IMAGINE by John Lennon

IMAGINEby John Lennon

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9 September 1971 - 9 September 2021

#Imagine50

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Who was John Lennon?

John Winston Ono Lennon, (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980), was an English singer and songwriter.

He became famous as a singer and guitarist of the English rock band The Beatles.

After the Beatles stopped making records in 1970, he lived in the United States with his wife Yoko Ono. He continued his music career up until his death in 1980.

'Imagine' is a song by English rock musician John Lennon from his 1971 album of the same name.

The best-selling single of his solo career, the lyrics encourage listeners to imagine a world of peace, without materialism, without borders separating nations and without religion.

In his song Lennon was asking us to imagine a place where the things that divide us, like religion and possessions, did not exist. He felt that it would be a much better place.

This song is a strong political message sugarcoated in a beautiful melody. Lennon realized the softer approach would bring the song to a wider audience, who hopefully would listen to his message: If you want peace, first you have to imagine it.

The imagine concept came from Yoko Ono, who was very much into open-mindedness and using your imagination. In 1964, she published Grapefruit, a book of 'instructions and drawings' that established the lyrical concept for the song.

“Imagine” was written in a strange time in John Lennon’s career. Barely a year after the split of The Beatles, Paul McCartney had just filed a lawsuit to dissolve the band’s contractual partnership. Lennon had just bought a new piano, spray-painted white, for his wife Yoko Ono’s birthday. Soon afterwards, he wrote 'Imagine' on it.“

Imagine by other singers...

In 1971, jazz singer Sarah Vaughan made it more bombastic on her LP, 'A Time In My Life'.

In 1972, Joan Baez connected it with a folk-like simplicity on her album 'Come from the Shadows'.

In 1973, Diana Ross made it syrupy and soulful as a finale to hers, 'Touch Me In the Morning'.

Filmed and recorded live at the Baku 2015 European Games Opening Ceremony held in Baku, Azerbaijan, on June 12th 2015 where Lady Gaga performed a gorgeous, operatic rendition of 'Imagine'.

This was done by Queen in tribute to John Lennon the night after he was murdered, i.e. on 9 December 1980.

Lennon described 'Imagine' as 'anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalistic… but because it's sugar-coated, it's accepted.'

Imagine by other singers...again...

'Imagine' performed in an episode of the first seeason of GLEE, the American musical comedy-drama television series an American musical comedy-drama television series.

The children's choir performed 'Imagine' at the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Elton John sang 'Imagine' live in New York at Central Park, on 13September 1980.

Madonna did the same for Tsunami Aid in 2005.

Neil Young sang it at the December 2001 concert for New York firefighters, police and 9/11 victims, 'America: A Tribute to Heroes'.

Stevie Wonder, from the Closing Ceremony of the Atlanta 1996 Summer Games.

Peter Gabriel at the Opening Ceremony of the Turin 2006 Olympic Winter Games

In 2015, German pianist Davide Martello drove 400 miles through the night to pay tribute and perform John Lennon's 'Imagine' at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris - where at least 80 people lost their lives.

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The John Lennon Peace Monument, also known as the European Peace Monument, is a peace monument entitled Peace & Harmony in Liverpool, England, dedicated to the memory of John Lennon.

Peace & Harmony was unveiled by Julian and Cynthia Lennon at a ceremony in Chavasse Park, Liverpool, on Saturday 9 October 2010 to celebrate what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday.

Strawberry Fields Memorial in Central Park (NY) to honour John Lennon with the word 'Imagine' on it

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Lennon's Steinway piano, on which he composed 'Imagine', was bought by singer George Michael in 2000 to keep it in the UK.

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Its final lyrics have a strange resonance in a world ruled by Covid-19: 'I hope some day you’ll join us/And the world will be as one.' Time can only tell if its sentiment of hope and unity changes society as much as the pandemic which has inspired it, once again, to be sung.

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