Kevin Castillo
Professor Eric
English 114A
October 28, 2014
Imagine Political Music
“Imagine all the people Living life in peace...” a very meaningful lyric and message from the great John Lennon in his song “Imagine” released on October 11, 1971. This song was released at the height of the protest movement. When people started to stand up for their rights through protest, songs, and speeches. John Lennon was one of the many influential artists at the time because he would speak his opinion towards political and social issues. Both John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix shared the same passion for making music that was not only lyrically great but very meaningful. Hendrix once said, “Music doesn’t lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music” and I personally feel that Lennon is one artist that proves this right in his music. I do believe that protest songs were very popular during the 60s and 70s but slowly started to die off once society began to care about other things. Horrible wars, presidents, and laws influenced artists to create protest songs which people loved because it mainly shared the same thoughts and opinions they felt but over time people started to care about other things.
The song Imagine was written during a time of great political issues. The war in Vietnam was still happening and President Nixon was president and decided not to stop the war, which lead people to protest. John Lennon personally had problems with the Nixon administration, which nearly got him deported. Why did he have problems with President Nixon? “The administration said Lennon had been admitted to the country improperly. He had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of cannabis possession in London in 1968, and immigration law at the time banned the admission of anyone convicted of any drug offense.” Although, this may be true and all it still isn’t the main reason John Lennon was getting his phone tapped by the CIA and was nearly deported back to London. The truth was mainly due to John Lennon and his wife attending antiwar rallies and singing songs like “Imagine” or his other famous hit “Give Peace a Chance” which sent a powerful message that caused citizens to not vote for Nixon but sadly wasn’t enough to stop Nixon into getting a second term.
Imagine is not only a song about war and violence being bad but mainly about peace and love. Lennon talks about religion, money, and politics getting in the way of peoples happiness and peace. The lyrics to the song basically describe a utopian society that encourages peace. Many politicians believed that John Lennon was encouraging communism mainly due to his lyrics “Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do.” I understand how some people would take it as encouraging communism but those people are ignorant and aren’t seeing the positive meaning it’s sending. When I read these lyrics I get the words equality, sharing, and change. An article from the Examiner agrees with me that “The songwriter obviously was trying to point out what measures can be taken to prevent war and other unhappy realities.”
John Lennon wrote this song to the world, not specific audiences that believe are antiwar or antiviolence. Hoping they would understand the message he’s sending. The song not only focuses on encouraging peace but also makes us wonder what laws and standards we as a country have set. It makes us reflect on the type of person we are becoming in which religion, politics, and sexism get in the way from true happiness. I believe that the most powerful lyric in this song is “Imagine all the people sharing all the world” because I believe that’s the main message Lennon is sending.
Throughout Lennon’s musical career with the Beatles, he was known to be very outspoken yet very peaceful and passionate about writing music with meaningful messages. His song Imagine stands out the most because of the melody and the words that keep the song truthful and in sync. Millions of people have heard it and continue to love it because it’s a message that still matters today even if we are living in a new generation. We still have political issues that involve war, destruction, politics, sexism, and religion, which keep us from having peace. Our generation include people that think Its no longer “cool” to listen to protest songs because its irrelevant and its not about fame, money, or sex. I don’t blame artists for not making protest songs but rather blame the fans because they are demanding for songs that don’t have powerful messages that target social or political issues. Therefore Imagine is a song that carries a message that will never die off because it contains issues we still have in society and also carries a message each and everyone think about in our life, hence Johns last lyric “I hope someday you'll join us and the world will live as one.”
Wiener, Jon. "John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Deportation Battle." Latimes. 8 Oct. 2010. Web.
