Rhetorical Analysis Of Imagine By John Lennon

1143 Words3 Pages

Rhetorical Analysis of "Imagine" by John Lennon
"Imagine there 's no heaven, it 's easy if you try," (John Lennon, Imagine). The first line of one of the most sensational, emotion filled songs causes the listener to think. This song is considered one of the most beautiful and meaningful pieces to the world. John Lennon, singer, songwriter, and co-founder of the Beatles, is remembered as a leader in efforts to reach world of love. Although murdered in 1980, his music is still relevant today. His songs described a world without war and he hoped for reconciliation. The song "Imagine" is an example of this.
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 …show more content…

His family enchants the world with music, in separate musical groups, but with similar genres such as rock and pop, the styles John was also known for. His oldest son, Julian founded The White Feather Foundation in 2009, embracing humanitarian and environmental issues. His father had told him if he (John) had passed away, a white feather would signify he was okay. The white feather represented peace. Julian remains in touch with his step family as well. In commemoration of John Lennon 's 70th Birthday, they unveiled the John Lennon Peace Monument in Liverpool, England, where John had grown up. The Liverpool Airport was also renamed the Liverpool John Lennon Airport with the lyric from the song "Imagine," "above us only sky" (Lennon, Imagine) written on the roof. Of all the songs he had in his repertoire, "Imagine" left the greatest impact. In Central Park in New York City there is an "Imagine" mosaic to memorialize this artist and celebrate his life. When John 's body was cremated, Yoko scattered his remnants in the Strawberry Fields section of the park, also where his monument

Show More
Related

  • A Clockwork Orange Rhetorical Analysis

    1899 Words  | 4 Pages

    Creative Section Prompt: Write a scene where an “unlovable” character is involved in a surprising or unexpected hobby or appreciation for something.

    Read More

  • A Modest Proposal - Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1729, Jonathan Swift published a pamphlet called “A Modest Proposal”. It is a satirical piece that described a radical and humorous proposal to a very serious problem. The problem Swift was attacking was the poverty and state of destitution that Ireland was in at the time. Swift wanted to bring attention to the seriousness of the problem and does so by satirically proposing to eat the babies of poor families in order to rid Ireland of poverty. Clearly, this proposal is not to be taken seriously, but merely to prompt others to work to better the state of the nation. Swift hoped to reach not only the people of Ireland who he was calling to action, but the British, who were oppressing the poor. He writes with contempt for those who are oppressing the Irish and also dissatisfaction with the people in Ireland themselves to be oppressed.

    Read More

  • Abbey Road

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    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”.

    Read More

  • Iggy Pop: The Unconventional Rock Icon

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Transcendentalism Essay

    1717 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...uality, nature, anti-materialism and self-reliance. His music was purposed towards encouraging people to believe in their choices and decisions rather than believing in the teachings of societal institutions. Bob Marley criticized religion is an institution which instead of uniting people ends up separating them. He also warns people not to suffer in the name of going to even and live an afterlife. Rather, they should live in heaven on earth that is, they should be happy in their lives. Bob Marley’s song corresponds to transcendentalist who believed that people should not conform to the normal life patterns. Transcendentalists, just like Bob Marley, believed that one derives happiness from what he/she believes is right no matter what people think or the consequences. When one stands up for his/her rights, he/she does not follow what has been stipulated or instructed.

    Read More

  • A Summary of The Civil Rights Movement

    661 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Lennon, The founding member of the Beatles and unofficial king of the hippies said in his final interview,

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Song, You´ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, by The Beatles

    1963 Words  | 4 Pages

    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 ...

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of A Song

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    So that I don’t have to explain to them what it is about. Because I will not be describing nor will I explain what the artist meant from, when he was writing the song. I will be putting my own twist and thought about it. My main purpose is to make the audience think outside the box, and see how a totally different experience or event can relate somehow back to the song. That you can take something like “love you”, and somehow connect it back to a war or a celebration. The only limitation is your own

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of John Lennon's Imagine

    1139 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • American Pie, by Don McLean

    666 Words  | 2 Pages

    Don McLean was a famous singer/songwriter who was popular in the 1970’s. His music is mostly classified into rock-and-roll. The audience of this song can be anyone. The majority of the people listening to the song in the 1970’s were hippies, or people who had open minds. The purpose of this song is not just to entertain people with beautiful music, but to inform people about the life and death of Buddy Holly. McLean even mentions the touching songs Holly wrote when he describes Holly’s music as “a voice that came from you and me.” In this quote, McLean is saying that Holly’s music voices many strong opinions.

