Kind of funny to follow Marilyn Manson with John Lennon's 1971 masterpiece, Imagine. On one hand, you have this hard rocking, bang your head song, and on the flip side of the coin, we have a soft melody played mostly on the piano. Interestingly enough, the two artists, while so different in their approach, were also kind of similar. The song has been interpreted by many critics as being anti-religious, anti-capitalistic, and anti-nationalistic. Pay attention to the inner meanings in Manson's lyrics and listen to what he has to say and he pretty much has the same philosophy. Of course, like I said, they go about it completely differently. While Manson angrily spews his lyrics, Lennon's message in this song is, " With "Imagine" we're asking, "can you imagine a world without countries or religions?" He says it in a soft, gentle, fashion, hoping that we could rid of all differences and all be completely the same so we can be at peace. But if you do pay attention, it IS a very "anti" song.
As you can imagine(no pun intended), the song was hugely popular, but interestingly enough, it only reached #3 on the Billboard charts. But on the other hand, it also was voted as the third best song OF ALL TIME by Rolling Stone. That only two songs in the history of music can claim a higher spot on the charts speaks volumes about the legacy of the song. In a few other polls, such as in Canada and Australia, is does take the top spot as the best song of all time. Lennon himself said the song was as good as anything he had written while with the Beatles. The song has been covered countless times and is often used in the media during messages of peace around the world. Even the Supreme Court, in one of their rulings, quoted parts of the song. The song is truly a worldwide phenomenon.
I am torn as what to do when this song comes out. As much as I like the song, I don't know the lyrics by heart. Ideally, I would play the keyboard and sing the song at the same time. That is my goal. But, as I won't be able to do it right off the bat, which do I go with - keyboard or singing? I am not quite sure yet.
You have to click on the link to watch the video, but it is well worth it. See it here.
5 comments:
I love, love, love your write up for this song. As you know, I'm a HUGE Beatles fan and this has always been one of my favorites. Interesting that it only made
#3 on the billboard chart. I'll sing it with you!!!
I know he wasn't with The Beatles when he wrote it, but I too am a big Beatles fan (thanks, Fran!) and like this song as well, although I'm not super familiar with Lennon's solo stuff. In fact, I think I used this song in part of our video when we got married! I like the music, the melody, but also the lyrics. I know this isn't the platform, so I won't elaborate on my beliefs, but I agree with a lot that he says in this song. Sigh... peace. Would be nice, huh?
I'd like to imagine not a world with no religion, but a world in which people actually lived by the religious creeds they professed rather than using those creeds to suppress others.
As horribly pessimistic as this is going to sound, I think that in a world without religion people would substitute some equivalent dogma and use it as justification for dividing themselves. That's just how we are.
I really, really like this song. I like the message and I just like the way it sounds. It would be fun to play keyboards and sing along to this...
Nicely said, BrightenedBoy. MUCH more diplomatic than I could have put it!
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