Saturday, June 20, 2009

A short note of praise to a remarkable song

A few weeks I ago saw the Cirque Du Soleil show "Love," which is a tribute to The Beatles featuring only their music along with dancing, acrobatic acts and stunts performed in a theater in the round. It's by far the best live show I have ever seen on the Strip, or really anywhere for that matter and it reminded me of my love for their one-of-a-kind music and style. Although not a Beatles song, but a song from a Beatle, there was one song I wished they could have included somehow and that is John Lennon's "Imagine."

Do you remember where you were when you first heard "Imagine?" I remember being about ten years old and seeing the music video on VH1 when I was staying up really late one summer night as I often did as a kid. Maybe it was partly the obscurity of being up too late and being alone in my living room lying a foot away from the TV resting my head on my hands while the rest of the house was quiet, but I remember being very affected by it. So much so that for days I was in somewhat of a thoughtful, melancholy fog and I wished I could have been born in a time where I could have experienced the social turmoil of that decade yet also have lived to see the world peace the song was pleading for. To this day, whenever I hear this song and there are no significant distractions around, it puts me in a contemplative and serious mood. That's the power of its music and lyrics.

After seeing "Love," my friend Trevor and I talked about "Imagine" and he said he can remember hearing the song for the first time while he was out shopping with his mom also as a ten or eleven-year-old child. He was so struck by the song that he had to ask his mom who it was by.

Because I haven't yet figured out how to share music on this blog, I have only posted the lyrics to "Imagine" below. But when you can, go listen to the song and see how it makes you feel.

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
No religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace

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 some day you'll join us
And the world will live as one

2 comments:

Jamber said...

I love love love that song. I have never met anyone who has heard that song and not loved it. Thanks Jacko. Oh yeah and you are so lucky to have seen that show! I want to go!

Grandma Janean said...

You are a girl after my own heart Jackie. This is one of the greatest songs EVER! I am glad that I have memories of the tumultuous sixties...EVEN if I am old!