(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Sun 14 September 2025 16:00, UK
John Lennon was never one to dwell on his past work all that often.
As much as The Beatles have been mythologised over the years, Lennon was always more than a little bit cynical about his time in the group, usually claiming that they could have done a lot better than what they initially put out. But that didn’t mean that he didn’t have some harsh words for his own material as well.
For all casual Beatles fans, though, most of them know which Lennon solo albums are at the bottom of their personal lists. It’s nice to know that Lennon was finding a sense of peace with his soulmate, Yoko Ono, their experimental albums created during The Beatles’ tenure are still among the most unlistenable things ever released by an ex-Beatle. Every now and again there will be moments that are somewhat interesting, but it doesn’t help that you have to waste your time on mindless screaming to get there.
But if you listen to Plastic Ono Band, a lot of that screaming was almost necessary. Lennon was going through the toughest moments of his life, and after finally receiving therapy for his problems, his proper debut was his chance to let it all out. It wasn’t going to be pretty, but it’s still among the most emotionally raw solo albums any Fab put out, especially in ‘God’ where he disowns his old band.
If that was the cry of anger, then Imagine was a breath of fresh air after the clouds had parted. It was no less biting than his debut, but there’s a lot more levity from Lennon on this one, especially with the more jaunty numbers like ‘Crippled Inside’ and ‘Oh Yoko!’. He had finally found his peace, and the title track of the album is the sound of him praying for a more peaceful world.
While the song has become Lennon’s signature tune in many respects, talk of the song being preachy is far from the best condemnation here. Sure, it looks a bit tacky to hear Lennon talking about imagining no possessions from inside his lavish house, but it’s not about telling people how to live their lives. He’s simply asking everyone to imagine a new world, but even he admitted that sentiment could get draining after a while.
Lennon was never going to take back anything he said in the lyrics, but he did admit that the tune lost its lustre for him after a while, saying, “I remember I sang ‘Imagine’ twice in one day when I was rehearsing it, and that bored me. I’ve nothing against the song, in fact I’m quite proud of it, but I just can’t go on every night singing it. I’d try and vary it, but then I don’t like to see that myself. If I go to watch an artist I’d expect to hear the things I know.”
Then again, that might have more to do with Lennon’s aversion to playing live. The end of The Beatles’ onstage career seemed to be the last time he truly enjoyed himself performing a concert, and while his performances in New York during the 1970s were fantastic, you can tell that he’s clearly trying to have fun and not take anything too seriously, especially when he flubs the lines of ‘Come Together’.
So while ‘Imagine’ is far from the first song that Lennon wanted to perform live, it wasn’t out of disrespect for the song. He had simply outgrown the live stage by that point, and looking at his songs, they seemed to work better as musical art pieces rather than prime fodder for a world tour.
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