Abanoob Attia
Art Education 1600, Spring 2014
Dr. Burkhart
Feb. 21, 2014
“The Power Of Imagination”
Imagination gives the people a chance to live in a dream like world, filled with pictures and events, even if it will never become a reality. Imagining lets us experience and view the world from different angles and points of views, explore the future or the past within the mind. In the beautiful song by John Lennon “Imagine”, Lennon asks the people to imagine a world with no divisions between each other, whether its a religion, a country, or a possession.
The smooth start of the song’s instruments gives the listeners the psychological feeling of peace and mind ease, which lets the listener focus more on the lyrics and the singer’s direct message becomes clear and vivid. The consistent and soft beatings of the drums almost heartbeat-like, and the lively sound of the guitar rhythms make up most of the background music. It gives the listener a calming state of mind to think about the world and use the imagination to get involved with the song.
Lennon starts his lyrics with “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” (Rasty Adem 2011), he is stating that we shouldn't worry about tomorrow or the future and focus on the present, because what we do now affects what happens in the future and if we focus on the future too much we will miss the events happening in the present.
Lennon asks the audience to imagine a world without different countries or religions in his second stanza “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” (Rasty Adem 2011). I persona...
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...feeling down, or simply if I’m having a bad day. It’s the type of song I would listen to when taking a walking in the park, admiring and observing other people’s behavior with each other. And how peaceful our world can be if we really wanted to make the change to ourselves and our self-centered ideas.
John Lennon did a fantastic job of putting together his message in a few meaningful and powerful words, the repeated use of the word “Imagine” is very powerful to the human mind as a direct order to start interpreting the next part into images and events . The soft tone and low pitch of Lennon’s voice combined with the great selection of instruments fits the lyrics perfectly, making it the type of song you forget on repeat and not notice until hours later. I did agree overall with all his opinions about how we can change the world to a more peaceful and loving place.
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
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 ...
John Lennon was well known for mostly his music, both in the Beatles and his solo career, but he was also known for promoting peace and well being. A quote from Lennon and what he believed is “If everybody demanded peace instead of another television set, there’d be peace(johnlennonpwace.com).” He was also a important part of the protest against the war in Vietnam. He believed that the situation in Vietnam was not our problem or concern, and that young men should not be dying because of this. He tried to persuade people of this “Peace Movement” as well. He participated in parades and peaceful protests. The reason John Lennon’s ideas were so powerful because he was extremely famous and well known, and he is one of the few celebrity who used his fame to communicate a positive message to the world(johnlennonpeace.com).
By the third section, Ginsberg has found some middle ground and solidarity. There is hope for the destroyed minds and corrupted America. Ginsberg attaches his own meaning to these words to set up the minds vs. society and provides some eternal hope that stands outside of society’s domination and gives everyone some ultimate answers and consistency.
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
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.
...f starvation (New York Times). This is most likely Lennon's motive for this line. In the final line of the track, Lennon sings “a brotherhood of man”. This line single handedly summarizes Lennon's entire motive for writing the song.
Imagination is the action of creating new ideas, scenarios, or concepts that are not present. It is the ability to form a mental image of anything that is not perceived through senses. It’s the ability of the mind to build mental scenes, objects or events that do not exist or are not there or have never happened. “...the pleasures of the imagination exist because they hijack mental system that have evolved for real world pleasure. We enjoy imaginative experiences because at some level we don’t distinguish them from real ones.” (pg.577 parg 4, Bloom)
John Lennon was a performer, musician, composer, and a talker (Spangler). Even though some people liked what he did, and others disagreed, John possessed a talent like no other. Even though the Beatles separated, John still found a way for his talents to be carried on through a career. John Lennon was a good father to his kids and was considered to be a thoughtful husband (John Lennon Biography). He was a great musician who still lives through his rock and roll music today. John’s message of peace, love, and happiness will be remembered forever in the minds of many (Johnson).
From the first stanza of this song, you get put into a scene. You know almost immediately that it is about someone, and it is the middle of December, but without stating the obvious, it paints a more illustrated picture for you. The first line states, “A winters day, in a deep and dark December” and I could almost immediately feel a cool breeze around me. When I normally think of a winter’s day, I think of people playing in the snow, and having a good time. This may be because I grew up in Southern California where there has been a lack of snow, but in my head, that is what I imagine. Having them state, in a deep and dark December, turns my attitudes to the more pessimistic way of looking at things. The image of children playing in the snow in my head has now turned to cold and dark emptiness. Reinstating my idea of emptiness, the next line follows with the simply statement, “I am alone”. Personally, I hate being alone. So to have the opening words place us in a deep and dark setting, and then state that you are alone, automatically puts me in a negative mindset.
I like songs of John Lennon because of his song is kind and beautiful. In addition to we always impressed with his songs. I consider that John Lennon was one of the best musician in history because of his songs had a lot of influence on us. Everybody knows John Lennon regardless of the generation gap.
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.
"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.
These are some of the common inquisitions I heard while trying my best to pay attention during elementary school classes. It seems that I had some issues with staying on task. Perhaps it was a problem that I would outgrow, or at least be able to control, but as the years went on by I found that time did not change me. What a break! It turns out that using my imagination has helped me numerous times in solving networking issues, writing code, troubleshooting electronic devices, and designing complex systems. So are critical thinking, logic and deduction, and problem solving learned skills? Or are they simply tied to ones ability to imagine. Although genetics may play a role in the degree to which an individual can imagine; I believe imagination can be a skill that is developed and is directly proportional to ones ability to use logic and deduction when solving complicated problems.