John Lennon: ‘Imagine’ (1971)
“It’s just a damn song,” John Lennon would growl when his most famous composition was recited to him. Except it wasn’t, was it? ‘Imagine’ was much more than a simple song, its message delicately brought the simplest of piano playing and the simplest chord changes. Yet it would become Lennon’s most beloved song (both on and off The Beatles), an anthem for freedom fighters and peacekeepers everywhere.
As peaceful and hopeful as their title track was, ‘Imagine’ still carried on the anger that ‘Plastic Ono’ unleashed so brilliantly. A lighter album than ‘Ono’ (‘Imagine’ had the puny ‘Oh Yoko’ and the childish ‘How Do You Sleep?’ Among its weaker tracks), ‘Imagine’ still brought enough brilliance, truth, and songwriting ability. to deserve the latter a worthy volume in Lennon’s catalog (its follow-up, the ghastly ‘Some Time In New York City’ (1972) was an unthinkable bombshell, and Lennon lost his penchant for later records) and the most popular album by his career.
And well it should be, the melody of ‘Jealous Guy’ one of his most inspired, the power of ‘Gimme Some Truth’ one of the most passionate lyrics of the seventies. The first of them adorned with the serious performance of Nicky Hopkins and the beautiful string arrangement of Phil Spector, the second brought to life by the searing slide work of George Harrison. One beautiful, the other political, both favorites of such eclectic artists as Bryan Ferry, Jakob Dylan, Billy Idol and Aslan, Lennon’s influence echoing through the next musical generations.
‘Oh My Love’, a beautifully momentous song, brought Yoko Ono’s artistic influence to the world (she receives a co-authorship credit here). ‘It’s So Hard’ (saxophone in place), featured Lennon’s bluesiest voice since ‘Yer Blues’, an expression of contempt and passion. ‘I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier’ a salute with the middle finger to social expectations far more successful than ‘Hero of the working class’ or ‘Power to the people’ had been. ‘Crippled Inside’, a busker’s dream, and a clever attack on former Beatle Paul McCartney, again brought forward Lennon’s irate brilliance.
His second attack on his friend from Liverpool, the much more explicit “How do you sleep?” It turned out to be the meanest moment in Lennon’s catalog. While his presence doesn’t ruin the album overall, I would be remiss to mention how petty and unworthy his lyrical content about the man with whom he wrote many of his best songs. “All you did was yesterday” proved ridiculous to Lennon (to McCartney’s credit, he dismissed the accusation as nonsense and nothing more). Lennon subsequently passed off the song as an attack on himself, but the song hasn’t aged well for Lennon’s character.
After this mistake, the album picks up speed with ‘How?’, Perhaps the strongest on the album after its untouchable title track. Sincere and scared, the Hamburg rocker who once wore leather now admits “And the world is so harsh / Sometimes I feel like I’ve had enough”, sighing with a negative that sounds strangely positive, perhaps his appreciation of the woman whose arms now asleep (“oh no” sounds syllabic to “ono”).
And it is in that moment that it is difficult not to feel for Lennon, although brilliant, rich and successful, his flaws and fears are registered, cautious, terrifying and, above all, human. Can you imagine a world without ‘Imagine’ (1971)? Can not!