Feeling nostalgic (and old) tonight. Wonder who remembers this song, and its vision of a world at peace?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLgYAHHkPFs

What do you think?

Shannon ;o)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/2013 06:14PM by shannon.

I'm thinking if there ever were *really* a prophet in my lifetime, John Lennon would be a whole lot closer to the ideal than any Mormom prophet.

;o)

Sam Kinison has my vote for most real prophet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDhAIjF0wQI
What a contrast between Sam and Gordon !!!!


The song Imagine has special significance for me. I was a kid when it came out. My mom's TBM family kept her head pumped clear full of CLeon Skousen type MORmON propaganda, so *naturally* they Hated the Beatles..... because the long haired Beatles were OBVIOUSLY hippies, and good MORmONS hated ( HATE! HATE! HATED!!! ) hippies.


In reality, as a MORmON woman, my poor mother had NEVER been taught how to actually THINK about anything, only to parrot MORmON ideals, just as this story demonstrates.
The song lyrics makes mention of having no possessions.
I thought that would really set off the profit mongering capitalistic oriented MORmONS, AS IF our stuck on the tread mill MORmON family had any chance at all of ever joining the ranks of the real capitalist (elitist pig) MORmONS that my family dutifully paid tithing to in the name of MORmON Jesus.
My MORmON mom could not wait that far into the song to pee her pants and spout off in objection. When the lyrics made a crack about no religion, thats when my Mom had to spout off just as her Skousen implanted ethics dictated.

I knew that MORmONISM did not even register as part of the religious bulwark that Lenon was objecting to, and most of all that MORmONISM itself objected to the bulwark of traditional Christianity and other religions that it considered to be blatantly and patently false, as they were part of Satan's great plan to keep the worlds population distracted away from Gods true religion which was MORmONISM ! I objected to my mom's objection by saying "But mom, we are MORmONS, we generally hate/ object to religion
(all the other false religions, which is the bulk vast majority of religion) too! just like the song says!!!

My observation was not well received, but I still think it was basically correct.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/2013 10:55PM by lucky.

It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky

I suppose I'm splitting hairs here, but actually John Lennon recorded this song after the Beatles broke up. Anyway, as a devoted Beatles & Lennon fan, I've never liked "Imagine." It seems to me the message of this song is, "we could have peace if we had nothing to fight over." Imagining no countries, no religion and no possessions doesn't seem like a utopian vision to me. On the other hand, people of different nationalities and religions getting along is something I'd like to imagine.

It is a beautiful song, one of the few John Lennon songs I love or even like.

Oops CP ... corrected. My mistake. I was only 10 when the Beatles broke up so some of those lines are blurred for me.

;o)

I like the song, but kinda like CrispingPin, I have to wonder if this world really existed, would there be anything to live for?

nothing to kill...or die for...

livin for the day...

if that's not enuff for you, then maybe you are happier in the current consensus reality. Enjoy your conflict!

+1

For those who like to read everything they can find about John Lennon: "Across the Universe with John Lennon" by Linda Keen is one of my favorites. :)

(meant for post to be at end of thread, oh well)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2013 08:36PM by snowyowl.

I love this song and would like to see everybody who changes the 'no religion too' lyric to something else, be instantly struck dumb for a period of not less than twenty years or until they become atheists. Whichever comes first.

That's the best verse of the song!

43 million views. I would say the gospel of Youtube is spreading much faster than LDS Inc.

Beautiful song.

It was a lovely song. But I am sorry it is too Utopian a view for me to beleive. No countries, no religion, no material possessions. Sounds good in theory, and differt parts of it have been tried in different parts of the world, but few worked.

John was always over the top with pushing things, he enjoyed pushing peoples buttons and knocking them off balance, he doesn't really believe in Utopia either, but his message was the world is what you make it .. No war if you want it, give peace a chance. In the end he was right, he was a bigger deal than JC for many.

So, you can't "imagine" a way this "utopia" could become a social reality.

Can you "imagine" this could become a personal reality?

If it was a total and complete personal reality, would your world then become free of social ills?

If you lived fully in your imagination, and simply imagined these things to be, then maybe at least for you, they would be?

Let others have their desired dramas and conflicts. Imagine yourself free. Maybe you would be! And maybe, what others do, wouldn't matter to you?

fluhist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It was a lovely song. But I am sorry it is too
> Utopian a view for me to beleive. No countries,
> no religion, no material possessions. Sounds good
> in theory, and differt parts of it have been tried
> in different parts of the world, but few worked.

If it has "worked:, as you put it, for only a tiny group of liberated beings, then it is still valid, and well worth the effort.

Shape your own perception, and your perceived reality will change to match.

