I’d never heard this song before until yesterday. My dad actually introduced me to it, but it really hit home.
People say I’m crazy doing what I’m doing,
Well they give me all kinds of warnings to save me from ruin,
When I say that I’m o.k. they look at me kind of strange,
Surely your not happy now you no longer play the game,
People say I’m lazy dreaming my life away,
Well they give me all kinds of advice designed to enlighten me,
When I tell that I’m doing Fine watching shadows on the wall,
Don’t you miss the big time boy you’re no longer on the ball?
I hate to rain on your parade, but he never said The Beatles were bigger than Jesus. He said The Beatles were more popular than Jesus. That is, more young people knew who they were and paid them more attention than went to church. And at the time when he made that statemkent, he was absolutely right.
TheFonz: I find it ironic that after the many GD controversies you started, this might be one of the least controversial things anyone has ever posted.
Lennon was a genius, his song writing was incredible. Look up the lyrics to Imagine or better yet, buy it and listen to it several times in a row.
John Lennon knew music but he had a weak mind otherwise. The song Imagine sums it up for me:
“Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…”
Great, an incredibly rich person moving to New York for a more effective power base being a terrible father with communist sympathies for the whole world.
This is so funny to me. I worshipped Lennon as a kid, but as I grew older, I realized that his ideas were really pretty simplistic…just the kind of thing that would appeal to a young person, but not really to be taken seriously by an adult. Certainly nothing that was particularly profound philosophically, IMO.
I’m sorry, Fonz. I just came back here because I realized that this might have come off as insulting you, and I didn’t mean to at all. As a younger person (which I think you are?), JL really meant a lot to me, and helped get me through some bad stuff, too. So, I am glad that you discovered his music.
Try listening to his album Imagine, if you haven’t already. One of the greatest albums of all time, IMO.
The Beatles had a certain chemistry that was synergistic, none of them solo seemed to have “it” whatever that is. Lennon was hilarious, a real nut, before they all started taking themselves way too seriously, I suppose it comes with the territory but geez. Multigazillionaires admonishing us serfs about materialism is pretty bizarre. I always thought “Imagine” to be esp. craptacular, a sort of socialist dirge. I’ll take “8 Days A Week” any day of the week, thanks.
I dislike Lennon. I mean, I appreciate the Beatles; I appreciate his musical and lyrical abilities and his wit, but I just think the guy was a bit of a self-obsessed wanker. Perhaps he had a right to be; after all, when so many other people are obsessed with you, why not join in?
On the weekend I went to the movies with my son. Before the session started there was music being played and two of the songs were John Lennon post-Beatles pieces. They were both simply awful - some lahdidah hearts and flowers kind of crap. I didn’t pay much attention to his solo work, only ever hearing what got radio play but these things would have made Paul cringe.
John Lennon was a shrewd merchandiser of the “mass counterculture” mystique and rode his success straight to the bank. The lyrics to “Imagine” are a hasty Cliff Notes cribbing of the Manifesto, set to overprocessed music. It’s all PR puffery, from a cynical capitalist worth $300 million.
