I am of your mother's generation, so I have had this song in my life for a very long time. I sang it when John was shot, as I wept with the world. It's in my head when I have seen the latest violent insanity on the news- 9/11, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Gaza...it is a prayer for sanity,for love, a hope that we can evolve beyond the tribal and artificial walls we inflict on each other. Thank you for this lovely piece, and your strong spirit of peace and joy. And thank the universe for John Lennon.
In 2013 while walking a Camino to Santiago in northern Spain I scribbled the lyrics to Imagine with a white marker pen on blue bins by the side of the trail! One line per bin. Then again on the graffiti strewn table tops of a nearby cafe. It felt like the most appropriate song to inspire fellow pilgrims - to remind everyone that we are all connected, all together, all one. Thank you Jesse for sharing your wonderful ‘Imagine story’. John & Yoko were indeed divinely inspired the day they wrote it.
From singing the song onda streetz as an acapella busker early nineties to performing my own beatpoetry accompanied by gypsie piano last wednesday, inspired by one of the first rocknroll saints to guide humans to peace, imagiNation is our origin
Jesse, thank you for evoking Imagine, John and those fraught tines of 1971: you ve written a really beautiful piece here.
In 1971,I was a broke 17 year old, going to a FE college( Further Ed) in Nottingham: freezing cold and damp Notts, where I was living in the local YMCA , yearning to get the fuck out of this hellscape. I knew there had to be something better, but I didn’t know where that was.
Then, John released “ Imagine”, and I rushed to
score the album, foregoing a couple of lunches. I had a crap Phillips sound system with atrocious sound and a stylus that came from the Singer sewing machine/c factory , but the sound of Imagine filled my YMCA room, and I knew where I could escape to. John and “ Imagine” filled my soul, giving me the breath and vision to endure whatever life would throw at me. It’s an immortal song , which will endure as long as our species last….
Happy Birthday Sean and John. My only issue with the perfect song Imagine is "no religion too". Maybe he was saying one God for all people. One loving God for everyone?
The Beatles are an indelible part of my childhood, their records having been among my first memories of this thing we call music. Music, like all art but unique in its insubstantiality and ephemerality, is so distinctly formed of the imagination, pulled from the ether as if by magic. And for all that, it is embedded in nature--the sounds of the world animal and earthbound, the beating of the human heart, the movement of the celestial spheres, each with their rhythm, their tones and timbres, their proportions and relationships to each other. Look how far our imaginations have brought us! How much we have come to understand about the world! (While hopefully beginning to understand just how little that actually is.)
My dad, whose Beatles records we grew up listening to, always had a problem with the song "Imagine" because of its "no religion" line. I can empathize with his point of view; for better and for worse, religion has been a powerful font for human imagination as well, perhaps the most powerful. And yet, we--my personal view--seem to be coming into an age when we are beginning to outgrow all of the old stories that have shaped us until now: religion, nationality, ethnicity, gender, and so on. Perhaps to imagine as John and Yoko suggest a world without these things, we still have to imagine what story (or stories) are needed to take their place, and not by any means to destroy or forget those stories that have come before either but to place them respectfully and meaningfully into a new context by which all people can live their lives in peace.
Thanks, Jesse, for sharing as always. Your experience and relationship with "Imagine" is a powerful but absolutely unique one; it's amazing how something so insubstantial and ephemeral can have such deep power and meaning. To share it with us in turn is a gift.
John Lennon was a very special man. Everytime something particular awful is happening in the world l often think what he would have done/ be doing today. Thank you for your lovely post and Happy Birthday John and Sean 🙏
So beautiful! Maybe one day I can visit New York and Strawberry Fields with my daughter Yoko...❤️❤️❤️
I am of your mother's generation, so I have had this song in my life for a very long time. I sang it when John was shot, as I wept with the world. It's in my head when I have seen the latest violent insanity on the news- 9/11, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Gaza...it is a prayer for sanity,for love, a hope that we can evolve beyond the tribal and artificial walls we inflict on each other. Thank you for this lovely piece, and your strong spirit of peace and joy. And thank the universe for John Lennon.