People tend to interpret this song as a hymn to communism. It is not. It is a hymn to Buddhism.

It's not about societies or political ideologies, it's about individuals changing from within. Changing the world one person at a time.

"Earth peace through self peace". Yogiraj Satgurunath Siddhanath



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/2013 06:18AM by hello.

Peace, shmease. I'm more of a Ringo Starr's Octopus's Garden kinda woman. ;-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdM3JAP_PTw

Even he apparently had his faults (wife beater) but "you can't believe everything you read on the Internet".
http://listverse.com/2012/05/12/top-10-unpleasant-facts-about-john-lennon/

I do love the message of the song though.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/2013 06:59PM by snuckafoodberry.

And you wonder why I prefer George. He wasn't phony compared to John at times.

That was a thorough "listverse" trashing of John. Very hostile, and very debatable.

No Talent? John had no talent? Seriously, John had no talent, according to this listverser. No musical skills or abilities. Couldn't play, couldn't sing, couldn't write. Made no contribution to "Sgt. Pepper's LHCB". John was carried by Paul, the real talent of the Beatles.

And clearly, this writer totally didn't "get" the sixties, and has no clue about psychedelics. Needs to STFU.

Top ten unpleasant facts about listverse...

Love, love, love that song. Certain parts really hit me all the time....like "nothing to kill or die for"....wow, if only.

Shannon, you have no reason to apologize or backtrack on your position.

John Lennon was a leading critic of the war in Vietnam, and in that capacity he left a huge body of interviews and writing to further explain the lyrics of this song you like so much.

"Imagine" was a portion of his response to the senseless killing and destruction of modern warfare. And the never ending propaganda used to make humans believe is was OK to kill their brothers and sisters because they had different colored skin and lived in a country so far away.

The song was a anthem for my generation, at least for those of us who were not pro war, and created much needed debate that helped end the moronic slaughter known as Vietnam.

and what was LDS Inc official response to the Viet Nam war?

(Well certainly killing is wrong!!!..... unless those being killed are godless communist filth who would oppose our god loving American way of life, Killing that kind of subhuman filth is good!) Go ahead and send your sons to defend our great nation in the name of God! We have to abide by the direction of our political leaders in these instances! God Understands!!!!

LDS leaders certainly should have looked foolish in 1998 when former US sec of defense Robert S. MacNamara admitted that the Viet Nam war was a contrived political fiasco, much more than anything else, WHERE WAS THE CRITICAL LATTER DAY MORmON REVELATION OF LIVING MORmON PROPHET LEADER TO SPEAK TO THAT ????

MORmON members are way too stupid to remember for themselves much of anything beyond 10 years and then connect the dots. They are real MORmONS, that's why they stay in the MORmON church.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/2013 04:00AM by lucky.

lucky Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> and what was LDS Inc official response to the Viet
> Nam war?
>
> (Well certainly killing is wrong!!!..... unless
> those being killed are godless communist filth who
> would oppose our god loving American way of life,
> Killing that kind of subhuman filth is good!) Go
> ahead and send your sons to defend our great
> nation in the name of God! We have to abide by the
> direction of our political leaders in these
> instances! God Understands!!!!
>
> LDS leaders certainly should have looked foolish
> in 1998 when former US sec of defense Robert S.
> MacNamara admitted that the Viet Nam war was a
> contrived political fiasco, much more than
> anything else, WHERE WAS THE CRITICAL LATTER DAY
> MORmON REVELATION OF LIVING MORmON PROPHET LEADER
> TO SPEAK TO THAT ????
>
> MORmON members are way too stupid to remember for
> themselves much of anything beyond 10 years and
> then connect the dots. They are real MORmONS,
> that's why they stay in the MORmON church.

Spot on, lucky. And change the "godless communist filth" to "godless Muslim jihadis", and the official LDSInc. response you summarize sounds an awful lot like Prez GBH's conference talk just prior to Cheney's Iraq invasion.

Shannon, I agree with your choice. Love that song. I also love this one http://youtu.be/wuNBVY2DvkY

(and shoutout to Lucky because I really like Sam Kinison too) :)

Amazing. Thank you for that. You brought tears to my eyes. I have an adopted, disabled child (black) who looks very similar to that young man.

;o)

I just watched it again; sorry, my testimony changed, but I'm happy and you're a hero. http://youtu.be/W86jlvrG54o

Thanks Shannon

Imagine conveys hope that life could be better as an "if only" statement.

Love this song. John Lennon was a great teacher.

Amen.

It is sad to realize how horribly I screwed up in the creation of mankind, as I see the negative, contrary remarks about a simple, beautiful, (although utopian) philosophy.

See "The U.S. vs John Lennon".