Imagining World Peace Through the Lyrics of John Lennon
A Rhetorical Analysis of John Lennon’s Imagine "Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try." John Lennon opens the song Imagine and catches the audience’s attention with this line. Opening with a thought provoking question grabs the listener’s attention by compelling them to think. John Lennon was a leader in the effort to reach word peace, and in memory he still continues to be. His songs Imagine, Revolution, and Give Peace a Chance continues to have the power to stir up strong emotions. Leading straight to the point, his minimalistic style and up-front approach leaves no room to wonder or debate. Lennon’s song Imagine illustrates this the best, it proves his point while
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Lines such as "You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one, I hope someday you'll join, and the world will be as one" (Imagine). Although he does not openly name anyone in these lines, he proclaims that he is not alone, and others believe in these ideas. Additional lines in the song where ethos is established is when he says "Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can," (Imagine). The message behind such lines is made even more powerful due to the fact that Lennon’s stardom has given him everything that one could ever want. Having someone with everything stand behind the message —if we didn't have anything at all then there would be nothing for anyone to fight over, and truly mean it, carries more weight than coming from someone who does not have anything at all. This causes the listeners to feel passionate towards the message Lennon is …show more content…
Had Imagine been spoken through poetry or a speech it would not have made the same impact as it did when spoken through song. Lennon's tranquil use of the piano along with his composed peaceful voice makes the song feel very personal as if it were only you and him speaking intimately in the corner of a quite room. While his song Revolution is more in your face (an equally impactful method when needed), his song Imagine is unhurried and peaceful. This approach makes listeners relax and truly imagine what a life without violence would be like. The mournful melody, and his serene voice cause listeners to sympathize with the world. While all the world was being told what to do and how to do it, John Lennon chose to take a passive approach by simply asking people to think about it. Although he desperately wanted change to follow, the approach he chose was more beneficial to the cause. Till this day, every time people hear the song Imagine they are subconsciously forced to think about what
The Parthenon embraces its beauty in human history , however , it imprisons its misuse and abuse in addition. In Christopher Hitchens’s , “The Lovely Stones” , he builds an argument to persuade the audience that the original Parthenon Sculptures should be returned to Greece . Christopher Hitchens uses negative diction , cultural references , and the rhetorical appeal , logos , to strengthen his argument .
The song sends a positive and peaceful aura; John Lennon hopes we can all live as one. He establishes his credibility, or ethos, by being one of the original
Iggy Pop is a well-recognized musician that is better-known as the lead vocalist of the band, The Stooges. The Red Bull Music Academy hosted a live interview of Iggy in October of 20l6. At this time Iggy was 69 years old. Iggy’s iconic name disregarded any need for the TV host to introduce Iggy to the audience: the rock ‘n’ roll star literally rushes into the stage and undermines the rumble of applause by his appearance.
The album begins with the hard-rocker “Come Together”. The song is a perfect example of John Lennon’s rock influence in the Beatles. “Come Together” is a song that’s popularity has been revived due to its appearances in many commercials. Its trademark chorus, “Come together right now over me”, is known just about everywhere. Ringo’s heavy drums and John’s deep poetic lyrics drive the song, while Paul’s voice and George’s sharp guitar contribute to the body of this song. John Lennon was well known for his creative lyrics. His mind provided lyrics for such insightful songs such as “Across the Universe” and “A Day in the Life”.
To understand Lennon’s attempt at displaying his raw emotions through this song, one must also understand the influence behind Lennon’s decision. Bob Dylan influenced all of the Beatles in a significant way in their early Beatlemania years: Dylan introduced the Beatles to marijuana, mistaking “I can’t hide” for “I get high” in “She Loves You”. While the Beatles experimented with several energy drugs, they had not yet used marijuana, and they soon discovered that it bestowed the group with the ability to relax and escape from the stress of dealing with Beatlemania. After ...
...as the highest of ethic values, the ideals that we hope to reach one day. The song inspired many people and gave them hope. Lennon will always be remembered for his inspirational and idealistic music that changed the way the world looked at things.
