As far as Imagine is concerned, it is an overplayed classic, the simplistic beauty of which tends to transform itself to tedium after the first 200(0) or so times you hear it.
The lyrics espouse a simplistic but effective vision of a classless socialist or anarchist society, not 'mutual poverty'. In fact for humanity to rise above the poverty of consumerism to a system of shared abundance, money, religion etc will need to be superceded.
Lenon was a millionaire at the time he wrote this and was involved in a dialogue with the IMG in an attempt to clarify his emerging (but fairly short lived) radicalism. The story is of his sending out a chaufeur driven Rolls to ferry the likes of Tariq Ali to meetings to discuss the need for revolution to emanicipate the World's working class and poor. Doesn't really matter if the details are true or not, it highlights a contradiction that was (and remains) real enough.
The contradiction in and of itself does not invalidate the sentiment.
There are some songs that really grate with me. 'Hello' is one of them. 'Three times a Lady' is another, although I accept that they are quality songs in their own right, it's just that I hate the way they sound, and the lyrics and everything about them as songs.
The lyrics espouse a simplistic but effective vision of a classless socialist or anarchist society, not 'mutual poverty'. In fact for humanity to rise above the poverty of consumerism to a system of shared abundance, money, religion etc will need to be superceded.
Lenon was a millionaire at the time he wrote this and was involved in a dialogue with the IMG in an attempt to clarify his emerging (but fairly short lived) radicalism. The story is of his sending out a chaufeur driven Rolls to ferry the likes of Tariq Ali to meetings to discuss the need for revolution to emanicipate the World's working class and poor. Doesn't really matter if the details are true or not, it highlights a contradiction that was (and remains) real enough.
The contradiction in and of itself does not invalidate the sentiment.
There are some songs that really grate with me. 'Hello' is one of them. 'Three times a Lady' is another, although I accept that they are quality songs in their own right, it's just that I hate the way they sound, and the lyrics and everything about them as songs.