    Read More

  • The Beatles Influence On Music

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to history1900.about.com “About this same time, the Beatles began to shift to psychedelic influences. They started using marijuana and LSD and learning about Eastern thought.” The eastern thought and early western philosophy was the idea of matters in basic human existence. This is around the time when the Beatles music started fighting for world peace and talking about how we should come together. John Lennon’s song “imagine” tells people how the world would be a better place without religion, war, conflict, possessions, and greed. He also explains that he isn’t the only person to have fought for this. Doing so many peace riots happened in the 60’s during the vietnam war. These peace riots were usually filled with hippies which was a term for people that are “with nature”. You could say that the Beatles were hippies for they fought for these riots trying to end the war in vietnam. This made a major impact to how we view the world now and how we need to protect our environment now. allmusic.com states “They were also the first British rock group to achieve world wide

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis Of I Have A Dream Speech

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imagine a you are writing a speech that could very well change the way life is. If you knew that you would be speaking to hundreds and thousands of people on racial equality, what would you say? How would you start that speech? How would you write that speech so that everyone can understand it and learn from it and get inspired from it? How would you know what to say and how to say it?

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Nelson Mandela's Speech

    500 Words  | 1 Pages

    In 1990, South Africa became a totalitarian state. Apartheid is still in full effect. There is extensive racial violence in the streets. The country is economically suffering from sanctions from many other countries in protest of Apartheid.

    Read More

  • John Lennon’s Beliefs

    1321 Words  | 3 Pages

    John Lennon was born on October 9th 1940 in Liverpool, England 1. His father left the family to sail the seas before Lennon’s earliest childhood memory and his mother was taken away by a car accident when he was 18 2. A year after his mother’s death, the Vietnam War took place, which is The United State’s longest military dispute ever. The world famous band, The Beatles, debut on 1961 not long after the start of the war and through this band, Lennon was able to demonstrate his feelings to the people across the world. "Revolution," performed by The Beatles, was created in 1968, when the anti-war demonstration was on the move. After the separation of The Beatles in 1969, Lennon composed the song "Imagine" (1971) 3. This song proves that Lennon is a Peace-Loving-Atheist and a "Voluntarist" 4 that believes in the scheme that people’s ideas can change social reality; however simultaneously admits that there are constantly wars going on in the world. As a result, he could be a mixture of all four, Realist, Liberal, Marxist and Constructivist. On December 8th 1980, approximately five years after the end of the Vietnam War, Lennon was assassinated by Mark Chapman 5. It is not for certain that the word assassination could be used on a singer, song writer who also published books. However there is no doubt about the fact that Lennon touched many people’s hearts around the world and maybe was even praised as an almighty figure.

    Read More

  • John Lennon's Song Imagine

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    "I hope some day you will join us, and the world will live as one" Simplicity combines with deep meaning when John Lennon expresses his thoughts in his song "Imagine." This song was a huge hit in the 70’s, the time in which the Vietnam War was occurring. John Lennon’s “Imagine”, was a protest song that questions the morality of war, shows anti-war statements and emphasizes the importance of world peace. In America, every civilian has the Freedom of Speech. For this, artists have every right to compose a protest song. Even if the government is not fond of it, anyone could potentially write a song going against his or her beliefs, which is exactly what Lennon did with "Imagine," in a peaceful way. At the time Lennon’s song went against most beliefs, for people believed that violence in war was the answer to everything. Amongst passive resistance, the refusal to cooperate with legal requirements, strikes and angry mobs, Lennon chose the much calmer approach and simply composed a protest song. A protest song is simply a song that argues a point and tries to encourage one thing against another. In his song "Imagine", Lennon protest that the World should live in peace; keep in mind the Vietnam War was occurring at the time. It was then that protest songs were created to try and make points across, without the actual violence of rioting in protest.

    Read More

More about Rhetorical Analysis Of Imagine By John Lennon

Open Document