Songs of peace and harmony were chanted throughout protests and anti-war demonstrations, America’s youth was changing rapidly. Never before had the younger generation been so outspoken. Fifty thousand flower children and hippies traveled to San Francisco for the "Summer of Love," with the Beatles’ hits song, "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" (listen) as their light in the dark. The largest anti-war demonstration in history was held when 25,000 people marched from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, once again, showing the unity of youth.1
The Beatles had become one of the most famous band ever of all ages, and their songs have influenced many people in writing songs and living a better life. John Lennon’s song “Imagine” had became one of the most well-known single ever; the song expressed Lennon’s feeling of wanting a better world. After his death, John Lennon and the Beatles became a major milestone in
Economic crisis. Instability. The United States during the 1960s was about as stable as a table with one leg. On April 10, 1962, steel industries unfairly decided to raise steel prices by an immense 3.5 percent. President Kennedy’s separation between the steel industries and Americans through distinct diction sets forth a reasoned argument that establishes the point that the steel industries are being malicious in raising their prices and that other Americans should not follow in the footsteps of their selfish actions
During the turbulent era of the 1960s, youth excelled boundaries and expectations to adequately improve the world. Throughout this time, many individuals were trying to juggle the conflicts between racism, sexism, and the turning point in the Vietnam War, the Tet Offensive. This battle occurred in 1968, and was a watershed moment in the Vietnam War that ultimately turned many Americans against bloodshed. “The total casualties – dead, wounded, and missing in action – had grown from 2,500 in 1965 and would top 80,000 by the end of 1967” (Willbanks 6). Destruction from the poignant fighting convinced rising numbers of Americans that the expense of United States’ commitment was too immense. The Anti-War movement gained momentum as student protesters and countercultural hippies condemned this kind of violence. As a result, many American citizens attended a three-day concert, Woodstock, because they desperately needed a place to be rescued from the brutality and turmoil. A young member of “The Beatles,” John Lennon, created music that was essential for the success of antiwar uprisings, as well as Woodstock attendees who justify the purpose of attending. Woodstock abruptly became a compelling icon; a turn of events where even all of the world’s calamities could not conquer the notions of peace, harmony, and cultural expression driven by young Americans to assert their voices as a generation, by genuine music and proclaims made by Woodstock celebrators.
John Lennon was very outspoken and contributed greatly to his mission of peace. “He became an increasingly important symbol of the burgeoning counterculture” (DeCurtis). John went against the normal acts and beliefs of society and spoke out. He always expressed his true views and nothing else. This is because he believed in questioning authority and not conforming for anything.“[He] helped redefine the rules of acceptable behavior for rock stars” (DeCurtis). This once again shows his desire to stand out and speak out. He reformed many ideas and practices that needed reform and some that did not. But no matter what he was doing, it was always supporting the fight for peace. Even when it did not involve politics or the stand for peace, he acted differently from what was expected of him by the majority of the population. “How the chords can change the world. To me, that is John Lennon” (Ono 117). John thought that change was necessary, and he intended to do everything he could to insure that it happened. “A man who stood up!” (Ono 117). John expressed and conveyed his beliefs, no matter the consequences. His immense support of the fight for peace helped more and more people see a different side of the world.
“Imagine” by John Lennon, released in 1971, was one of the most influential, and important songs of the last 50 years. This track was viewed as his final statement on religion after many years of confusing mixed signals (WND). Lennon constantly calls upon the power of Imagery to appoint his ideas throughout the song, hence the title. Imagery is the formation of figures, ideas, and mental images through diction (Dictionary.com). Many of the ideas Lennon creates are supported, and even inspired by real life events. In John Lennon's “Imagine”, he uses the power of Imagery and applicable real life events to portray an idealistic Utopia.
The features and boundaries of pilgrimage have been debated by scholars (Badone and Roseman 2004a, Cohen 1992, Eade and Sallnow 1991, Morinis 1992, Reader and Walter 1993; Timothy and Olson 2006). Although this paper cannot evaluate Strawberry Fields as a place of pilgrimage in the absence of fieldwork, Kruse (2003) suggested the possibility. In light of this possibility, and the centrality of the ethos of peace activism to Lennon memorials, the definition of pilgrimage formulated by Alan Morinis (1992, 4), may be appropriate: “the pilgrimage is a journey undertaken by a person in quest of a place or a state that he or she believes to embody a valued ideal.” This definition of pilgrimage is suitable for understanding the motivation of participants to attend memorial events because, as demonstrated in this paper, many participants come to celebrate Lennon in the context of his peace activism.
The Beatles wrote hundreds of songs throughout their long career and many of which had the same main ideas in them. Those two ideas seem to standout in most of their songs, and they are the ideas of peace and love. They were so passionate about these two ideas especially world peace, that they became avid participants and leaders in the anti-war movement, against the War in Vietnam. It seemed strange ...
John Lennon is a British singer, songwriter, and political activist. He was born on October 9th, 1940 in Liverpool, England. The problem solving and expertise theory applies to English musician Lennon from his 20 plus years of domain-specific expert knowledge in live vocal performance, guitar, and piano with the Beatles. It is Lennon’s ability to overcome unfavorable outcomes while launching his solo career and has expressed a creative cognitive approach to formulate successful compositions throughout his lifetime.