a long time.

Lo and behold I reacquainted myself with music several weeks ago, once a huge passion of mine. I listened to songs that brought back memories good and bad. I listened to this song several times over the course of a few days and BAM! it hit me. What did the song mean to me? What was John and my Uncle telling me? The lyrics to the song are below. This is what I got, it wouldn’t have made a good song in this manner, because the message being conveyed can be summarized in one line. It is the one thing that I myself am trying to accomplish in my own life.

Imagine there’s no ego . . .


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 (ah ah 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
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