If you are interested in modern music, you must have heard of John Lennon’s Imagine. As a fan of the Beatles, I’m also interested in Lennon’s post-Beatles works. Imagine is one of his greatest works, and I will tell you why.

Fifty years ago, former Beatle John Lennon released one of the most famous pop anthems in the world, “Imagine”. The song begins with John Lennon playing a gentle, and calming piano tune. Then, Lennon’s singing joins, as soothing as the piano tune. The composition adds a sense of intimacy to the song, so people are less likely to be offended by its innovative messages, and are more likely to be encouraged and convinced to imagine and build a world as described in the song. Like many other famous songs that promote social change, for example, “Redemption Song”, and “Blowin’ in the wind”, “Imagine” is as catchy and gentle, with simple melody and inspiring lyrics, it’s also short enough so that it people won’t be bored by it.

Written in the early 1970s, where the anti-Vietnamese war was at its prime, John Lennon expressed his idea of all the people living peacefully with each other, as one humanity.

First of all, John Lennon started singing verses like “Imagine there’s no heaven,” “Above us only sky.”, and later “And no religion too,” some say that John Lennon is sending an atheistic message here. However, in interviews, Lennon once said that, “People got the idea that I was anti-Christ or anti-religion. I’m not at all. I’m a most religious fellow.” He pointed out, “If you can imagine a world at peace, with no denominations of

religion-not without religion but without this ‘my-God-is-bigger-than-your-God thing’-then it can be true.”. You can see the importance of this message in radical religious terrorism. I have a similar interpretation, that is, “Imagine we stop worrying about what happens after our deaths, and just our lives in the best way possible, and we no longer have trouble getting along with each other dew to our different religious believes.” This is certainly what everyone of us should do, be who you want to be, and do what you like, and don’t like the religions stop you from doing so. After all, one of the most central teachings of this part is “Imagine all the people, living for today.”

Moving from the spiritual world to the physical world, John Lennon asked us to “Imagine a world with no countries” “Nothing to kill for or die for” “Living life in peace”, which fits his reputation as an anti-war activist. He and his wife, Yoko Ono spend a lot of time on peace campaigns including “In Bed for Peace”, and wrote songs including “Give Peace a Chance”. In Imagine, he asks people to imagine world where people are no longer divided and constrained by the concept of nationality, living like a peaceful “brotherhood of man”. After all these years, the idea peace is still very important.

After addressing the two global issues, Lennon then moved on further to everyone’s personal life. He challenged people to “Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can.”, I consider this as the most powerful line so far. It’s much easier to imagine a world with no religions nor countries, as to me, they are not that close to my everyday life. But a world with no possessions? Lennon once said in an interview that, he values happiness and the world more than material things. He encourages us to live a less materialistic life, and focus on true happiness. The message influenced me a lot, and I started to appreciate experiences in life, rather than mere materialistic enjoyment.

The song managed to remain famous and popular even after all these years. It was played and performed at international events including the closing ceremony of the London Olympics, as well as the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. The song perfectly fits the idea of the Olympics. The positive message it sends is still valuable and relevant, and I recommend this song to everyone, no matter your religion, nationality, or wealth.