The piano riff is agonizingly juvenile.
“Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” and “Good Morning” suck, by the way.
My alternate lyrics to another of his tunes:
War is over
CAUSE we WON IT
WE have WON it, now...
FROM NATIONAL LAMPOON's FICTIONAL LETTERS FROM THE EDITORS:
Dear Sirs:
Imagine no possessions. What a terrible, terrible thought."
--Yoko Ono, New York City
“Imagine” is his biggest hit because girls like sappy, simple, loving, caring ballads. This song is bullsh&%, but it makes girls cry. That works in the record biz.
“Color My World” by Chicago is one of thier biggest hits. Simple chords and lyrics that make girls cry while they slow dance.
The Beetles were and are outlandishly over rated. But who can understand popular tastes?
Imagine no Imagine!
Damn that boy!
We can thank Lennon and The Beatles for much of the drug-addled culture of today.
IOW, given the time to think about his lyrics, the guy (who claimed his musical ensemble was more popular than the One's who's birth we celebrate this month) writes total crap? Sounds pretty reasonable to me.
I think “Woman’ is worse. Bleh!
Love Beatles music. Love John Lennon’s music.
Always HATED that song!
In one paragraph, the author lists gour “great” songs, and they are all off of the same album! The guy was a pop artist, the tune is catchy and singable (try singing any of the ones listed in the shower). The early 70s had a different sound than the late 60s. Some power pop, more soft ballads and novelty records. Throw in Yoko Ono, and this is what you get. Lennon and the Beatles were a talented pop band. Trying to say that Mr Kite is high art, however, reminds me of the Led Zeppelin and Doors fans of the 70s who attacked acts that didn’t write their own ditties and kept the tunes under 4 minutes. These same folks mostly can’t even LISTEN to Bach. I’ll take Fats Domino and Del Shannon. They didn’t take their work that seriously, they just made great popular music.
I’ve got several Beatle’s music books for guitar that are well used. There’s no other pop group who created as many songs that are adaptable for guitar and other instruments as the Beatles. But I never play “Imagine.” It’s just not a very good song. The melody is pedestrian, and the lyrics are too sappy.
One of the bad parts of THE KILLING FIELDS is the use of IMAGINE. After all, the lyrics described much of what the Khymer Rouge professed to believe. The other sorry bit in the film was poor ole Sidney wondering if the costly bombing campaign caused the Khymer Rouge to go into such madness.
If Lennon had lived longer he would have turned against IMAGINE as he had already turned against “Benefit Concerts” as rip offs. Lennon had already become pro-police and donated to the NYPD for bullet-proof vests.
I would argue that it is not his most enduring song.