In 2013 while walking a Camino to Santiago in northern Spain I scribbled the lyrics to Imagine with a white marker pen on blue bins by the side of the trail! One line per bin. Then again on the graffiti strewn table tops of a nearby cafe. It felt like the most appropriate song to inspire fellow pilgrims - to remind everyone that we are all connected, all together, all one. Thank you Jesse for sharing your wonderful ‘Imagine story’. John & Yoko were indeed divinely inspired the day they wrote it.
From singing the song onda streetz as an acapella busker early nineties to performing my own beatpoetry accompanied by gypsie piano last wednesday, inspired by one of the first rocknroll saints to guide humans to peace, imagiNation is our origin
"Imagine " is my favorite song of all time, the idea and the words are perfect, if only they would come to fruition.
Jesse, thank you for evoking Imagine, John and those fraught tines of 1971: you ve written a really beautiful piece here.
In 1971,I was a broke 17 year old, going to a FE college( Further Ed) in Nottingham: freezing cold and damp Notts, where I was living in the local YMCA , yearning to get the fuck out of this hellscape. I knew there had to be something better, but I didn’t know where that was.
Then, John released “ Imagine”, and I rushed to
score the album, foregoing a couple of lunches. I had a crap Phillips sound system with atrocious sound and a stylus that came from the Singer sewing machine/c factory , but the sound of Imagine filled my YMCA room, and I knew where I could escape to. John and “ Imagine” filled my soul, giving me the breath and vision to endure whatever life would throw at me. It’s an immortal song , which will endure as long as our species last….
Happy Birthday Sean and John. My only issue with the perfect song Imagine is "no religion too". Maybe he was saying one God for all people. One loving God for everyone?
The Beatles are an indelible part of my childhood, their records having been among my first memories of this thing we call music. Music, like all art but unique in its insubstantiality and ephemerality, is so distinctly formed of the imagination, pulled from the ether as if by magic. And for all that, it is embedded in nature--the sounds of the world animal and earthbound, the beating of the human heart, the movement of the celestial spheres, each with their rhythm, their tones and timbres, their proportions and relationships to each other. Look how far our imaginations have brought us! How much we have come to understand about the world! (While hopefully beginning to understand just how little that actually is.)
My dad, whose Beatles records we grew up listening to, always had a problem with the song "Imagine" because of its "no religion" line. I can empathize with his point of view; for better and for worse, religion has been a powerful font for human imagination as well, perhaps the most powerful. And yet, we--my personal view--seem to be coming into an age when we are beginning to outgrow all of the old stories that have shaped us until now: religion, nationality, ethnicity, gender, and so on. Perhaps to imagine as John and Yoko suggest a world without these things, we still have to imagine what story (or stories) are needed to take their place, and not by any means to destroy or forget those stories that have come before either but to place them respectfully and meaningfully into a new context by which all people can live their lives in peace.
Thanks, Jesse, for sharing as always. Your experience and relationship with "Imagine" is a powerful but absolutely unique one; it's amazing how something so insubstantial and ephemeral can have such deep power and meaning. To share it with us in turn is a gift.
My daughter and I went to Strawberry Fields and The Dakota not long after John was murdered. It was a sacred place ever after.
Fantastic Jesse. Thank you.
What a lovely post and beautiful memories you've shared! Sending love <3
Beautiful Birthday tribute to Johan and Sean. Thank you, Jesse.
Beautiful post Jesse thank you--going to listen to "Imagine" now...
One of the best ever! Imagine represents the thoughts of many people! Thank you, John Lennon!
Beautiful
John Lennon was a very special man. Everytime something particular awful is happening in the world l often think what he would have done/ be doing today. Thank you for your lovely post and Happy Birthday John and Sean 🙏