# Why no uproar about John Lennon’s “Imagine”? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074 "2004-10-01T17:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/1 "2004-10-01T17:53:03Z")
John Lennon’s “Imagine” started Imagine there’s no heaven It’s easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today… Imagine there’s no countries It isn’t hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too This expresses some blatantly anti-religious sentiments, saying we’d all be better off without religion to fight over. Yet the song was played countless times on the radio and on TV programs with no outcry from religious leaders, censors, fundamentalists or anyone else that I can remember. This contrasts sharply with the huge reaction to his “The Beatles are more popular than Jesus” remark. Why the difference? Surely the same people who were offended by the Jesus remark would have had a similar reaction to “Imagine”. Why was there no protest to this song being played to the youth of America over the public airwaves? . ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/2 "2004-10-01T17:57:24Z")
There was a reaction…just not as widespread or as loud as there was for the “Jesus” remark. I remember an episode of _WKRP_ that dealt with religious censorship, where the pastor quoted the lyrics of “Imagine” to Carlson, and demanded that the station stop playing the song. Carlson told him to take a hike. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/3 "2004-10-01T18:04:38Z")
The “we’re more popular than Jesus” remark was perceived (spun) as a statement of excessive ego. **Imagine** is essentially a song of peace. Hard to get outraged about that. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/4 "2004-10-01T18:22:55Z")
My dad hates John Lennon because of that song. He thinks he’s a commie pinko. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/5 "2004-10-01T18:24:32Z")
I think **bnorton’s** right, but there was also a lot of water under the bridge, sociologically speaking, between 1966 and 1971. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/6 "2004-10-01T18:38:26Z")
> [@](#): > > I remember an episode of WKRP that dealt with religious censorship, where the pastor quoted the lyrics of “Imagine” to Carlson, and demanded that the station stop playing the song. Carlson told him to take a hike. Actually, Carlson read off the lyrics that had been written down by Johnny Fever, and when the pastor ageed that that song should be banned too, it was then that Carlson decided to fight him. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/7 "2004-10-01T18:42:05Z")
I suspect that most folks who get into uproars over songs don’t bother to actually listen to them, but just go by the title. But the title “Imagine” isn’t itself offensive, so nobody noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/8 "2004-10-01T19:17:09Z")
_Imagine_ was one of the “the music industry is controlled by Satanists” crowd’s most frequently referred to songs. _Sympathy for the Devil_, _Imagine_, and _American Pie_ (_American Pie!?_) were practically the unholy trinity in “Rock music is evil” tracts and tirades in the early eighties. Sure, there wasn’t a lot of that outside of the lunatic fringe, but that’d be because a song that’s about brotherly love is pretty hard to condemn for most people. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/9 "2004-10-01T19:19:22Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > My dad hates John Lennon because of that song. He thinks he’s a commie pinko. 🙂 Unfortunately, so did [J. Edgar Hoover and Richard Nixon](http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/9799643.htm?1c). They were wrong, of course. Lennon was too rich to be a commie. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/10 "2004-10-01T19:21:57Z")
And, of course, even the most blinkered ideologue is going to hestitate about saying “That guy implied that religion creates division and strife. _Get him!_” ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/11 "2004-10-01T19:33:45Z")
Well, for whatever it may be worth, we tried to have “Imagine” played at our wedding, as one of the musical interlude pieces played while the guests are milling about and finding their seats in church (before the whole Dog & Pony Show started). The Catholic monsignor who married us objected, for fairly obvious reasons. So we had to settle for John Lennon’s “Grow Old With Me” instead (and “Love Me Tender,” if you can possibly believe that). ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/12 "2004-10-01T19:40:24Z")
I have no problem with the song. And I agree with what Lennon said: > [@](#): > > I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It’s just that the translations have gone wrong. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/13 "2004-10-01T20:08:21Z")
[semi-hijack] I think the Beatles got hammered most unfairly w/regards to the “more popular than Jesus” statement. I’ve seen transcripts of the interview in which the comment was made and it was pretty obviously _NOT_ a “We’re more popular than Jesus, isn’t that cool?!” sentiment so much as a “Popular culture and celebrity status is bloody ridiculous. The Beatles are now more popular than Jesus, isn’t that ludicrous?!”. I don’t know why they didn’t do a better job of defending themselves when they got flamed for it. It’s actually the kind of sentiment one would expect the brimstone preachers themselves to be making from the pulpits. ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/14 "2004-10-01T20:21:35Z")
I remember that here in the UK Imagine was banned during the first Gulf War. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/15 "2004-10-01T20:33:50Z")
> [@](#): > > American Pie!? They probably didn’t like the bit that went: _As the flames climbed into the night To light the sacrificial rite I saw Satan laughing with delight The day the music died_ Of course, they didn’t understand that it meant Satan would be happy if rock music went away. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/16 "2004-10-01T20:41:05Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > Actually, Carlson read off the lyrics that had been written down by Johnny Fever, and when the pastor ageed that that song should be banned too, it was then that Carlson decided to fight him. Yeah, I remember that episode, with that actor that looks just like Jerry Falwell. (Talk about being typecast!) The pastor argued that the song should be banned because it said there was no heaven, etc. And Carlson corrected him, “No, it says \*imagine \* there’s no heaven.” And that difference has always stuck with me. The song isn’t saying “this is the way it should be”, merely “what if”. But of course lots of people don’t see it that way. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/17 "2004-10-01T21:55:45Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > Actually, Carlson read off the lyrics that had been written down by Johnny Fever, and when the pastor ageed that that song should be banned too, it was then that Carlson decided to fight him. See? If they would release this show on DVD, I could have checked that before I posted it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/18 "2004-10-01T22:03:17Z")
The song _Imagine_ was used for the closing of the movie _The Killing Fields_, about Cambodia during the takeover by the Khmer Rouge. The lines about “no possessions” and “no religion” struck me ironically as just what Pol Polt imagined for Cambodians. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/19 "2004-10-01T22:24:14Z")
A lot of water went under the bridge between the “we’re more popular than Jesus” thing and “Imagine”. The whole world (well the US anyway) was much more open and accepting of different ideas and lifestyles. When the “Jesus” thing came out, you still had the fear of getting your ass kicked by a bunch of rednecks that hated longhairs, by the time “Imagine” came out, the rednecks had longer hair than the old hippies. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074/20 "2004-10-02T00:30:22Z")
Well I’m sure while the song’s on the charts the uproar will continue to be big news. But just be patient; these things tend to die down after a while. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-uproar-about-john-lennon-s-imagine/267074.md?page=2)