2. ‘Imagine’ (1971) by John Lennon (1940-1980)

 


  

 John Lennon’s best-selling single of his solo career seems an obvious choice of exhibit to help us create our vision of the Salem Chapel as a place for Peace.

According to Lennon, much of the content came from his wife, Yoko Ono. The lyrics encourage listeners to imagine a world of peace, without materialism, without borders separating nations and without religion.

Recording began in May 1971 at Lennon’s home, Tittenhurst Park in Berkshire, England, and the song was released as a single in the US in October of that year. Four years later it was released as a single in the UK, where it has since sold more than 1.7 million copies.   


 

John Lennon and Yoko Ono a ‘Bed-In for Peace’ at the Hilton Hotel, Amsterdam, March 1969. Photo credit: Eric Koch; Wikipedia

The song has been seen by most people as a peace anthem. Yet its content is controversial, and Lennon’s role as a peace activist has been challenged. 

He himself was unhappy about the production, commenting cynically that it was: ‘Anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalistic, but because it is sugarcoated it is accepted ... Now I understand what you have to do. Put your political message across with a little honey.’  

In an open letter to Paul McCartney published in Melody Maker, he wrote that ‘Imagine’ was “Working Class Hero’ with sugar on it for conservatives like yourself’.    

Already I can imagine Lennon’s music playing as visitors enter our virtual Salem Chapel, our place for Peace.

Click here  to see what I mean.  

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us, only sky

Imagine all the people

Livin' for today

Ah

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion, too

Imagine all the people

Livin' life in peace

You

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

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

You

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will live as one

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: John Winston Lennon 


You can read more about the song  here

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3. ‘The Martyrdom of Agnes Prest' (1909) by Harry Hems (1842-1916), with some East Budleigh history

Image
The bronze panel seen above shows the burning of the Cornishwoman Agnes Prest, executed on 15 August 1557 at Southernhay, Exeter during the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary Tudor.   It is one of four panels on the Protestant Martyrs' Memorial in St Leonard’s, Exeter, which was erected as the result of a public subscription. Another panel shows Thomas Benet, executed at Livery Dole, Exeter, in 1531.  The Memorial was unveiled by the MP for Honiton Sir John Kennaway on 20 October 1909, following a service in the now demolished Bedford Chapel in Bedford Circus, Exeter.     A page from the first edition of Actes and Monuments , also known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, published in 1563. Image credit: Wikipedia According to John Foxe in his Book of Martyrs   Agnes Prest was taken by her husband and neighbours to the local priest and imprisoned in Launceston, before being transferred to Exeter. There she was charged with the crime of ‘Heresy chiefly aga...
Read more

17. ‘The Field of Waterloo’ / ‘Le Champ de Bataille de Waterloo’ (1817) By John Heaviside Clark (1771-1863) Engraved by Matthew Dubourg (active 1786-1838)

Image
By John Heaviside Clark (1771-1863)  Engraved by Matthew Dubourg active 1786-1838. Published 18 January 1817 Over the years I’ve often wondered about this painting. It depicts the place where Napoleon was finally defeated, giving rise to the expression that ‘he met his Waterloo’.   It certainly doesn’t look like the aftermath of a glorious British victory. The artist, known in his lifetime as ‘Waterloo Clark’ because of his numerous sketches of the battlefield, has portrayed the event as a human catastrophe. In a letter of 1815 Wellington lamented the loss of so many gallant friends in the battle. Perhaps he was reflecting on the waste of all human lives in war when he wrote: ‘ Believe me, nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.’  Clark’s painting portrays the immense scale of devastation on the battlefield. Grim scenes are taking place wherever you look.           Soldiers of different nationalities are cle...
Read more

18. The Field of Waterloo (1818) by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1755-1851)

Image
Continued from  https://peaceatsalemchapelbudleigh.blogspot.com/2022/10/17-field-of-waterloo-le-champ-de.html The Field of Waterloo, exhibited 1818, Joseph Mallord William Turner.  Presented as part of the Turner Bequest 1856. © Tate. Photo: Tate If there is a pacifist note in John Heaviside Clark’s work it is surely echoed in Turner’s painting  The Field of Waterloo  which was exhibited in 1818.   The artist visited the battlefield in 1817. He filled a sketchbook with drawings and notes, and later made studies of soldier’s uniforms in preparation for the painting.   There are some similarities to Clark’s painting: we see an angry sky lit up by lightning, but the focus is on one particular scene where what seems to be a family group are lit up by a torch held by one member. The picture is dominated by a group of grieving women who are searching for their partners among the pile of dead and dying bodies. A distraught woman has collapsed, only just holding on...
Read more