‘IMAGINE’ (John Lennon), single, released on this day in 1971

'IMAGINE' (John Lennon), single released in 1971

'On October 11, 1971, the single 'Imagine' was released in the United States, from the album of the same name, Beatle John Lennon's second solo work released a month earlier. 'Imagine' is considered today one of the most universal songs in history. Rolling Stone places it third on its list of 'the 500 greatest songs of all time'. Although it was Top5 in the United States and No. 1 in Canada and Australia, it did not receive the veneration that it receives today. It was after Lennon's death that it became a universal anthem of peace. Yoko stated years later: 'John felt really euphoric about that particular song. He felt that it was important that people knew his message and he wrote it with an easy, almost childish musical structure, so that it would reach everyone.'

John Lennon wrote the lyrics on the back of a hotel bill during a plane trip. When he got home, he composed the music. In an interview with David Sheff for Playboy, he commented: 'The concept is a prayer that gives off a positive message. If you are able to imagine a world in peace, without borders, without denominations of religions (and I do not mean 'without religion' but one that does not have that stale tagline of 'my-god-is-bigger-than-yours'), then it would be possible. A guy from a church in the United States called me once and said 'Can we use the lyrics of your song, changing one of the phrases to 'imagine one religion?'. That showed me that they hadn't understood it at all.' In another interview, Lennon explained the commercial hook of the song: 'It is an anti-religious, anti-nationalist, anti-conventional and anti-capitalist theme... but since it is syrupy and wrapped in cellophane, it is accepted. Now I know what to do: Add a little honey to the political messages.'

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John Lennon

John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English musician, songwriter and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history.

Born in Liverpool, Lennon became involved in the skiffle craze as a teenager. In 1956, he formed the Quarrymen, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. He initially was the group's de facto leader, a role he gradually seemed to cede to McCartney. In the mid-1960s Lennon authored In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works, both collections of nonsense writings and line drawings. Starting with "All You Need Is Love" in 1967, his songs were adopted as anthems by the counterculture and anti-war movement. In 1969, he started the Plastic Ono Band with his second wife, multimedia artist Yoko Ono, held the two-week-long anti-war demonstration bed-in for peace, and left the Beatles to embark on a solo career. Lennon and Ono collaborated on many works, including a trilogy of avant-garde albums and several films. From 1969 to 1975, he achieved four UK top-10 singles with "Give Peace a Chance", "Instant Karma!", "Imagine", and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)".

In 1970, Lennon released his debut solo album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, his first of four LPs co-produced with Phil Spector. Moving to New York City in 1971, Lennon's criticism of the Vietnam War resulted in a three-year deportation attempt by the Nixon administration. Lennon and Ono separated from 1973 to 1975, during which time he produced Harry Nilsson's album Pussy Cats and had chart-topping collaborations with Elton John ("Whatever Gets You thru the Night") and David Bowie ("Fame"). Following a five-year hiatus from his solo career, during which he continued to write and record intermittently, Lennon returned in 1980 with the Ono collaboration Double Fantasy. He was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman three weeks after the album's release.

As a performer, writer or co-writer, Lennon had 25 number-one singles in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. As a solo artist, he had five singles reach the top 10 in both the UK and U.S.: "Instant Karma", "Imagine", "(Just Like) Starting Over", "Woman", and "Nobody Told Me". Double Fantasy, his second-best-selling non-Beatles album, won the 1981 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and a Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2002, he was voted eighth in a BBC history poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth-greatest singer and 38th-greatest artist of all time. He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice (first as a member of the Beatles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1994).

Discography

Main articles: John Lennon discography and List of songs recorded by John Lennon

See also: The Beatles albums discography and The Beatles singles discography

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Imagine - John Lennon Easy Piano Solo Sheet Music Library partitura Noten spartiti 乐谱 楽譜

Lyrics

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
Imagine all the people living life in peace...

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 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.