LaPrade, Marjorie. "Song Analysis of John Lennon's 'Imagine'" Examiner.com. N.p., 30 Oct. 2013. Web. 29 Oct. 2014. <http://www.examiner.com/article/song-analysis-of-john-lennon-s-imagine>
Professor Eric
English 114A
October 28, 2014
Imagine Political Music
“Imagine all the people Living life in peace...” a very meaningful lyric and message from the great John Lennon in his song “Imagine” released on October 11, 1971. This song was released at the height of the protest movement. When people started to stand up for their rights through protest, songs, and speeches. John Lennon was one of the many influential artists at the time because he would speak his opinion towards political and social issues. Both John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix shared the same passion for making music that was not only lyrically great but very meaningful. Hendrix once said, “Music doesn’t lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music” and I personally feel that Lennon is one artist that proves this right in his music. I do believe that protest songs were very popular during the 60s and 70s but slowly started to die off once society began to care about other things. Horrible wars, presidents, and laws influenced artists to create protest songs which people loved because it mainly shared the same thoughts and opinions they felt but over time people started to care about other things.
The song Imagine was written during a time of great political issues. The war in Vietnam was still happening and President Nixon was president and decided not to stop the war, which lead people to protest. John Lennon personally had problems with the Nixon administration, which nearly got him deported. Why did he have problems with President Nixon? “The administration said Lennon had been admitted to the country improperly. He had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of cannabis possession in London in 1968, and immigration law at the time banned the admission of anyone convicted of any drug offense.” Although, this may be true and all it still isn’t the main reason John Lennon was getting his phone tapped by the CIA and was nearly deported back to London. The truth was mainly due to John Lennon and his wife attending antiwar rallies and singing songs like “Imagine” or his other famous hit “Give Peace a Chance” which sent a powerful message that caused citizens to not vote for Nixon but sadly wasn’t enough to stop Nixon into getting a second term.
Imagine is not only a song about war and violence being bad but mainly about peace and love. Lennon talks about religion, money, and politics getting in the way of peoples happiness and peace. The lyrics to the song basically describe a utopian society that encourages peace. Many politicians believed that John Lennon was encouraging communism mainly due to his lyrics “Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do.” I understand how some people would take it as encouraging communism but those people are ignorant and aren’t seeing the positive meaning it’s sending. When I read these lyrics I get the words equality, sharing, and change. An article from the Examiner agrees with me that “The songwriter obviously was trying to point out what measures can be taken to prevent war and other unhappy realities.”
John Lennon wrote this song to the world, not specific audiences that believe are antiwar or antiviolence. Hoping they would understand the message he’s sending. The song not only focuses on encouraging peace but also makes us wonder what laws and standards we as a country have set. It makes us reflect on the type of person we are becoming in which religion, politics, and sexism get in the way from true happiness. I believe that the most powerful lyric in this song is “Imagine all the people sharing all the world” because I believe that’s the main message Lennon is sending.
Throughout Lennon’s musical career with the Beatles, he was known to be very outspoken yet very peaceful and passionate about writing music with meaningful messages. His song Imagine stands out the most because of the melody and the words that keep the song truthful and in sync. Millions of people have heard it and continue to love it because it’s a message that still matters today even if we are living in a new generation. We still have political issues that involve war, destruction, politics, sexism, and religion, which keep us from having peace. Our generation include people that think Its no longer “cool” to listen to protest songs because its irrelevant and its not about fame, money, or sex. I don’t blame artists for not making protest songs but rather blame the fans because they are demanding for songs that don’t have powerful messages that target social or political issues. Therefore Imagine is a song that carries a message that will never die off because it contains issues we still have in society and also carries a message each and everyone think about in our life, hence Johns last lyric “I hope someday you'll join us and the world will live as one.”
Wiener, Jon. "John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Deportation Battle." Latimes. 8 Oct. 2010. Web.
LaPrade, Marjorie. "Song Analysis of John Lennon's 'Imagine'" Examiner.com. N.p., 30 Oct. 2013. Web. 29 Oct. 2014. <http://www.examiner.com/article/song-analysis-of-john-lennon-s-imagine>